Back Pain and Building Booty

So I've been on a short bulking phase since the second week in February.  Everything was going fine until I hurt my lower back during deadlifts.  It happened after I went up on my weight (which necessary to gain mass) So after several more sessions with low back pain, I've decided to take a rest.  So what do I do now? (I need to build these glutes!!)

First, I have cut back on my calories, if you are trying to put on mass you need a surplus of calories ( I was taking in about 2000-2200 calories with 120-135 grams of protein)  I will prob go down to about 1500-1600 and see how my body starts to react.

Second, change the workout.  Instead of mass building and back breaking squats, deadlifts, and hip thrusts.  I am going to avoid these exercises completely for the next few days.  Instead, I am going to focus on incline walks, incline sprints, and yoga.  These exercises still work the glutes, so I while I won't be putting on mass, I can work on the shape of them.  After a few days I will start back on glutes using single leg workouts (single leg squats, deadlifts, leg lifts) which tend to pull a little less on the back.  Hopefully after that I will be able to slowly incorporate weights back into my workout.

Although I'm slightly disappointed because this is holding me back from bikini season! This does give me time to hopefully loose some of the stomach fat that I have accumulated.  It's much better to rest and try to recover from  an injury instead of continuing to aggravate it until it get serious.

Eating for a Bigger Butt

The diet for bigger glutes is the same as any muscle building regimen.
"Bulking" up your muscles requires eating more calories than you burn. You don't want to eat a diet full of extra junk calories, stick to protein sources, whole grain carbohydrates, legumes, vegetables including non starchy varities, and fruits. 

You can add between 200-300 extra calories per day.  Everybody is different so gauge it after several to weeks, take notice of changes in measurement.  You might need to increase that amount if you are still burning too many calories to add extra muscles. Be care with this as after I lost of the weight I wanted and started focusing on bulking up my muscles, the extra wiggle room in my diet led to cravings.  Long story short, I gained 10 lbs of FAT! ( Granted there were some other things, such as a 3 week vacay without a gym that led to my demise)  This is why I must STRESS eating clean even though you can eat more.

Also to get a bigger booty you must be weight training with progressive overload to encourage your muscle fibers to grow.  Check out my butt building workout for ideas on which exercises to do.

How to Get a Bigger Booty

To achieve that rounder, plump derriere you have to be patient and relentless.  It comes down to diet and exercise.  My one piece of advice is that if you have any weight to loose..lOSE IT FIRST! Your butt will appear bigger if your waist is smaller.  Also for your glute muscles to grow you will have to eat, so you want the rest of your body to be as close to perfect as you want.  I will continue to add posts about losing weight and gaining glutes.

In my journey to a plumper derriere, I lost weight and everything was looking better until I started eating more for my muscles.  I began to get used to eating more food and I started eating the WRONG kind of food and gain some weight back.  But! I did see an inch and half gain from when my butt was it's flattest to now.  Also the difference between my glutes then and now is that I haven't lost inches, just muscle mass.  My glutes are much looser and I cannot feel that "hunk" (lol) of muscle that I once felt.

So, for now I am on the same track as other ladies who need to lose weight, but would like a bigger butt.  Eat a lower calorie diet, while maintaining protein intake as much as possible and working your butt up in the gym!

So how to get a bigger booty:
1) Use exercise that targets glutes (try my butt building workout click here)
2) Squeeze glutes!!! Exercise is pointless if you aren't really targeting those glutes.
3) If you are not in need of losing weight, then eat more! Yes eat more! You need extra calories so grow your muscles.
4) Protein shakes, after every workout and in the morning if possible (more to come about shakes in the future)

These are well known general guidelines more specifics coming in the future.

Healthy Dinner Idea-BBQ Pita Burger

For one burger:
3 oz grilled hamburger*
1 tbs. bbq sauce ( i LOVE sweet baby ray's, worth the 35 calories)
lettuce
tomato slices
half pita loaf**

Nutritional Info:
271 calories
6.8 grams fat
25.8 carbs
25.8 protein

*lean ground beef
**75 calories for half whole wheat pita loaf

So delicious! I spray a little canola oil and sprinkled a pinch of garlic salt before filling the pita pocket with the beef and sauce and putting it back  the grill.  (if you don't have a grill use the over or stove top to heat the pita up ) Top the warm pocket with lettuce and tomato for a fresh crunch just like a burger!

Change it up!
-use turkey or chicken (potentially saving some calories)
-make it Mexican inspired, add sliced pepper and a little bit of cheese

Pumped Glutes After Workout

These are my measurement directly before my butt building strength training workout (exercises listed in my last post).  I gained at 1/2 inch "pump" after my workout. 
So what is muscle "pump"?                    

It's that tight, full feeling you get after training muscles.  Blood is pumped to your muscles to give your cells the energy

they need to fuel your workout.  The pump is the blood and other products pooled in your muscles.  Muscle pump is a good indicator you've effectively targeted that body area and with proper diet should experience muscle growth over time.  To get that muscle growth you need to be progressively moving up with weights and doing the right exercises to target those muscles.