Showing posts with label muscle building. Show all posts
Showing posts with label muscle building. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

2 for 1 Wednesday Workouts


Workout 1- For my female readers. Great workout that involves the full body and will help you drop body fat and get the best body you can! Unlike most of my routines these one doesn't include major players like the squat, deadlift, thruster or step up but brings in new exercises like donkey kicks and lateral band walks which you might not be doing.

A1) Shoulder press Ys with dumbbells-12 reps
A2) Band kickbacks- straight back and to the side- 10 reps each way, 20 total
A3) Pullups-assisted machine or use bands for help if need be -10 reps
A4) Lateral band walks-15 each way
A5) Band chops-20 each
*4 rounds without rest

B1) Tricep rope extensions-15 reps
B2) Donkey kicks-20 reps
B3) TRX row-palms down to palms up ( use a regular row if you don't have a TRX ) 12 reps
B4) Lateral lunge with dumbbells-10 reps per
B5) V up-10 reps
* 4 rounds without rest



DOUBLE CLICK TO ENLARGE TO VIEW BETTER

Workout 2-For my male readers below are two videos of different compound sets you can use on your back and bicep day if your goal is to add some size. These four exercises alone would not be your entire workout but will help add to your regular routine.



Wednesday, February 22, 2012

PHA + Dynamic interrupt workout


This workout includes full body balance by working both the upper and lower body as well as core. Compared to past PHA workouts posted this workout emphasizes heavier weights and more of a strength circuit. The goal of a strength training circuit is to help build muscle and shred fat while gaining strength. Muscle equals metabolism! In order to make this routine effective make sure you choose the appropriate load for the stated reps.

DYNAMIC INTERRUPT

What is this dynamic interrupt? Think of the dynamic interrupt as a major metabolic enhancement circuit. The dynamic interrupt was first intended as a way to increase conditioning with athletes. What was found was that is works great for fat loss! The dynamic interrupt will usually be a series of bodyweight exercises that will increase heart rate and lead to a greater metabolic effect. The lower rep ranges of the strength circuit plus the higher reps of the dynamic interrupt will lead to major fat loss!

A1) Pullup- 5 reps
A2) High step up- Use a high box, increasing emphasis on glutes- 6 reps per leg
A3) Alternating neutral grip shoulder press ( standing )-6 reps each arm
A4) Glute thrusters-5 reps, pause 2 seconds at the top of each * Most will need to use a barbell for extra weight
A5) Lateral step and chop with band-10 reps each http://www.youtube.com/user/H4training#p/u/45/RX-_yvo7Ez8

4 rounds without rest. If you need the recovery then give yourself 60sec-30sec. Once your done with all 4 rounds go right into the dynamic interrupt.

DYNAMIC INTERRUPT

1) Jackknives ( burpees )-set your timer and do as many as you can for 60sec
2) Mountain climbers-set your timer and do as many as you can for 45 sec
** Left leg, right left is 1 rep
***Make sure to record your numbers for each exercise

Just 1x then take 2min rest before starting B

B1) Alternating seated row with cables ( palms facing each other )-6 each
B2) Deadlift with barbell-6 reps
B3) Incline dumbbell chest press-6 reps
B4) Alternating front lunges with dumbbells-6 each
B5) Pull and punch decline crunch with dumbbell-6 each

4 rounds without rest. If you need the recovery then give yourself 60sec-30sec. Once your done with all 4 rounds go right into the dynamic interrupt.

Your goal is to equal at the very least the number of reps you did on the dynamic interrupt the first time through.

DYNAMIC INTERRUPT

1) Jackknives ( burpees )-set your timer and do as many as you can for 60sec
2) Mountain climbers-set your timer and do as many as you can for 45 sec
** Left leg, right left is 1 rep
***Make sure to record your numbers for each exercise

Do this just 1x

Done!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Pre New Year bicep routine


Here is a giant set of bicep exercises that can help you get some new muscle growth before the New year.

A1) Seated hammer curls with dumbbells-10 reps ( both arms at the same time )
* keep your arms tight to your sides

A2) Lying bicep curl with straight bar-10 reps
*Lie on the floor and set the pulley to the very bottom. Keep your back on the floor and curl up the weight like a normal curl.

A3) Chinups-10 reps ( or as close as you can )
* If you cant do regular ones then use the assisted machine or bands.

