BUILD A BUBBLE

BUTT GUIDE
CONTENTS
THE BENEFITS OF TRAINING GLUTES.
GLUTES...................................................... 4
THE ANATOMY OF THE GLUTES ............................................................... 5
AREA SPECIFIC EXERCISES.
EXERCISES...................................................................... 8
MAXIMIZING YOUR GLUTE TRAINING........................................................
TRAINING........................................................ 9
WHAT ARE THE BEST EXERCISES TO GROW YOUR GLUTES?............
GLUTES?............10
10
NUTRITION FOR GLUTE GAINS................................................................
GAINS................................................................11
11
WHAT SHOULD YOU FILL THESE CALORIES WITH?.
WITH?..............................12
............................ 12
HELP, MY GLUTES WON’T GROW!...........................................................
GROW!...........................................................13
13
GLUTE ACTIVATION...WHY IS IT IMPORTANT .........................................
.........................................16
16
GLUTE ACTIVATION EXERCISES.
EXERCISES..............................................................17
............................................................ 17
I CAN’T FEEL MY GLUTES… WHAT NOW?.
NOW?..............................................18
............................................ 18
GLUTE SUPPORTING CARDIO..................................................................
CARDIO..................................................................19
19
MY GLUTES ARE UNEVEN… HOW DO I FIX THIS? ...............................
...............................20
20
BOOTY BABE!
When it comes to performance,
functionality, and aesthetics the glutes
take the cake.

The gluteal muscles are the most powerful and

largest muscle group in the body. Not only are
the glutes aesthetically pleasing, but they also
control a large range of functional movements
such as walking uphill, getting up off a chair
and picking things up off the floor. Put simply,
the glutes influence nearly every aspect of our
physical lives. Having strong glutes allows you
to lift heavier, sprint faster, jump higher and can
also prevent lower-body injuries as they are the
stabilizer for the hips and pelvis.

Growing your glutes can seem like an impossible

task, however in this eBook, I will break down
the what, why and how of achieving the glutes
you desire.

LET'S GET STARTED!

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 3

THE BENEFITS OF
TRAINING GLUTES
Gone are the days where women are afraid to lift heavy weights in the gym;
being physically strong is not only empowering but strength training is the key to
biotransformation.

Lifting weights is what allows us to sculpt our bodies and design them to look however we so choose;
cardio alone cannot offer this. Weight training also supports bone, immune, cardiovascular and hormone
health. Strength goals in training give us something to train towards and are an excellent way to measure
progress.

The four primary benefits of strength training for glutes are improvements to posture, injury prevention,
aesthetic improvements, as well as increased athleticism, strength and force.
Having stronger glutes means you are able to lift heavier weights in a lot of functional foundation
movements such as squats, deadlifts, thrusts, leg press, lunges, etc.

In addition, stronger glutes mean improved acceleration in movement patterns such as forward and
lateral sprinting, quicker rotational power, improved agility and increased push force from the ground.

The glutes are also stabilizers for the pelvis, hips, and knees, thus by having stronger glutes we are able
to prevent a lot of hip and knee injuries.

LASTLY, BEAUTIFULLY SCULPTED GLUTES PROVIDE THE FEMININE CURVE THAT SO MANY
OF US ASPIRE TO ACHIEVE.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 4

THE ANATOMY OF
THE GLUTES
The gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus, along with smaller supporting muscles serve
as the base support for our pelvis and hips. These muscles also stabilize the femur in the
hip socket, rotate the femur internally and externally and draw our legs back. All of these
actions allow us to stand, walk, sit and move.

The glutes are predominantly hip extensors and are usually trained as such. As there are three major
muscle groups that contribute to hip extension (the glutes, hamstrings, and adductor Magnus), the
point in the joint range of motion where the gluteus maximus has the greatest power is of the highest
importance. Exercises and movement patterns that contain full hip extensions such as hip thrusts
and glute bridges will lead to the greatest gluteus maximus involvement in the production of hip
extension torque.

The glutes are also hip external rotators. As the gluteus medius is a key hip external rotator, the point in
the joint range of motion at which the gluteus medius has the best leverage is of utmost importance for
exercise selection. Exercises that involve peak forces in full hip external rotation, such as clam exercises
and fire hydrants, will, therefore, result in the greatest in the production of hip external rotation torque.

