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Unleash Your Glute Potential

| Movement

Glute maximus is the largest muscle in the body, now its time to make it strong!
Follow this 8-week program to ‘maximise’ maximus and its friend’s glute Medius and Minimus.

Getting stronger glutes can:
1. Reduce back pain
2. Reduce knee pain
3. Improve pelvic posture
4. Improve walking and running abilities
5. Improve athletic performances like lifting, running, jumping etc.
6. Improve aesthetic appearance

The program requires 3x p/wk. Each session consists of 4 exercises. Above I mentioned this as an 8-week program. Truth be told the purpose of this program is to improve progressively and give you a taste. You might choose to continue this after 8 weeks and that’s fine, its just important to change and tweak things if progression has stopped or the program feels stagnant.

Please keep a day’s rest in-between sessions. You could focus on upper body, or cardiovascular improvements on those days, like a Function Well HIIT class.

This program has been written by performance coach Jack Parker.

  • Warm Up

    The warm ups can be very easy and standard.
    1. 3-5mins of cardio machine to increase heart rate.
    2. 1min wall sit
    3. 1min glute bridge hold
    4. 10 dead bugs
    5. Warm up sets for the first exercise.

  • Session 1

    1. Barbell Hip Thrusts (5 sets, 8 reps, 2mins rest)
    2. Dumbbell reverse lunges, NO alternating (4 sets, 8 reps each leg, 90s rest)
    3. Conventional Deadlift (3sets, 8 reps, 90s rest)
    4. Banded hip abduction (3 sets, 20reps each side, 90s rest)

  • Session 2

    1. Bulgarian split squats (3 sets, 10 reps each leg, 90s rest)
    2. Dumbbell Staggered stance Romanian deadlifts (3 sets, 10 reps each leg, 90s rest)
    3. GHD glute ham raises (3 sets, 10 reps each leg, 90s rest)
    4. Glute kickbacks machine (3 sets, 10 reps each leg, 90s rest)

  • Session 3

    1. Barbell hip thrusts (4 sets, 15 reps, 90s rest)
    2. Barbell back squats (4 sets, 15 reps, 90s rest)
    3. Barbell Romanian deadlifts (4 sets, 15 reps, 90s rest)
    4. Side plank + banded clam’s (3 sets, 15 reps, 90s rest)

  • EXECUTING THE EXERCISES / SESSION:

    It’s really important that you remove ego and focus a lot on mastering the movements. Our goal is progressive overload so your aim is to use the same weight across each set and achieve the desired reps. Each session you can look to increase the weight slightly, but only if you hit the desired rep range the session before. The sets listed above are working sets, not warm up sets. The first session will take a little bit of trail and error to obtain a correct weight. The way I recommend this is to think about your reps in reserve, meaning if you finish your first set of 8 reps on the barbell hip thrusts and you think “I could have completed 5 more reps” its probably a little light. Find a weight that’s challenging that when you finish you think I probably only had 2-3 left.

  • MAXIMISING YOUR PROGRESS:

    As mentioned above it would be best to make sure you have a day in-between session where you’re not taxing the same muscle groups.

    As adults we should all be aiming for somewhere between 7-9hrs sleep each night. If you regularly get less, you will find long term wise it may inhibit progress, increase the likelihood of injury, increase your pain perception (meaning you will notice your body aches more!) and your energy levels will also drop.

    Nutrition requirements will vary from person to person with regards to the amount of food and therefore our individual macronutrient ranges. However, protein is key to muscle maintenance and growth and I would recommend and range between 1.6-2.0g /kg/BW meaning if you weight 100kg you daily protein range is 160-200g of protein (that’s roughly 700-800g of chicken breast per day, if we’re assuming per 100g of chicken breast equates to 25g protein).

    To calculate fats and carbs you would normally do so off having an estimation of an individual’s Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). This is calculated using our height, weight, age and estimated physical activity level. However, if you’re not looking to be as precise as that, its important to note that carbohydrates will help with the quality of your training, they help provide your muscles with the fuel needed to perform. The better sessions you have, the more development you can potentially make.

    With regards to fats, they might not improve your training sessions in the moment, but if you consume too little for a long time it may start to affect sex steroid hormones that impact our recovery. Along with mood, potential body composition and our libido.

  • SUPPLEMENT SUGGESTIONS:

    Protein whey: This will help when needed to reach protein target.

    Caffeine: Take 45min before training can improve quality of training (Dosage may range from 2-6mg/Kg/BW.

    Creatine monohydrate: taken regularly and after training. Will also aid training quality and strength.

    Vitamin D: May improve immune function/muscle function/ overall health

    Fish oils: May improve strength/cardiovascular health/ reduce inflammation/ Overall health.

    Remember all above is a suggestion, ideally you would sit down with a nutritionist (like myself) to understand more on your individual needs through an analysis.