A4) Standing band curls-20 reps ( both arms at the same time )
* Stand on band and rep out the curls as fast as you can

Rest 2 minutes. Repeat this 1-2 more times.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Taking it to the Shoulers


Guys want big broad shoulders and women want toned and lean ones. Now this might not be the case all time but basically just about everyone wants nice shoulders. There are two ways to thinking when it comes to the shoulders.

A) You don't need to directly work your shoulders much due to their role in numerous type movements like pushups, chest press variations ( especially incline ) and other compound movements.

B) The delts need to be trained directly if you want true development. To not train your shoulders would lead to an unbalanced look.


I tend to agree with both of this view points. If you have great delts to begin with than I think you don't have to pay as much attention specifically to them in your training as maybe others do. However, if you lack shoulders then you do need to make sure you add direct work in. Below are some tips/strategies/exercises to try in your training.

TIPS
  • The delts respond best to multiple exercises and short rest periods. Try doing tri-sets like the one below I love.

A1) Seated dumbbell shoulder press-6-8 reps

A2) Standing lateral raises with dumbbells- 10-12 reps

A3) Machine shoulder press ( neutral grip with palms face if you can ) 15-20 reps

**Take 2 min rest and repeat 1-2 more times

  • The delts are slow twitch and recover fast. If your lacking shoulder development you might need to train the shoulders three times a week

EXERCISES

1) Lateral raises-The medial head of the delt tends to get less work than the anterior and posterior delts do in compound exercises. Some quick tips when doing the lateral raise are:

* Keep a slightly forward lean ( but not too much ) in order to target the medial delt better.

* Keep your arms straight through the entire movement.

2) Shoulder press continuation-In this set up you will take advantage of stronger body positions and controlled momentum.

* Do a set of normal dumbbell seated shoulder presses until you have 1 rep left before failure. Next, stand up and crank out more reps in this stronger position. Finally, without rest, end with push presses until failure. The push presses allows you to use your legs to give you some help when your fatigued.

** Repeat this 1-2 more times. Note-A push press is just like an overhead press except you a small dip of the legs and momentum to help push the weight up.


FIXING IMBALANCE

Most people have bigger and stronger front and medial delts and smaller and weaker rear delts. This lack of balance can causes rotator cuff issues and shoulder pain. In order to fix this aim to work the rear delts with more sets and focus on training them first. Below is a sample set up for this.

A1) Rear delt raises- 8-10 reps

** 3 sets

B1) Lateral shoulder raise ( do one arm at a time) 8-10 reps

** 2 sets per side

C1) Plate front raise- 8-10 reps. Grab a plate with your hands at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock and raise it in front of your face until you can see through it.

** 1 set

Monday, December 12, 2011

Taking it to the Triceps


1) DIPS-Other than the close grip press, dips are the most effective triceps exercise for building muscle. Unlike some triceps exercises dips hit every head of muscle. Dips are also great because you can use a heavy load. Most lifter make dips too much of a chest exercise and therefore don't get the full benefit for their triceps. Focus on these pointers-

*Keep the body as upright ( vertical ) as you can. The more you lean the more chest comes into play

*Use a narrow set of bars to target the triceps more

*Lower your body until your biceps touch your forearms. Full range of motion equals full development

* Once bodyweight is easy then add a dumbbell between your leg or use a weight belt and a plate

Try this when doing dips for a shock!

Lower yourself for a 8 second count until your biceps touch your forearms. Press yourself back up using your arms and legs, the focus here being only the negative part of the movement. Do 2 more reps like this and that is one set. Rest 90sec to 2 min and do 8 total sets!

2) SEATED HALF PRESS IN POWER RACK-Great exercise to pack on muscle especially on the lateral head of the triceps ( outside ) which is generally underdeveloped on most. You will give the back of your arms more of an X look once you build the lateral head.

Set up- Place an incline bench inside a power rack with the incline at 80-90 degrees from the ground. Place the pins in the rack so the bar is resting at hairline. Grip should be shoulder width and elbows wide. Just press the bar up like a normal press. The difference is that you want to make sure you come to a dead stop at the bottom. Once the bar hits the pins let it sit for a second then explode back up to avoid bouncing.

SOME EXTRA TRICEPS FUN WITH THE OMNI-REP METHOD


Try this sequence termed Omni-rep method by the great Charles Poliquin. Basically it is a extended series of three exercises for one muscle group. You do each exercise right after one another without rest. At the end of all three exercises rest for 2min and repeat for 3-4 total sets.

