By Chris Martinez CISSN and Eric Martinez CISSN. We remember when all we cared about was having a big chest, massive arms, and a ripped mid-section. As we got older, we came to realize that why follow the other typical male standards of a complete physique. We said to ourselves “we love women that have a nice, firm, and shaped booty.” So we thought why the heck are we not growing ourselves a nice backside as well. We went on to do whatever we could to get our glutes to salute!
A very wise man, also known as Bret Contreras aka “The Glute Guy” once said “The glutes have multiple subdivisions and functions, and it’s therefore necessary to perform a variety of glute exercises in order to maximize activation and muscular shape throughout the entire gluteus maximus.”
Pretty much in a nutshell your glutes carry a large load and have a big job all around and if you want nicely shaped glutes, you better work them right. So why is it that some of us neglect these beautiful Assets? More importantly we have come to realization that mainly men neglect their booty muscles. So as the famous Monday Night Football Countdown crew would say, “Come On Man!”
Now ladies, I hope you would agree with us 100% that men should also have nice booties as well, right? Please give us an “amen” or a “halleluiah if you agree!” So, gentlemen you see, women appreciate nice booties just the way us males appreciate a nice pair of glutes on a female. Therefore it is only fair that the opposite sex also put in the necessary work to get their glutes to salute as well!
Time after time we have heard so many excuses when it comes to men not wanting to work on their glutes. A couple of examples are as follows: It’s too feminine, it looks like your humping a bar while hip thrusting, and women only should work on their booties. Once again, “Come On Man!”
In all honesty these are some bogus excuses. At the end of the day men choose not to target their glute muscles because they either do not know how to activate them properly, it’s too hard for them, or their good ole egos kick in while performing curls in the squat rack. There is nothing worse as a man putting on a pair of jeans, especially $200 jeans and knowing you have a flat ass. Seriously guys, chicks dig the glutes too, ask a group of females if you do not believe us.
If you’re thinking standing only exercises activate the glutes best, think again guys. A study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) conducted in 2006 showed that a simple bodyweight quadruped hip extension activated more gluteus maximus and medius muscle than a max squat. This exercise is performed by getting on the ground on all fours and extending one bent leg rearward. It also outperformed the lunge, step up, and single leg squat exercise.
Epic glutes are not just for women!
Instead of getting a bunch of in-direct work from squats and deadlifts, why not try some direct work such as hip thrusts, glute bridges, reverse hypers, glut-ham raises, and heavy kettle bell swings. Training your glutes directly could potentially have a carryover effect onto compound movements such as squats and deadlifts and we will explain more about this in a few seconds.
The take away message here is don’t be afraid to get on all fours or lay on your backs to perform glute exercises. We promise as much as you guys like watching women perform these glute exercises, they will return the favor and eye ball your booty muscles working.
Stay with us fellas, we are almost finished here. If you are still thinking you shouldn’t train your glutes or they won’t carry over on other big lifts… “Come On Man!” There is plenty of anecdotal research out there from various strength and conditioning coaches that will change your minds and show that by targeting your glute muscles more, will definitely have a carry over to all other training. The best style of training for the glutes borrows from each of these fields: bodybuilding, powerlifting, and athletic training in order to maximize the stimuli on the glutes. Ever seen the glutes on pro athletes? Do you really think they don’t work their glute muscles? If you say no, “Come On Man!”
Wrapping this all up
After reading this article, we hope men do not feel like we are bashing them. When we first started training we were in the same boat and never thought targeting the glutes were important. To be quite honest, we are pretty proud of the glutes we have built ourselves. We wrote this article to give the male species a heads up to start training their glutes more often and that there are nothing but Ass-tastic (fantastic) benefits by doing so. As we mentioned early, you do not want to be that guy with the flat butt, women appreciate a nice pair of glutes as well. And if you like to back it up on the dance floor, my goodness, will having a strong pair of glutes only help you and probably get you more dance partners as well.
So, the main take home message here is to not neglect your glute muscles gentleman. Make sure to activate them properly and train them hard just like any other muscle group and we promise you will love the results. And, if you still don’t believe us on all this glute talk, ask Bret “The Glute Guy” Contreras for his thoughts, he will definitely drop more glute knowledge than us and, if you don’t believe what he says, then… “COME ON MAN!”
Referernces:
Glutes Demystified, Debunked, and Re-Examined. Bret Contreras and Kellie Davis.
ACE 2006 http://www.getglutes.com/Great_Glutes_Revealed.pdf
For an awesome glute workout, click here!
“No Excuses, Only Solutions!”
