6 Mistakes People Make When Trying to Build a Booty

I’m just going to dive straight into this one…

Let’s talk about some common faults I see from people on their quest to build that booty:

1- Only doing high-rep bodyweight exercises and band work:

You need a variety of stimulus to develop your glutes to the best of their potential. Where high-rep bodyweight and band work has their place, they’re best served as a primer and finisher to your main lifts.

2- People thinking that squatting is the end-all be-all booty building exercise:

Squats are great for a variety of reasons but they’re not THE best exercise to target the glutes. Focus on the variety of movements in BootyGainz and you’ll experience a whole new glute pump!

3- Lack of mobility that hinders the ability to best utilize the glutes during certain exercises:

A lot of people have limited mobility in their hips, hindering their ability to position their pelvis in a way that allows the greatest activation of the glute muscles.

For example, if you can’t fully extend your hip (and you end up over-extending your back to make up for it), you’re placing more stress on your back and far less stimulus on your glutes when trying to do something like a back extension or hip thrust. Or if you can’t open up, abduct or externally rotate your hips, your ability to effectively execute something like a sumo deadlift would be limited.

Check your mobility, head to toe. Improve your weaknesses and optimize your ability to develop stability, strength and power.

4- Poor movement:

Assuming mobility isn’t the problem, some people simply don’t know how to properly execute the exercises. Pay attention to how you’re moving and focus on FEELING your glutes under tension.

If you’re not feeling your glutes contract and load, then you’re not doing something right. Slow down, pay attention and move with intention.

I’d say the biggest error I see in glute-focused movements are the position of the knees related to the feet/ankles. Never let those knees collapse inwards – always keep them stacked on top of the ankle.

This applies to deadlifts, squats, hip thrusts, and band work (especially lateral band work).

4- Not incorporating unilateral (single-leg) movements:

Ensuring we address imbalances in the body is important. This means being equally stable and strong on both sides of our body.

If all of your movements are done with both legs, then your imbalances will be hidden and could potentially be made worse. Unilateral training for both upper and lower body is important for everyone, regardless of their goals.

5- Not working in the frontal plane (stepping, squatting, lunging and moving side to side):

It’s common for people to only move up, down, forward and back. This is particularly common in a group fitness program, unless you have an intelligent programmer who regularly has you moving in the frontal plane.

We need to move laterally (side to side) and also rotate (but that’s another topic). Make sure you’re stepping out to the side with movements like lateral band work, cossack squats, lateral step-ups, hip abduction work, etc.

6- Lack of variation:

The glutes are comprised of several muscles that require a variety of movements for optimal stimulation. To ensure we hit all muscle groups of the glutes and hips, we need a large variety of movements. Don’t get stuck doing the same 4 moves over and over again.

Lucky for you (if you’re an Elevate member), we consider all of these factors when designing our workouts at Elevate. We don’t half ass anything 😉

If you’re stuck in a plateau, we can help.
If you’re bored with the workout routine, we can help.
If you’ve never had a workout routine and don’t know where to start, we can help.

Click here to schedule your free intro to get started. We can’t wait to meet you!

– Nicole Race, owner Elevate St. Pete