A1) Standing tricep pushdowns with palms up grip- 8-12 reps
A2) Standing tricep pushdowns with palms up grip- 8-12 reps
A3) Overhead rope extensions standing -8-12 reps

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Strip set for the leg press


Most experts believe that the quads need high reps and time under tension to hypertrophy. Strip sets will allow you get a high amount of reps as well as place your muscles under a long period of tension. To start pile on the leg press with a weight you can do 10 reps with while keeping quality form. The 10th rep should be really difficult. Once you finish your 10 reps, have a partner strip off a plate off each side and without rest get as many reps as you can to failure. Next, strip off another plate from each side again and go until failure. Repeat this process until you no longer can finish. Some can get down until you are just pressing the sled itself.

* Notes- If you don't have a partner just strip the plates yourself but make sure to move fast. Remember leg presses in this manner can cause your blood pressure to skyrocket so be careful if you have high blood pressure to begin with.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

3 rep schemes for new muscle growth!


1. Tempo Contrast -This is when you alternate between fast and slow tempos during one set. This hurts really bad trust me. Example would be doing 8 reps of curls like this:

Rep 1-Lower the weight for 6 seconds, and then lift the weight up with for a 4 second count

Rep2-Lower the weight for 6 seconds, and then lift the weight up with for a 4 second count

Rep 3-Explosive ( fast as you can )

Rep 4-Explosive ( fast as you can )

Rep 5-Lower the weight for 6 seconds, and then lift the weight up with for a 4 second count

Rep 6-Lower the weight for 6 seconds, and then lift the weight up with for a 4 second count

Rep 7-Explosive ( fast as you can )

Rep 8- Explosive ( fast as you can )

**Do about 3-4 sets like this


2. The 8x3 Method-Generally you think heavy weight with low reps is only for strength but you can build muscle with this method as well. The key is the multiple sets. Doing multiple sets with heavy weight targets type IIB muscle fibers which are the ones with the greatest growth potential.Here is how you do it:

* Perform 8 sets of 3 reps with heavy weight
* Don't train to complete failure ( you should be able to do a 4th rep, but you will stop at 3 )
*Keep rest periods at about 1 minute

3.Isometric/Dynamic method-This is when you add a pause into each rep. Isometric contractions can allow you to recruit up to 10% more muscle fibers than dynamic lifts. This really works good with isolation exercises. My favorite is to do this with seated rows. You would perform a regular row and then hold the contraction at the back end and try to squeeze your shoulder blades. Below is how it would look:

Rep 1-10 sec pause
Rep 2-8 sec pause
Rep 3-6 second pause
Rep 4-4 second pause
Rep 5- 2 second pause
Rep 6-no pause

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

3 Splits I like for hypertrophy


Here are some of my favorite splits to use when designing your training program with a goal of gaining lean muscle mass. Some these might not be that common but with my clients and myself I have found them to yield good results.

Split A ( this gives really good balance and lets the legs have plenty of recovery time between sessions)


M- Push/Pull ** Always aim for at least 2-1 ratio of pull to push work
T-Legs

W-Arms

Th-Push/Pull

F-Legs

S-Arms

Su-OFF

Split B ( Hit the legs right from the get go. Back gets a second day compared to just one chest day to help and correct typical imbalance between push and pull . The single chest day should be high volume since that is all you will do for the week)

M-Legs

T-Bi/Back

W-Tri/Chest
Th-Legs
F-Bi/Back ( biceps/triceps can be interchangeable depending on your weak area ) S-OFF
Su
-OFF


Split C ( Here I pair lesser common groupings of biceps with chest and triceps with back. Thought is that you get more workload since these pairings don't effect one another. Every other week you can shift which pairing you do twice. Week 1-Back/Tri 2x......Week 2 Chest/Bi 2x )

M-Back/Tri
T-Legs

W-Chest/Bi

Th-Legs

F-Back/
Tri
S-OFF
Su-OFF

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Quick giant set bicep routine



This routine goes from heavy weight and low reps to lighter weight and higher reps and ends with an isometric hold. The goal is to stress the biceps at every rep range. If done correctly and at the right weight and intensity 1 set should be plenty since it adds to 45 total reps. Go 2 rounds if you dare.


