When it comes to glute exercises, there are no shortage of options. However,
which exercises are you focusing on? If you're struggling to build a bigger backside right now,
you're going to want to watch to the end of this video because I'm going to give you the
two exercises that you need to focus on if you want to start seeing your best results.
Now, others may want you to believe that there are only two exercises that you need
and that all other glute exercises just don't provide any additional benefit. That's not what
I'm saying. But if you don't have these two boxes checked in combination with each other,
you're going to struggle to build your best glutes possible. With this bare minimum approach,
you can be assured of the fact that you're going to have an effective combination of exercises to
use and more so be able to focus on fewer things so you can get to where you want to be faster.
What's up guys, Jeff Cavaliere, Athlean-X.com. So, you might be surprised to hear me say only two,
especially considering all the glute training content we have here on this channel. But when
it comes to rounding out that ugly flat butt or putting some meat in the seat,
there are two exercises that stand out amongst all others. Now, I'm not saying that the rest of the
glute exercises that you're doing are worthless, it's just that if you're only going to do two,
you've got to make sure that these are them. And oh, by the way, if you thought all along
that this was one of them, it's not. Well, not quite, because it's not the
exercise always, but how you do the exercise that makes it more effective for the goal at
hand. If you're trying to build a bigger butt this is not the way to do it because the bar
placement here is a high bar placement. What you want to do is get that bar a lot lower into a
low bar position. This is going to rest more on the back or rear delt instead of up here on the
back of your traps. And the reason is because it's physics, right? It shifts the bar into a
position that will automatically place your body in a position to better recruit your glutes.
In a typical high bar squat, the torso is going to remain more upright through the descent, which
is going to make the quads do more of the work. But when you shift that bar down into the low bar
position, instantly it's going to tilt your torso a little bit more forward. But more importantly,
have to counteract that for balance sake to have your glutes shift backwards. In other words,
hinging more at the hips. And what that will do is light up those glutes. In other words,
recruit them a lot better than they were in a typical high bar position.
Now, there's one downside to this is that at the top of the squat, you're actually going to
lose some of that tension on the glutes as they get to that peak contraction. But that's common
for all squat variations. But remember, this is a two-exercise combo and I'll take care of that
in a second. Oh, by the way, you don't want to use these if you're doing this exercise. If you
put a pad on your back, all you're going to do is push this bar further backwards, which is going to
demand a lot more mobility through your shoulders that you likely don't have already. Don't do it.
Just put the bar in the right position and this becomes the first of the two best.
You see, because the Barbell Hip Thrust, exercise number two, does a great job of filling in those
gaps of that low bar squat. Why? Because of the position of stress. In other words, when we get
to the top of this lift in our shortest position of the glutes, we have a peak contraction and the
load being felt the greatest. That's going to actually fill in that missing piece where
that low was actually disappearing as we got to the top of the squat. More than that, though,
executing the exercise properly is key. The first thing I want you to do is put that pad
back on the bar. Yes, here it's very acceptable because it makes the exercise more comfortable.
And what you want to do is push your hands and elbows straight down into your thighs,
almost locking the bar in place, creating some rigidity through your torso and letting
the glutes operate with more stability. As far as driving the bar up to the top, that's where
you want the glutes to be the powerhouse. You'll notice that the knees are bent so the
hamstrings aren't necessarily contributing much to that hip extension function.
If you took an exercise like the RDL, you're going to get that heavy stretch placed on the hamstrings
at the beginning of the exercise, which might allow them to contribute a little bit more to that
extension. That's not what we're looking for if we want to maximize that glute growth. And finally,
as with the Low Bar Squat, the exercise actually allows you to load it up. When you're trying to
build bigger muscles, overload and using heavier weights is a great way to get that accomplished.
Both the Low Bar Squat and the Barbell Hip Thrust will do exactly that for you.
Look, I get it, even though your favorite Instagram model might swear
by The Ass Blaster 9000, it's not going to get you the results that you really,
really want. If you stick to the two exercises, I just showed you, though,
I promise you you're going to get a bigger rounder backside a lot faster. And by the way,
if you're looking for more in this series, make sure you check out the Only Two Chest Exercises
and the Only Two Shoulder Exercises you need right here. If you're looking for a full program,
you can find that over at Athleanx.com. Make sure you subscribe and turn on your notifications so
you never miss a video when we put one out. All right, guys, See you soon.