(PAGE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ON THE SET-UP, EMAIL [email protected])
This is an overview of the best glute exercises out there. You can do most of the ‘Pumper’ glute exercises at home. Read this article to learn more about Pumper exercises.
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Pumpers linkboard:
Monster Walk
Sumo Walk
Band Side Lying Clam
Lateral Band Walk
Band Seated Hip Abduction
Activators (coming soon)
Stretchers (coming soon)
hey thanks for the exercises ! can you post the Activators and stretchers one please
Hey Nyla, you’re welcome! Actually this page is still under construction. More exercises will be added in the future, but can not give a specific time.
Hi,
I do most of these exercises 6 days a week. Sometimes for an hour, sometimes about 20 minutes (but those are rare, I usually go over 20). My glutes are pretty sore every day. Is it possible to do too many pumpers or is there a max of reps one should do daily? I’m not sure whether I’m pushing it, even if it’s just pumpers. (Oftwewel: doe ik te veel of juist te weinig? De eerste maand is er 2 cm bij gekomen in omtrek, maar nu 5 weken daarna is er niks meer bij gekomen).
Hi Kate,
I see you’re very motivated to work the glutes with a lot of training volume. However one has to remember that the glutes are just a single muscle with limited recovery capacity. Therefore you’re probably stimulating them more than they can recover from, and they can in fact not grow. This is something I see a lot in people I start training: they do way too much, and get terrific results once they start doing less.
My advice: a maximum of 30 sets of activators/stretchers per week. This means 5 sets max per workout, for example 3 sets of Bulgarian split squat and 2 sets of Hip thrusts. That’s 15 minutes of a workout. For one muscle, it’s more than enough. If you want more info, have a look at my optimized glute templates here: https://bodylogiq.org/en/optimized-glute-training-templates/
Hi Stijn,
Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it.
My problem was that I was doing stretchers, pumpers and activators about 2 to 3 times a week with enough rest in between and eating plenty of protein, but was not seeing any growth. Then I came across your article on optimal training frequency on Bret Contreras’ site. I read about Erin and how she was doing pumpers 6 times a week and decided to give high frequency a try. I’ve only been training for a little over a year, so obviously don’t have the muscle memory Erin did, but I had good results within the first month, just no more after that. I really feel my glutes during and after these exercises a lot more than when I was doing low frequency training, but am wondering whether there is such a thing as overtraining on pumpers only. I can’t figure out whether I’m doing too much or not enough. I’m currently not doing any stretchers (apart from some walking lunges now and then) or activators, so 6 days a week of pumpers only. I feel my glutes respond a lot better to the high frequency training, but am not sure where to go from here. Can one overdo it on just pumpers?
Hi Kate, this sounds good. However I do want to note that ‘feeling a muscle’ during a workout does not necessarily mean it’s getting an optimal stimulus for growth. If you want to read more on this, read my post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BhMgsN_AeNl/?taken-by=stijnvanwilligen
Actually, my standpoint has reverted some: pumpers give your glutes a great pump, but for ongoing growth Activators and Stretchers are almost always necessary.
What I would therefore suggest is doing 15-25 sets of Activators/Stretchers per week, with some *accessory* pumpers (maybe 12 sets per week or so).
Oh no, don’t tell me Jane Fonda was wrong after all. My heart and my butt are breaking.
Thanks for the link, I like reading Menno Henselmans’ work as well as yours. It is hard not to get suckered in by how your muscles feel. I tend to feel activators and stretchers more in my quads and pumpers in my glutes. They talk to me for days, even after two days of rest. Then when I started gaining inches the first month of doing only pumpers I thought I was on to something, but I’m now starting to lose those gains so am literally working my butt off. Back to the board it is…
One more question on how to move forward: I really don’t want to / can’t go to a gym, so do all my workouts at home. I thought pumpers were the solution, but now that I’m going back to stretchers and activators this means a lot of dumbbell work and high reps. I’ve read high reps means longer recovery time and therefore less workouts a week and I also know Bret Contreras and others recommend a combination of both heavy loads and lighter loads, but do you have a specific program or some recommendations for the people who only work out from home and don’t have access to barbells and machines? I know my road ahead will be tougher if I want to grow my glutes, but is it still worth a try?
Hi Kate,
Sorry about the late reply. Your message passed me by somehow.
You can get great results working out at home if you work out intelligently. With resistance bands and a suspension trainer you can come a long way and can get similar results as in the gym. Actually, I’ve shared a home workout template before on my Patreon page. You should check it out: https://www.patreon.com/posts/home-travel-20391063
Excellent. I’m still seeing way better results from resistance band-only training than I ever did with weights, so it’s good to know I can keep it up long-term.
Thanks for all the input. I shall be watching your Patreon page (and this one – activators & stretchers section – *cough*) like a hawk. No pressure.
I appreciate your thoughts. This is something I see a lot in people I start training.
Thanks John my pleasure.