A1)Lying Bicep curls ( set up low cable pulley at the bottom and attach a straight bar. Lying on your back on the floor perform a curl)-8 reps with heavy weight


A2) Standing barbell curl with wide grip-10 reps


A3) Seated alternating bicep curls with dumbbells-12 reps each arm


A4) Standing band curls ( place a band under your feet and curl for speed )-15 reps **this will be tough trust me


A5) Chin-up isometric hold ( get into the top position of the chin-up and squeeze and hold until you can't hold on ) Done!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Pyramid training




Instead of doing the same amount of reps for every set try pyramiding your reps. Pyramiding allows you to work throughout a whole range of rep ranges. Pyramid workouts are also great to amp up your intensity and help you build more muscle. Below are 3 types of pyramiding sets that you can use.




1) Descending pyramid-decrease weight, increase reps



* First warmup properly before starting your first set. You will then start off with the heaviest weight you plan to use on the first working set. You should aim for about 5-6 reps on set one. Each set after you should decrease the weight and increase the reps. On your fourth set or so you should be around 15 reps.






2) Ascending pyramid-increase weight, decrease reps

* First warmup properly before starting your first set. Start off with lighter weight and do around 15 reps on set one. Each set after drop the weight by about 10-20% and do less reps. So set two might be about 12 reps or so. By set four you will be using the heaviest weight yet and doing around 4-5 reps.




3) Triangle pyramid-combining the above two


* This routine involves more sets, and the higher volumes helps you to build more muscle. Start by doing the ascending pyramid in which you use light weight and high reps. Go all the way down to about 4-5 reps and then now try and work your way back up. Most likely you wont be able to hit the same reps so make adjustments and get as close as you can.This would look like this:





16-12-8-4-8-12-16





Thursday, July 21, 2011

Better hamstrings with this trick


Sure some people will argue that the leg curl isn't functional and is garbage but I don't really care. The leg curl in my opinion is still a solid exercise to use if your trying to build someones hamstrings. Having strong hamstrings is functional!

The next time you do leg curls pay attention to your feet. Your calves can help your hamstrings lift the weight when your feet are dorsiflexed ( your foot facing your body ) and if you plantarflex ( pointing the foot away from the body) your calves with be taken out of the equation. So what does this mean to you and your workout?

GOAL IS TO LIFT MORE WEIGHT ON THE LEG CURL THEN:
***Have your foot facing your body.


GOAL IS MORE HAMSTRING STIMULATION THEN:
***Point your feet away from your body.

GOAL IS TO BLAST THROUGH A PLATEAU THEN:
*** On the concentric part of the leg curl ( bringing the legs toward the body ) have your feet dorsiflexed and use a heavier load than normal. On the eccentric part of the lift ( which we are stronger on ) have your feet plantarflexed and go for a slow tempo.

Monday, July 18, 2011

3 Exercises to add muscle



Here are 3 exercises that people need to do more often to help with your muscle gains.



1) INCLINE DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS- Ok, so I know a ton of people bench and work their pecs, but not many people do incline often and with enough volume. Dumbbells are great because they allow for a greater range of motion more so than the traditional barbell does. Also, incline press will help your anterior delt ( front of the shoulder ) and upper pec to develop at greater speeds which will result in a fuller looking chest. Every 3 weeks or so try to change the angle of the incline slightly to keep yourself progressing in the workouts.



2) STIFF LEG DEADLIFT WITH BARBELL-Nothing beats these in terms of really torching your hamstrings. Focus on a controlled lowering of the bar to get that negative and then explode on the way up. Mix up your rep schemes by going heavier with low reps ( 3-5 ) on some weeks and then going moderate weight with medium reps ( 8-10 ) on others. Make sure you always keep great form and never spare the back by trying to do too much weight1




3) WALL BARBELL BICEP CURLS-I love these things because they help you avoid cheating. Normally you do a standing bicep curl and by the end your rocking, your back and shoulders are working and it becomes a mess. Now that you wont cheat as much you can get greater recruitment of the bicep than before. Get yourself against a wall and keep your butt, and whole back against it the whole lift. I stand with my feet about 1-2 feet away from the wall.

