Why Your Glute Building Program Doesn’t Work

June 5th, 2013 by

It seems to me that the internet and magazines lately are filled with articles on how to build incredible glutes. And while they all seem to be quick to present the most extensive list of exercises known to humankind, none of them really address the single most important variable when trying to build the glutes (or any other body part for that matter); calories.

Most articles give the impression that you can somehow get lean or stay lean while simultaenously building a fantastic rear view, but this is not likely the case. Unless you’re a complete novice, you are going to find it pretty difficult to build much of anything in a calorie deficit. You can do all of the glute exercises you want, from any angle you want, but if you don’t have the calories to support the growth, then your glutes are going to look pretty much the same as they always have.

If your glutes are so flat that it looks like someone just poured pancake batter down the back of your pants, then you’ll need to spend a period of time in a calorie surplus (eating above your maintenance) and training with a dedicated program to build the muscle in this area. How long you need to stay in a surplus is going to depend entirely on how much muscle you currently have in this area and how much you want to build to achieve the look you want. This cannot be determined on a timeline, but only based on how your body responds.

Of course, with putting on muscle comes the understanding that there will be at least some fat gained. So you have to be lean enough going in to the building phase to be comfortable with gaining a little bit of fat without losing your mind. Muscle gain is a painfully slow process, so you’ll likely have to spend several months on the road to greater glutes and then diet off any amount of fat gained at a later date.

Don’t be deceived by those who will tell you that you can build anything with a specific grouping of exercises in the face of a calorie deficit. There are no magic exercises.