On Tuesday 26th October I was an interview guest on Radio Hauraki on the Matt and Jerry Show (@mattandjerryshow) covering the subject of how best to train your glutes for maximum growth. Dealing with an apparent male Kiwi phenomenon of NAS - No Arse (Ass?) Syndrome.
Here is the full interview clipped from the full show -
James Schofield Interview on Matt and Jerry Show Radio Hauraki October 2021
Scroll down for more in depth tips as I prepared more than I got to say, as is always the way with Radio!
Tips for Building the Best Glutes You can:
Glutes are made up of Glute Maximus and Glute Medius.
Glute Max - main, chunky part of the glute
Glute Med - The top of the glute near the pelvis sweeping out to the side of the leg
If you have back pain, performing basic glute activation exercises will help - clamshells and glute bridges as standard starters, often prescribed by physios.
Now, as for the BEST glute exercises as determined by science.
These are -
Step Ups - due to the large stabilisation aspect of single leg work.
Hip Thrusts - due to the loading parameters (you can move a lot of weight) and focus of the exercise.
Lunges - due to the unilateral aspect as per the step ups.
It is also worth noting
Top tips for these to improve glute activation even more would be -
Step Ups - Step to a higher box or step, and squeeze when you reach the top of the movement.
Hip Thrusts - Pause and hold a squeeze at the top of the movement.
Lunges - Deficit lunge where you elevate the front foot which increases range of motion and puts more emphasis on the glutes, as does leaning forward at the torso slightly when you do the movement.
All of these outperformed squats and deadlifts, though they provided high levels of Glute Max activity also.
It is worth noting additionally that Single Leg Squat variations and Hex or Trap bar deadlifts outperformed normal squats and deadlifts.
The exercises I just listed provided the MOST AVERAGE activation over the duration of the exercise and also the HIGHEST output in terms of PEAK contraction.
To maximally fire the glute medius, you would want to use Abduction exercises like:
If you want to listen to the full show (interview at 53 minutes) it is below -
Or if searching in the future it is 'Show Highlights October 26'
Hope you enjoy and find the tips useful! This was a nice moment for me because when I djed a lot as a younger I spent a lot of time on pirate radio stations in London! (Radio Hauraki was the first New Zealand pirate radio station, first broadcasting in 1966.)
Thanks,
James