Monday, June 27, 2011

A bigger back with this


T-bar row-10 reps
SUPERSET WITH
Narrow grip lat pulldown-6 reps ( make sure the weight is very heavy for 6 reps )

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 4 more rounds


Decline straight bar row-10 reps
* Set up a decline bench in front of a cable pulley. Put the cable at about hip height. Lying face up on the bench grab the straight bar from behind you and pull the bar towards your thighs keeping your arms locked out and straight.
SUPERSET WITH
Decline dumbbell one arm row-10 reps
* Hold a dumbbell in your right arm and put your right leg out to the side for support. Place your left leg back on the top of the bench. Row the weight up from the floor. The dumbbell should start from the lowest end of the decline bench near the floor.

Rest 90 seconds and repeat for 4 more rounds

Monday, June 13, 2011

Shaking some boredom from todays workout...........




Don't do your normal boring regular old routine today. Instead I want you to scrap whatever workout you were going to do and change things up. We all like to be in a routine in life and it just so happens the same holds true in the gym. Lets face it you start to do what is comfortable and next thing you know you never take that step outside your comfort zone. Maybe you are not even excited for today's workout, maybe you are even dreading it because of the monotony of the whole thing. Below I have given some ideas for you on how to change your workout for today. Who knows maybe a change will do you good.




A) If you usually do splits like back/biceps..or chest/triceps

TRY-Doing back/chest or back/triceps

** Note that doing body part splits is best suited for those looking to gain muscle mass.




B) If you do a certain exercise and or muscle group at the end of the workout


TRY-Doing that at the beginning when fresh and you will see better performance.




C) If you never do supersets or compound sets



TRY-Using both in your workout to amp up the intensity

Superset example- Dumbbell row with squat

Compound set example- Dumbbell chest press with barbell chest press




D) You do nothing but high reps



TRY-Doing nothing but low reps and heavy weight. You will stimulate new muscle and and challenge the body in a new way. Sometimes it feels good to get a heavy day in.





E) You do a low amount of sets.....say 3 sets of 8



TRY-Increasing training volume by doing more sets.....try 6 sets of 8 ( of course you might need to cut down the weight towards the end )






F) You run then lift weights



TRY-Hitting the weights first so you are not maximal strength and then hit your cardio for a brief 10-15 min interval session. This will be more effective and help you potentially burn more fat in your cardio session than carbs.




G) You don't actually workout hard



TRY-Working hard for once and see how much potential you are missing out on!




H) You workout for hours upon hours



TRY-Getting out of the gym within 45min. Cut down on the rest time and pick exercises that hit more muscle fibers and stimulate more growth in less time. Examples are variations of the squat, deadlift, presses and pullups and rows.



Now make it happen and do this today!




Go Dominate

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Get bigger pecs for the beach with this routine...


This routine incorporates the incline press which is great to build a fuller looking chest. If you have shoulder issues you should stay away from this workout since it will be demanding on the shoulder joint. You can use either the incline barbell press or the Hammer strength incline press machine. Start the first set with the most weight possible for 6 reps. The 6th rep should be really difficult if the weight is correct.
1)
Incline barbell press/or Hammer incline strength press machine-1 set at 6 reps

SUPER SET WITH
Flat dumbbell twist press -1 set at 12 reps
*( flat twist press starts off like a traditional press but as you start to press up you want to twist the weight so your palms end up facing your face at the top of the movement. If done right the movement should look like a combo of chest press and chest fly. Make sure to bring the dumbbells together at the top. You will need to use less weight then you would for a regular chest press.
**Rest 90 seconds before doing 1 more set.


2)NOW DROP THE WEIGHT BY ABOUT 2.5-5LBS PER SIDE
Incline barbell press/or Hammer incline strength press machine-1 set at 8 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Flat dumbbell twist press -1 set at 10 reps
**Rest 90 seconds before doing 1 more set.


3) NOW DROP ANOTHER 5 LBS PER SIDE. YOU CAN DROP MORE IF NEED BE.
Incline barbell press/or Hammer incline strength press machine-1 set at 10 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Flat dumbbell twist press -1 set at 8 reps
**Rest 90 seconds before doing 1 more set.


Done. You should have done a total of 6 super set combinations.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Triceps 100


Quick routine to blast the triceps with heavy volume

Reverse grip tricep pushdown ( palms facing up on the bar )-10 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Dips ( use assisted machine if need be )-10 reps
* Repeat this for 5 total rounds without rest which equals 100 total reps ( 50 each exercise )

Done!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Body Composition Series # 2



Another full body workout to decrease body fat and increase lean muscle muscle mass.



