Glute transformation: Sasha’s story
Sasha’s glute transformation story.
Sasha: I’ve been bodybuilding for almost two years, and I absolutely love it. It’s been quite a journey, full of hard work, dedication, setbacks and successes. When I started training at my local gym, I too believed that high-rep sets shaped your muscles, low-rep sets built muscle mass, and so on. My diet included plenty of foods that were low in fat but processed. I trained consistently, did an unreasonable amount of cardio and was afraid to lift heavy weights for fear of becoming too muscular.
Now that I’m a trainer myself, I know many women with exactly the same story. In my case, I really struggled to reach my goals and kept hitting training plateaus instead. I wanted to be fit and toned, with a low body fat percentage, while also building muscle mass. Even then, I was particularly keen to improve the appearance, size and shape of my glutes, but I just couldn’t seem to make it happen.
With my friends’ encouragement and support, I eventually began preparing for my first NPC competition. I wanted to improve and get to know my body better, and in doing so help others understand the potential we all have when our training and nutrition are right.
The initial photos were taken when I started my competition prep, and the March photo was taken about one month before the competition. I followed a training split spread across five days a week: shoulders and abs, back and biceps, chest and triceps, and legs twice a week. My leg days included squats, lunges, leg presses and step-ups at various heights. It was all very basic, and honestly, I wasn’t familiar with many other exercises.
By the end of my prep, I was generally happy with the results, but I knew and felt that I could do even better. I felt I’d done everything right, yet something still seemed to be missing. After the competition, I took some time out to review my competition photos and training. Around the same time, my mother, who has always been very supportive of my bodybuilding, gave me Bret Contreras’s book “Strong Curves”.
After reading Contreras’s book, I knew what was missing. It was clear that I hadn’t been training my glutes enough or in the most effective way. I added weighted hip thrusts, reverse hypers, deadlifts (including sumo deadlifts) and other exercises that emphasized the glutes to my training program. I saw results straight away and continued with this approach as I began preparing for my next competition. My weekly split for that competition was: upper-body push, glutes, upper-body pull, legs, rest and a second glute day. I followed this system throughout my prep, and the results were amazing!
The photos show the difference between my physique at my first competition (NPC Charlotte Cup) and my second (IFBB North Americans). I achieved this change over 16 weeks of prep, with two dedicated glute workouts a week. I finally had the glutes I’d wanted. Alongside the aesthetics of shaping my glutes, I learned a lot about hip joint biomechanics. I learned to feel how different parts of the glutes work during different glute-focused exercises. I realized that variety and including a range of glute-focused exercises in your training program are important for developing rounded glutes.
The last photo shows the current shape, condition and development of my glutes. Looking back, it’s hard to believe I managed such a big change in so little time. When I begin my next competition prep, I’ll be starting from a much better position than before. Beyond the visible changes, I’ve learned so much about training in general, and that’s actually the most important part for me. I now understand what it means to consciously activate my glutes, how to progress in exercises that specifically target them, and more. I can teach all of this to my clients, too. This transformation has also made me a more professional and knowledgeable athlete. I can run faster, lift heavier weights and balance better. These are just some of the benefits of well-developed, well-trained glutes.
The video shows an example of my glute-focused training. Notice how many different types of exercises I do. I believe this approach is the key to fully developed glutes.
Watch the video Source
Author: Janar Rückenberg (translation)
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