Did Bret Contreras invent the barbell hip thrust or is he a fraud? First things first. If you say they’ve been done for ages but can’t come up with any evidence, then go F yourself. Do you know how stupid that sounds? We have a historical account of the evolution of strength training because people took pictures and videos, wrote articles and books, and created documentaries.
In this video, I explain why it’s so hard to grow your glutes without growing your legs. I discuss the synergists associated with the gluteus maximus - muscles that help out with hip extension, hip abduction, hip external rotation, and posterior pelvic tilt.
It’s taken my decades of training folks and experimenting to figure out the optimal program structure to maximize glute development. Right now, this is where it’s at. Hasn’t changed much over the years but it’s definitely evolved.
There’s a big debate in our industry right now about long length vs short length training. There’s a lot of support for preferentially training muscles at longer lengths. The evidence for glutes is mixed, and there are a number of factors to consider (and much research to be conducted). In this video, I review the 4 existing studies pertaining to glute growth and muscle length, I discuss 4 physiological concepts that we need to understand related to this debate, I elaborate on 10 necessary studies to optimally determine the answer to this puzzle, and raise 9 concerns that need to be considered with the various studies.
In this video, I discuss the recently published Plotkin paper that compared squats to hip thrusts in EMG activity, muscle, cross-sectional area, and functional strength. We need much more research on the glutes, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.
Here’s my favorite glute medius exercise…I’m calling it the Glute Medius Hip Thrust. I know it’s not a hip thrust but the point is that it’s that good of an exercise for the gluteus medius, and I want everyone taking it seriously.
