Click here for part 5 (from part 5 you can get to part 1-4)
Squat, Lunge, and Stiff Leg Dead lift form for the glutes- I would assume anyone who is reading this has a general idea how to do a squat, lunge and stiff leg dead lift. However, if you are using these exercises to target your glutes them your form should change slightly to accommodate the glutes.
Squatting for the glutes- Squatting for the glutes is pretty much the same as regular squatting with one major change, range of motion. Squatting is the best exercise for overall leg development hands down. The depth that you squat at though determines what parts of your legs will develop more or less. Most people squat to parallel or just below parallel while this is great for thigh and hamstrings not the best range of motion for the old glutes. The top portion of a squat from standing down to just above parallel places the most stress on the quads, from just above parallel to about half way down to the floor places the most stress on the hamstrings, and finally from half way down to the floor all the way down places the most emphasis on the old glutes. To effectively hit the glutes, you want to do more of an Olympic type squat in terms of depth. This is where the squats vary in how they are executed though. Unlike an Olympic type squat where your feet are a little closer together, you want to take a wider than shoulder width stance and squat down all the way butt to the floor. For most people do to flexibility issues its more like placing your butt on your calves.
Regular Squat
Depth for a Glute Squat
From this position you only want to squat back up to parallel and then all the way back down. Essentially what you will be doing is half squats from the bottom up. You also really really want to concentrate on squeezing the glutes throughout this movement. These are tough and do to the fact that your glutes and hams never loose tension on them; you won’t be able to use your normal squat weight. By squatting this way you turn a traditional squat into a glute and ham squat.
Lunges for the glutes-Lunges are a great exercise for the glutes…if done correctly. The problem is most people do not lunge effectively enough to really hammer the glutes. People will do some lunges and feel it in their glutes and think they are really working their glutes. There is a difference between feeling something in your glutes and hammering your glutes!!! Lunging is a unilateral movement and any type of unilateral movement like lunging, single leg squatting, or any type of single leg movement that requires balance you will feel in your glutes because they help control unilateral leg balance. A tradition lunge hits the quads, hamstrings, and glutes to a degree. To emphasize the glutes more when lunging, you want to lengthen your stride and lower your depth. The shorter a stride is in the lunge position the more it hits the quads, the longer the stride the more it shifts to the hamstrings and glutes. Depth is another issue with the traditional lunge. The deeper you go down with a single leg the more the glute has to activate for balance. With walking lunges your depth is only going to be so deep this is why it actually is not the best exercise for hammering the glutes. Yes they work the glutes but do not hammer the glutes. A better option would be long stride lunges off of a box, for better depth.
Long Stride Box Lunges
A second better alternative would be the single leg Bulgarian Squat.
Dumbbell Bulgarian Squats
Stiff Leg Dead lifts for the glutes- Stiff legs are another exercise that is an okay glute shaper when performed for the glutes. The stiff leg is a traditional hamstring killer with some glutes thrown in. To change this into a more glute activated exercise you do a couple of small things. The main thing you want to do is turn the Stiff Leg Dead into more of a traditional Romainian Dead with a twist. The first thing you want to learn to do when you bend over is try and keep the bar as close to your body as possible almost like rolling it down your legs. This is the part that makes the movement more like a Romainian than a Stiff Leg, because Stiff Legs are usually a little further away from the body. The next thing you do is place a couple of small plates under the front of your toes. By placing a couple of plates under the front of your toes you force the glutes to work more when you bend over by placing the weight over your heels. With the toes raised, you only have to move down slightly past the knees to achieve a great stretch. You can do these with barbells dumbbells or the smith machine.
Coming up some advanced exercises for the Glutes!!!
You can find more helpful articles like this one at Taylorednutrition.tripod.com
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