How to make gluteal muscle training more effective?

One of the main problems of home training is that no matter how hard you try, some muscles cannot be brought to the desired shape. This is primarily due to the peculiarities of the physiology of a particular person. As a rule, for help turn to a trainer who can find an individual approach to each body.

But what to do if for some reason there is no opportunity to go to the gym? It is not worth wasting your energy. Fitness blogger Tanya TGYM is ready to share her years of experience in training. Thanks to her YouTube program, many got themselves in shape during the pandemic. She is confident that a few universal solutions will work for anyone and help move their workout progress forward. Tanya told Championship about them.

What muscles should you pay special attention to?

Some people find it difficult to pump the calf muscles, others can’t feel the delts. Personally, I most often encountered the problem of working out the gluteal muscles in women. They constantly complain that when doing exercises they do not feel the tension in the muscles. Basically, either the back of the thigh or the quadriceps are felt.

Many people believe that squats are the most effective exercise for this muscle group. And if you squat as low as possible and with a heavy weight, the volumes will grow.

In fact, squats have more of an effect on the quadriceps. The gluteal muscles are involved, but not as the main muscles.

To find out during which exercises and on which muscles are given the greatest load, a separate study with special sensors was conducted. The results showed that one of the most effective exercises for the gluteal muscles was the gluteal bridge. It creates more tension in this muscle group.

How do you work those muscle areas that are hard to train?

Over many years of training, I have developed for myself an ideal scheme that works both in the gym and at home. I will tell you the example of gluteal muscles.

I start training with preliminary fatigue of muscles. It often happens that we feel them only on the third approach of the fifth exercise, because it takes a long time for the muscles to engage in work. To fix this, I do literally three easy exercises for four reps each. These can be step-ups, squats, leg swings, air squats. This way you can “turn on” the muscles – they are filled with blood and work more actively. And only when the muscles are toned, I start the main part of the workout.

My advice is to use shoes with stiff flat soles, so that you can push off with your heel as much as possible during any exercise. In this case, the gluteal muscles are most actively involved in the work.

I often use elastic bands for additional resistance – they complicate the exercise and allow me to emphasize the necessary muscles.

At the end of the class I recommend performing a deadlift as a kind of stretching. It is also good to perform drop sets in any exercise: first work with the maximum weight, and when there is no more strength left – only with your own weight. And so “finish” the exercise to the end.

What other problem areas has Tanya TGYM encountered?

At the beginning of my fitness journey, I thought my problem area was my waist. But, as it turned out, this is due to physiology and the structure of the body and muscles. I tried different exercises for a slim waist, but the only thing that really helped was contrast. I increased my upper body by working my delts, while at the same time working on my gluteal muscles and pelvis to make them look wider.

In this simple way I visually emphasize the waist and make it narrower. It is necessary to realize that some parts of the body cannot be physically reduced. But to change the silhouette with the help of contrast – quite.

Don’t be afraid to ask, to wonder, to doubt what you are doing. Fitness is a study of your own body. So if you doubt whether you’re doing something right, it’s worth getting to the bottom of it so you don’t waste your energy.