Setbacks and Regrets

By the far the hardest part about improving my physique is eating.  Right now I'm supposed to be on deficit and some days I am successful, others not so much.  Consistency is so important to building a physique, I'm not progressing as I wish. While writing this..I am snacking on Christmas chocolates from nuns (I had to eat it, right?)

So instead of getting frustrated at my body for not changing, I have to challenge myself to stick to my macronutrient/caloric requirements.

Tomorrow is a new day.  So I will wake up with the same goals-stick to my plan.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

List of Booty Building Exercises

This a working list.  I will add and edit this list as needed.

moderate stance squats
wide leg squats
sumo squats
narrow stance squats
front squats
Zercher squats

conventional deadlifts
Romanian deadlifts
single leg deadlifts
good mornings

lunges
curtsy lunges
walking lunges
reverse lunges
smith machine lunges
Bavarian lunges
side lunges

hip hyperextension-can be performed a variety of ways
hip thrusts
alternating hip thrusts


These exercises all involve flexion and extension of the knee, hip, and ankle joints, but I find that some target glutes more effectively for my body.  Everybody is different, so try a variety until you find what works best for you.  I don't do all these exercises, as some are too stressful on my back.

Weekly Workout Routine for a Bigger Butt

I received an email from a beautiful lady named Velie asking to post a week's worth of workouts. I love getting emails because it reminds there is actually some really use for this blog.  

Right now, I'm still working on decreasing body fat, so I am on a calorie deficit and I have increased my cardio.   [let me also say this, even though I have been on a deficit my glutes have still been improving..firmer, rounder, higher..it looks bigger even though it hasn't grown in inches since I have been on a deficit)

If you are trying to increase booty mass, you need a caloric surplus and I would suggest lifting heavy twice a week (glutes) spaced apart as far as you can.

Include about 15-20 intense cardio like walking lunges, squat jumps, incline sprints etc. These are exercises that will increase your heart rate, but also will work glutes. For example: on treadmill use incline, on elliptical push thru the heels,  on stair step push thru the heels and squeeze with every step; squat jumps and lunges (all of their variations) just squeeze with every rep. 

Note: I do not have a set workout schedule.  I ALWAYS do a heavy leg day at least once per week.  This is just an example because on days I have extra time I'll do 1 hour moderate cardio, if I don't have a lot of time I'll do 20 min of intense cardio.  No matter what type of cardio I do there is always a focus on glutes.  

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Heavy Leg Day: Warm-Up (using dumbbells) Reverse Lunges [15, 20, then 25 lbs] *Curtsy Lunge to Side Lunge [body weight] Single Leg Deadlifts [15, 20, 25 lbs] Squats (on Smith Machine) [135, 185, 205] *Lunge (on Smith Machine) [135, 155, 175] **Hip Hyperextension (on cable machine) [30,40, 50 lbs]  **I do this two different ways, leg straight and with the knee bent **Hip Thrusts (dumbbells, preferably Olympic bar) [55, 55, 65 lbs] Deadlifts (curl bar or dumbbells) [weight varies] Hip Adductor/Abductor Machines [weight varies] Tips -Only goes as heavy  as your form will allow - I usually do about 3 sets of 10; but I might do 2 sets of 6 or 3 sets of 5, or even 3 sets of 12; it depends of how much I'm lifting and more importantly how much my back can handle (i have a bad back) -If you don’t feel it working in your butt, you are probably just using your leg muscles *These exercises are the best at isolating just the glutes, practice these with and without weight to train your glutes to start contracting.	Rest	Rest Day	Cardio (1hr) Incline Walking Jogging Jump Rope Arms/Abs (I usually do a mix of light weight and body weight exercises)	HIIT cardio (20 min) Squat jumps Plank Lunge jumps Burpees Walking Lunges Plank Single Leg Deadlifts Tips -Squeeze your glutes with every single rep -This day could be another heavy leg day, where you could decrease weights, and increase reps; I’m choosing to do cardio (with glute emphasis) because I’m trying to lose weight.	Rest Day	Cardio (1hr) Incline Walking Jogging Jump Rope Arms/Abs

How to Really Make Your Booty Grow

So you're doing a 100 squats a day and you still don't see any growth?
I will try to help with some a couple of tips.

1.  If you don't "feel it" in the glutes, either during or after your workout, chances are your legs are doing most of the work.  To fix this I suggest doing exercises that specifically target the glutes like hip thrusts or hip extensions (even better at the beginning of your workout, then progressing to more compound exercises like squats).

2. Another suggestion would be to do this without weight until you really can use the glute muscles.  I say this all the time but you have to squeeze the glutes to activate them.

3. Don't just do squats.  I feel like I better results with walking lunges, barbarian lunges, hip thrusts, split squats, and deadlifts, than just squats alone.  The truth is I don't do many squats because of my bad back.  When I do squat I don't do a bunch of reps (between 4-7) because of my back, but I do try to lift heavy.

4. The other things that can halt results is not eating enough.  I think this is another reason women who do tons of weight lifting are not growing.  I try to always get a surplus of calories on the days I work my glutes.  This is sometimes difficult if you are eating healthy, so plan ahead.

5.  If you don't already drink protein shakes, START! I saw the biggest change when I consistently drank my protein shakes.  I use GNC ampliflied wheybolic.  I don't know a bunch about supplementation, but this stuff works!! It's waaaay better than other proteins I've tried.

6.  Be consistent and patient.  I work glutes twice a week almost every week.  Its not easy for women to build muscle, its takes time.


Good Luck!

Thoughts on Carb Cycling

Just to be clear I am a amateur.  I don't want to look like a figure model. Or at least that is not my immediate goal.  I am  just beginning to test carb cycling.  I've been eating low carb on days I don't weight train and high carb on glute days.  While I've seen short term results on my ab (yes!) I found I wasn't getting enough calories on low carb days.  I have not yet mastered tons of eggs or meat.  I'm going to start becoming a bit more flexible on my diet and start listening more to body.  I want to ensure I get enough calories and protein to support my weight training.

On another note, I finally got a sugar craving after 5 weeks without sweets (like cakes, brownies, donuts) and I think it has something to do with the lack of carbs I've been consuming.  I do not like where that is going because I feel like it might lead to a worthless cheat.   I'd much rather use that for a date with my man.  So I gave in a ate some pineapples (big whoop) and I kinda of felt bad but why?? I need to be positive and love myself and body.  Negativity and guilt associated with pineapples sounds sad..another reason I don't see myself competing.

As for the carb cycling, I think I'll just avoid carbs at dinner, except on weight training days.  Breakfast and other meals I feel NEED carbs.  I'm a student! I need energy and brain power.

Good Morning!

 

 I woke sore and satisfied.  I'm still not doing my entire workout for building glutes because of my back injury.  It feels a lot better, but until I get my core strength majorly improved  those will be avoided (mainly deadlifts and heavy squats)

The workout:

deep step ups

walking lunges until failure
side lunges with bar
4x10 deep step ups

walking lunges until failure
3x10 plie squats

2x10 each leg hip hyperextension
walking lunges until faiure
3x10 hip thrust with bar

then-> 10 minutes of hill sprints



Remember! I used light weights, but you must continue lift heavier and heavier weight to make real gains + surplus of calories.  I can tell a slight difference in growth, but I changes in shape and it's becoming firmer.