The no-nonsense guide to training your glutes. The mistakes keeping them flat, how they actually grow, and the exercises I swear by.
A few years ago I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I wanted to change my body, and I wasn't happy with how I looked.
So I did what everyone on social media seemed to do. Loads of cardio. Copying random workouts. Tracking every calorie and eating as little as possible, because I genuinely believed that was the key.
I lost weight fast. And I felt worse than ever. I was "skinny fat": smaller, but with no shape and no energy. I trained on an empty stomach, slept badly and lived in an all-or-nothing loop: five days of barely eating, then one sweet thing and I'd go completely off the rails.
The craziest part? My glutes didn't grow. At all. No matter how hard I trained.
Everything changed when I learned that I had to eat more to build muscle. Scary at first. But my body got stronger, my shape changed, and my confidence finally followed.
This guide is everything I wish someone had told me back then. No extreme diets, no endless cardio. Just what actually works.
Let's build it. Jas
| 00 | The 7 glute-growth mistakes |
| 01 | The Glute Growth Blueprint |
| 02 | Train for Growth, Not the Pump |
| 03 | Progressive Overload: Your Secret Weapon |
| 04 | Building the Full Peach |
Exercise is a privilege, not a punishment.
Read it once, then keep it open at the gym. Want the 4-week split and what to eat? That's all in Build the Peach Part 2.
I see these every single week. I made most of them myself. Tick off the ones you recognise. Every tick is progress you're leaving on the table.
Muscle is built from food. Living on 1200 calories while trying to grow your glutes is like trying to build a house without bricks. Fix: eat at maintenance or slightly above, with enough protein. (Build the Peach Part 2)
Cardio is great for your heart, but it doesn't give your glutes a reason to grow. Hours on the stairmaster won't replace a heavy hip thrust. Fix: lifting first, cardio as a bonus (think daily steps).
Bands, 100 reps, a crazy pump. It feels productive, but burn is not the signal for growth. Tension is. Fix: heavier, controlled sets close to failure. (Chapter 02)
If your logbook looks the same as it did in spring, your glutes probably do too. Fix: progressive overload, every week. (Chapter 03)
A new TikTok workout every week means your body never gets the chance to adapt. Fix: one plan, minimum 4 weeks, tracked. (The 4-week split in Part 2)
Only thrusts, or only kickbacks. Your glutes are three muscles with different jobs. Fix: thrusts, hinges, single-leg work, abduction and stretch. (Chapter 04)
One "bad" weekend and the whole week is ruined, so you start again on Monday. Again. Fix: look at your weekly average, not one day. Consistency beats perfection. (Part 2)
Understanding your glutes, and how they actually grow. Once you get this, every other chapter makes sense.
Your "glutes" are actually three muscles. Knowing what each one does tells you exactly how to train it.
The largest muscle in your body and most of your shape. Its job: hip extension, driving your hips forward and standing up from a hinge.
Sits on the upper, outer part of your hip. Its job: moving your leg out to the side and keeping your pelvis stable on one leg.
Smallest and deepest, under the medius. It helps with abduction and hip stability, and fills out the upper side of the hip.
Muscle doesn't grow because you're sweaty or sore. It grows when three things line up:
Lifting challenging weight through a full range of motion, close to failure. This is the signal that tells your body "we need more muscle here".
Enough calories and protein to actually build that new muscle. No fuel, no growth. Simple as that.
Muscle is built after the gym, not in it. Sleep, rest days and managing stress are where the magic happens.
Remember this: soreness, sweat and burn are not proof of a good workout. Getting stronger over time is. If your weights go up and you're eating enough, your glutes have no choice but to grow.
The exercises that matter, proper technique, training close to failure, and building a routine around movements that actually get you results.
The number on your plan is a guide. What really counts is how close you get to failure: the point where you can't do another rep with good form.
We measure this with RIR: Reps In Reserve. How many more reps could you have done?
Most girls I start working with stop at 3 to 5 reps in reserve without realising it. Being honest here is the fastest way to start seeing results.
Go all the way down and all the way up. Half reps give you half results.
Take 2 to 3 seconds on the lowering part. That's where a lot of the tension is.
One second hold on thrusts and kickbacks. Own the rep, don't bounce through it.
On thrusts and back extensions, don't arch your lower back to finish the rep. Finish with your glutes.
Lower back or quads taking over? Lower the weight, adjust your foot position and try again.
2 to 3 minutes on big lifts, 60 to 90 seconds on isolation. Rushing your rest means lifting less.
These are the exercises I keep coming back to, for myself and my clients. Master these and you don't need anything fancy.
Can't feel your glutes working? Totally normal in the beginning. Go a bit lighter, slow down the lowering part, and pause where it feels hardest. Filming a set from the side is the fastest way to check your form. Your mind-muscle connection gets better every week.
How to get stronger week by week, track your lifts, choose rep ranges, and know when it's time to increase the weight.
Your body only adapts when you give it a reason. If you lift the same weight for the same reps every week, your body has no reason to change.
Progressive overload simply means: over time, you ask a bit more of your muscles. More weight, more reps, or better quality reps.
Every exercise in your plan has a rep range, for example 8 to 12. Here's how it works:
Choose a weight you can lift for the bottom of the range (8 reps) with 2 to 3 reps in reserve.
Each week, try to do one or two more reps with the same weight. 8, 9, 10, 11...
When you hit the top of the range (12) on all sets with good form, increase the weight by the smallest step possible (1 to 2.5 kg) and start again from 8.
| Example: hip thrust 3 × 8-12 | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 · 60 kg | 10 | 9 | 8 | Add reps |
| Week 2 · 60 kg | 11 | 10 | 10 | Add reps |
| Week 3 · 60 kg | 12 | 12 | 12 | Go up! |
| Week 4 · 62.5 kg | 9 | 9 | 8 | Add reps |
| Type | Reps |
|---|---|
| Big liftsThrusts, RDLs, squats | 6-10 |
| Single leg & machinesSplit squats, lunges, leg press | 8-15 |
| IsolationAbduction, kickbacks | 12-25 |
Write down the weight and reps for every set. Your notes app, a notebook or the Fit With Jas app. If it's not tracked, you're guessing.
Bad day? Normal. Strength isn't a straight line. Look at the trend over 4 weeks, not one session.
How to target the glute max, medius and minimus, and combine thrusts, hinges, single-leg work, abduction and lengthened-position exercises for that full, round effect.
A full peach comes from training your glutes from every angle. Each movement pattern challenges them in a different way. Your plan needs all five.
| Pattern | Why it matters | Best exercises |
|---|---|---|
| ThrustHardest at the top | Maximum glute max tension when your hips are fully extended. Easy to load heavy. | Hip thrust, glute bridge, B-stance thrust |
| HingeHardest in the stretch | Loads your glutes and hamstrings in a long position. Builds the lower glute and the glute-ham tie-in. | RDL, 45° back extension, good morning |
| Single legStrength + balance | Each side works alone, fixes imbalances, and the medius works hard to keep you stable. | Bulgarian split squat, lunges, step-ups |
| AbductionUpper side "shelf" | Targets the medius and minimus for that rounder upper and side shape. | Seated abduction, cable abduction, side-lying raises |
| LengthenedDeep range | Training a muscle under load in a deep stretch seems to be a strong growth trigger. Go deep, go slow. | Deficit lunges, deep split squats, RDLs |
This guide gives you the foundation. But if you want a plan built around your body, your schedule and your goals, with me in your pocket to adjust it every week, that's what my coaching is for.
A few questions about you and your goals on my website.
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