Yahoo Lifestyle ‘I Did This 6-Week Glutes Challenge And Saw Gains In Every Area Of My Fitness’
My love for endurance sports like hiking, biking, and swimming, combined with my general aversion to the gym and natural body type has always made gaining muscle and lifting heavy a challenge for me. But, after suffering from a running-related hip injury earlier this year, I knew I had to focus energy on strengthening my glutes to heal and prevent further issues—especially since I have a marathon coming up at the end of September.
I tried pilates and barre-style workouts, as well as exercises with resistance bands, but none of those workouts really helped increase my glute strength in any noticeable way. So, I hit the gym knowing I had to lift heavier weights and follow a progressive overload plan to really see an impact. But, I was feeling a little lost when it came to programming and equipment—until I started the Women's Health 6-week Glute Gains Challenge.
Created by Sandy Brockman, CPT, the program contains three workouts that target the three different areas of your glutes, as well as a guide for increasing the load over the course of the challenge.
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The first workout of the program was the squat-focused lower-body burn.
I had a busy day, so I decided to tackle the workout at home with a set of 1o-pound dumbbells. While looking at photos of myself doing the exercises, I realized just how limited my mobility was. Between sitting all day at a desk and frequently skipping my post-run stretches, I really struggled to sit deep in a squat or keep my back straight during a Romanian deadlift. So, my first goal became apparent. Increase mobility!
Luckily, the program is perfectly designed to help you do just that. Each workout includes a warm-up that helps you activate your glutes, as well as two lifts that each include two exercises and a corrective.
The corrective helps increase hip-flexor mobility to better access your glutes. While I was used to seeing these types of movements in warm-ups and cool-downs, I had never done them mid-session and it made a world of difference. Instead of losing range of motion after each set as I got tired, I gained it, allowing me to go deeper into the movement.
The second workout targets the gluteus medius with deadlift variations and lateral lunges. I did the workout with 10- and 15-pound dumbbells in a hidden corner of the gym. Even at times during my fitness journey when I could lift heavier weights, I’ve always been intimidated by the squat racks and opted for using dumbbells or kettlebells. So after doing the second workout, my next goal became clear: Get more comfortable in the gym.
The final workout quickly became my favorite of the three. The unilateral movements like weighted step-ups and hip hinges made me feel more confident running on my injury, and the hip thruster is where I increased my load most throughout the program (from 1o pounds to 45 pounds).
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For the next three weeks I focused on adding weight 10 to 15 pounds at a time.
My gym is usually busy, so I often had to resort to dumbbells, but when I could, I started doing some of the moves on the smith machine. My confidence quickly grew and I realized I could lift much heavier than I thought I could. I was definitely improving my strength physically, but much of what I was conquering was mental, as I previously doubted my ability to lift heavy weights.
For the first few weeks, I was feeling great, but week four really took it out of me.
By halfway through the first workout, my legs were sore and I was having trouble putting up the new weight, even with a lowered rep count of six. I wasn’t sure if I had hit a plateau or just needed some R&R, so I skipped the second workout and my run the next day. When the time came for the third workout of the week, I lowered my weight and focused on form.
While it was a blow to my ego, especially after feeling so great for the first few weeks, reminding myself of my goal to increase mobility and work on form helped me get through the week.
For the final two weeks, I wasn’t able to increase my weight quite as drastically as I did at the beginning.
But, I was still seeing improvements, especially in the fundamental exercises like squats and deadlifts. I did my first set of deadlifts in week one with just two 10-pound dumbbells, but by that last week, I was up to two 2o-pound weights, and I even did a set with a 45-pound kettlebell. My mobility had increased significantly and I was feeling confident using the smith machine to perform the squats and hip thrusts.
My Biggest Takeaways From The Glute Gains Challenge
Lifting heavy is important: There is no way to grow your glutes without consistent progressive overload, and no amount of fire hydrants or glute pulses will provide you with the results that mastering the fundamental lifts will. As someone who doesn’t always love going to the gym, this is a tough pill to swallow, but this program gave me the tools I needed to begin the journey. The week-by-week guide to reps and weight, as well as the simple workouts that focused on fundamentals over complicated movements, made it easy for me to get to the gym and get it done.
Something is better than nothing: While I’d love to say I made it to the gym for every workout of the program, life got in the way a few times. Sometimes I was able to do the workout at home with equipment I have around my apartment, but during particularly busy times the 7-minute, equipment-free glute workout created by Brockman came in handy. It not only let me squeeze in a fast sweat sesh, but it also helped sustain my motivation throughout the program, even when I had to skip longer workouts.
Food matters: The program provides some easy-to-follow guidance for ensuring you are fueling your body properly. Of course, protein is the most important when it comes to growing muscle, but as a vegetarian I don’t always eat enough of it. So during the program I made sure to ramp up my intake by drinking protein shakes and having extra servings of protein like beans, eggs, and nuts every day. I noticed that this not only benefited my gym workouts, but also helped my running and overall satiety.
After completing the program, my hips and glutes feel strong and pain-free.
Because the program focuses on fundamentals, it will meet you where you are whether you’re an avid lifter looking to work on your mobility or a complete beginner learning to do these exercises for the first time.
I am excited to try the program again in the future with new goals like deadlifting heavier weights and becoming comfortable on the squat rack. All in all, whether you’re looking to grow your booty, increase functional fitness, or gain confidence in the gym, The Glute Gains Challenge can help you get there.
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