I officially signed up to the gym around the end of June and have been extremely consistent since then in the amount of times a week I actually go to the gym. I have only been going for roughly two and a half months and I obviously don’t expect to see instant changes or results, especially since I struggle to correct my diet, however, I recently have begun to feel a difference in my glutes. I will be honest, it is the part I train the most, mainly two times a week whilst balancing my workouts for the rest of my body around that.

It was actually yesterday that I actually acknowledged the fact that there is a difference from before I started to now, the middle of September, in my glutes. I did start to notice and feel a little bit before yesterday but a part of me did not want to get too excited and I did think it was my imagination. But as of yesterday, it definitely is real.

Bear in mind while reading this article, I do all my workouts alone, I don’t have a personal trainer and I certainly am NOT a personal trainer and I don’t work out with friends or acquaintances. This was all from me and my hard work and consistency as well as the workout tips I discovered online until I was able to build my own glute workout routine. So definitely shout out to all the cool women on Instagram who don’t gatekeep their best exercises.

It is important to remember the three key aspects when training in a gym, not matter what you are training. It’s all well and good to do 10 hip thrusts and go home, but that won’t matter in a few months time when you look back and can’t understand why there is no difference from when you started until later on. The three key factors I have learnt that may be exhausting to hear but are foundationally true are as follows: 1) Warm ups. Warm ups are important for any part of your body that you are specifically targeting each so as to avoid injuries, pulling muscles as well as to pump the blood more to prepare for the workout. They may be annoying to do, but they are important and overall good for better results in the future. 2) Consistency. Consistency is actually key for everything in life, I have painfully come to notice. When I said just now that it’s all good to do 10 hip thrusts and go home, well, it’s genuinely all good if you stay consistent with your workouts. You don’t always have to do the same exercises or routine for each part of the body, but you must be consistent in order to receive actual sustainable results. Rest days are also important and maybe I should have made that the fourth key factor because you don’t want to burn yourself out, but the point is to keep a consistent flow going at a pace that best suits you, while remembering to take those rest days.

3) Diet. I think that’s the most important one. Everyone says so, it has been the dominant key in anyone’s fitness journey since the beginning of time and it is very unfortunately true. As I said, I struggle to keep a consistent, clean diet, but I do try and sometimes push myself extra hard at the gym if I feel I can and if I feel I should. But that does NOT make up for a bad diet. Diet is key for overall health and wellness and the most obvious and most important key factor when doing anything physical. It is also important to remember that you cannot do extreme, intense workouts on an empty or low-fuel stomach. If you want to lose weight, a calorie deficit with the right amount of proteins and carbs and all that is the correct route to go and you should probably consult a nutrionist before creating your own deficit, because it can be dangerous. Your body needs full fuel to maintain energy throughout any of your workouts.

That being said, I am basing this article around my personal glute workout routine and how my results have shown up. It is not a huge difference from before, but there is a noticeable enough difference for me to be sharing my experience and progress and writing this blog about it.

Warm-Ups:

As I said, this is one of the very main key factors in any workout. A warm-up can be quick and easy depending on how intense your workout is and the amount of workouts you are doing.

These are some of my favourite warm-ups that activate the entire bit of my lower body and prepare my muscles for the workout.

• Side lunges
• Windshield wipers
• Goddess pose
• Unweighted, deep squats
• Lizard pose to half splits (each side)
• Frog Pose and move slowly back and forth
• Kickbacks

Feel free to Google some of these if you are unfamiliar with the names as a lot of people call each one different things.

And you can add any other warm-up you deem suitable for yourself that will help the blood pump and activate the glute/leg muscles. I didn’t put a specific number of sets or reps, as you can choose to do as many as you feel is necessary or according to how much time you have.

Workout Routine:

This is obviously the main point of this article, the actual workout routine. You can do these in the order that you prefer and add in other workouts on different days to level out the muscle growth throughout your glutes and legs. These are just the main workouts that I personally do not skip on a specific glute focused day and the ones I believe have aided in my slight but noticeable glute growth. Please keep in mind I am no expert on sports or gym training.

• Leg abduction machine – 3 sets x 10 reps

I like to also start with this one right after the warm-ups as it gets the glute muscles even more warmed up, especially if you lean your body a bit forward, keeping a straight back. I use the out leg abduction machine as the inner one mainly targets inner thighs, but you can do both abduction exercises. Remember not to use a weight too heavy for you, I have worked my way up from 25kg to 45kg now.

• Weighted squats – 4 sets x 8 reps

This is highly dependent on the weight you can actually squat. If you want to go a lighter weight, feel free to make it 3 sets with 10 or 12 reps. I tend to squat with 40kg and the point is to intentionally go slow while squatting up and down. You can use the smith machine for this but I prefer to go with a free bar, as I have accidentally injured my lower back using it. It can be dangerous if you make any wrong moves with any weight, you must be cautious at all times.

• Bulgarian split squats – 4 sets x reps

One of my favourite exercises to do within the entire workout. They can burn your glutes and quads but they make it burn in such a good way that you can feel it’s working. The way you position your leg will determine which part of your lower body you are actually training. I am still finding out which is best for me to do, to have the foot on the ground more forward, or more back, but either way is good and assist with leg day. Just focus on your glute and which position you feel the burn in your glute more. I do this with one 10kg dumbbell in my hand whilst holding onto a bar for balance. Remember to keep your back naturally straight, never arched or bent.

• RDLS’S – 3 sets x reps

These ones can be quite tricky to begin with but get easier the more you practice them. The main point of this is also to intentionally squeeze your glutes when you pull yourself back up from the low bend, as you will feel the muscles tense up as you revert to standing upright. I have gone from 6kg dumbbells to 12kg and wanting to transition to 14kg. This can is also a lower back strain exercise and it is important to not overdo the training if you feel any pain the back whatsoever.

• Hip-thrusts – 3 sets x 8 reps

You can do more reps with this if you wish, but if you feel tired and your muscles are exhausted, keep this one at a minimum, or keep whichever exercise you do last to a minimum.

This is also squeezing the glutes when you get to the top of your hip thrust and slowly releasing as you go back down to bring it up again. I also do 40kg with this one which is more than enough for me for now, but you use whatever weight you are most comfortable with. This is apparently one of the game changing workouts and is an absolute must to include in your glute routine.

Those are my main, favourite exercises that I try not to skip and that have helped me so far in my fitness journey. It is important to remember that everyone’s progress has different paces and no one is ahead or behind, the main thing is that you show up for yourself.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that using the stair master frequently is another major aid in glute growth. I think the reason I may have seen such quick results is because I try to go on the stair master 3-4 times a week for about 10 – 20 minutes, depending on what I am training that day and how I feel. Otherwise, I opt to go on the treadmill and walk at an elevation of 4.5 or jog at an elevation of 4.0. Cardio plays a big role in overall lower body strength and retention. But the stair master is the golden key to almost anything in your fitness routine, but mainly glute growth.

That is a wrap on glute growth, I wish you all the best and happy training! Come back to this workout article for motivation and inspiration to get the rump growing fast!