A1) One arm row dumbbell-12 reps each arm

A2) Jacknives-10 reps

*Repeat this without rest for 4-5 rounds



B1) Neutral grip shoulder press with dumbbells ( palms face each other on the press )-12 reps

B2) Step up with dumbbell ( medium step..do all one leg before switching )-8 reps per side

* Repeat this without rest for 4-5 rounds



C1) Pullup ( medium grip )10 reps

C2) Deadlift with barbell-6 reps
*Repeat this without rest for 4-5 rounds

** This is tough combo due to grip fatigue



D1) Tricep close grip barbell press-12 reps

D2) Lateral dumbbell lunge ( alternate sides )-8 reps per side

* Repeat this without rest for 4-5 rounds



E1) Standing bicep curl with barbell-10 reps

E2) Ball slams-12 reps

*Repeat this without rest for 4-5 rounds



Now do 3 of your favorite core exercises without rest and repeat it for 3 rounds

Monday, May 9, 2011

Random thoughts......


  • Try moving slow on your lifts. This is a great way to create more tension on the muscle and therefore bring on new growth. On the way down of the movement aim for a 5 second count, and then a 5 second count on the way up as well. Example would be bicep curl lifting the weight towards your face for 5 seconds and then lower the bar back towards the floor. Play around with different counts but don't exceed a 10 second count.

  • Want to burn more calories? Start your day off with a big glass of cold water which will help aid in keeping you more full and will kick start your metabolism. Also, do 25 reps of jumping jacks and 25 jacknives ( burpees ) to get you burning calories early and to get your metabolism going even more.

  • Cant find time for breakfast.....well then make time! Those who have breakfast eat less throughout the day, burn more calories and have smaller waist lines than those who don't. Have I got your attention now? Eat in the am!

  • Eat your spinach! Raw, cooked, steamed etc. Spinach is high in Vitamins A and C, both antioxidants. Also, spinach is a good source of iron and potassium.

  • Having trouble putting on muscle mass? Deadlift and squat more often and your whole body will grow!

  • Don't over look sleep. Sleep is just as important as your eating, workouts and stress. Sleep to get better results!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

New training split


If you are trying to put on some muscle and have found your current training split to be getting dull and your results stagnant then give this try. This split calls for a large frequency and volume of leg work. By doing legs more often you will stimulate more growth hormone and testosterone and bring about new muscle gains. Your legs will take a beating and therefore you need to make sure you stretch and foam roll every day. In this split you will be doing chest just one time a week and back two times a week since most people tend to lack back development. Below is the set up for the training split and descriptions.

MONDAY
Hip dominant leg exercise ( Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, all deadlift variations, glute bridges )
Back
- 1 vertical pull ( pullup, lat pulldown etc )
- 1 horizontal pull ( row variations etc )
- 1 other of your choice

TUESDAY
Biceps
Triceps
-Pick 3 exercises for each muscle

WEDNESDAY
Quad dominant exercise ( squats variations, leg press etc )
Chest
- pick 3 exercises

THURSDAY
Triceps
Biceps
-Pick 3 exercises for each muscle

FRIDAY
Hip dominant exercise
Back

SATURDAY/SUNDAY

OFF

Do this training split for 4 weeks and then cycle off this for a lower leg volume workout. Make sure to eat like crazy because your metabolism will be jacked up and in order to get proper growth you need to feed yourself.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Get a butt! Top 5 glute exercises


1) Full squat-This is the king of butt exercises end of story. You must get into a full deep squat which is thighs parallel to the ground to give your glutes the most work.

2) Deadlifts-If the squat is king then deadlifts are right behind in terms of effectiveness for the glutes. The key is to make sure you push through your heels on every rep to activate the backside of the body. If your doing stiff leg deadlifts you can achieve more glute activation by adding some extra bend in your knees.

3) Bulgarian split squats-A variation of the squat that is great for the glutes. Checkout my old post for the proper technique. http://h4training.blogspot.com/2010/03/eom-bulgarian-split-squat.html

4) High step ups- Proper box height should have your knee resting at a 90 degree angle. I believe you can go with an even higher box every now and then to thrash your glutes even more. When doing the step up make sure to push through your heel of the foot that is on the step. All of the work should take place from the leg that is on the box.

5) Hip thrusts- This is a great exercise that trainer Brett Contreras has made popular. The key to this is to focus on squeezing the glutes throughout and not allow your back to do the work. Watch this video to get all the details. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCm-70-9_XE