The glutes are quite weak in means of hip abductors, strengthening these muscles will aid in the
stabilization of your back, hips, knees, and ankles in a vast range of movement patterns. The majority of
abduction movement patterns target mostly your upper glute region.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 5

STUDIES ALSO THE GLUTEUS MEDIUS
SHOW THAT The glute medius is located near or slightly over the
hip joint and forms the middle layer of the glutes.
PEOPLE WITH
LOWER BACK PAIN The medius completely covers the minimus muscle. This
muscle sits partway under the gluteus maximus and
TEND TO HAVE connects the ilium (hip bone) to the side of the upper femur
(thigh bone). It helps you externally rotate your leg when
WEAKER GLUTE it’s extended behind you, and internally rotate your hip when
MEDIUS MUSCLES. your leg is flexed in front of you. Together with the gluteus
minimus, this muscle abducts the hip and it supports side to
side mobility (lateral walks, ski jumps, etc).

The gluteus medius is responsible for rotating the hip both

internally and externally. Its main function is hip abduction
(moving your legs apart) when your legs are straight, and
that’s the main movement you’ll use to train it.

Like the glute minimus which we will discuss in a second,

the gluteus medius is a stabilizer for your hips when you are
walking or running if your medius is weak your pelvis won’t
be as secure and as such you will also have poor knee, pelvic
and ankle stability. Weakness in your gluteus medius can
contribute to many issues down the kinetic chain of your
body, including valgus knees, which is the common cause
for “knees rolling in” when you are performing a squat as an
example. Studies also show that people with lower back pain
tend to have weaker glute medius muscles. This just goes
to show the importance of glute Medius for a healthy, pain-
free body.

A well-built gluteus Medius makes your hips appear wider,

which in turn makes your waist look slimmer by contrast.
Constructing the gluteus maximus will make your butt bigger
from front to back while building the gluteus Medius will make
your butt look bigger from the side.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 6

 THE GLUTEUS MAXIMUS
This is the biggest muscle of the gluteal and it is
what gives your butt shape.

The glute Maximus attaches to the sacrum, coccyx, pelvis,

ITB, and femur. The glute Maximus can be divided into upper
and lower halves; if you want to target your upper glutes or
“shelf” then abduction movements are the way to go. If you
want to target your lower glute max, deadlifts and squats do
the trick. As an entirety, however, the glute max extends and
rotates the hip joint, in addition to stabilizing and moving the
hip joint both away and toward the body.

The gluteus maximus is most forcefully engaged when effort

and power are produced, in activities like running, climbing, or
hiking. Regular walking does not typically target the gluteus
maximus, however, the gluteus maximus does help promote
balance when walking by aiding in keeping the pelvis balanced
and assisting in keeping your posture upright.

GLUTEUS MINIMUS
The gluteus minimus is the smallest of the glute
muscles and is located under the glute medius.

The gluteus minimus helps you abduct, flex, and internally

rotate the hip. You’ll recruit this muscle when you make
circular movements with your thigh such as side-lying
circles, clam circles, etc. Like the glute medius, the
minimus inserts at the femur, and the connection providing
stability for your hips.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 7

AREA SPECIFIC
EXERCISES
To achieve the strongest and most aesthetically pleasing glutes, you need should be
including a variety of exercises to target and strengthen each muscle. The glutes are
unique in that you can challenge the muscle in all three joint actions at the same time; as
an example, with a banded hip thrust you are performing hip extension, external rotation
and abduction which maximizes activation of the glutes and targets both the upper and
lower subdivisions of the gluteal.

Exercises to target the...

GLUTE MAX: GLUTE MEDIUS: GLUTE MINIMUS:

¬ Thrusts and Glute Bridges
¬ Glute- Hamstring Raises
¬ Back Extension (rounded)
¬ Kickbacks and Donkey
Kicks
¬ Cable Pull Throughs
¬ Kneeling and Standing
Thrusts
¬ Kneeling and Standing Pull
Throughs
¬ Paused Squats
¬ Sumo Deadlifts
¬ Sumo Good mornings
¬ Frog Squats
¬ Frog Kicks
¬ Frog Thrust
¬ Cable Unilateral Hip This muscle is targeted largely
Abduction when you train the glute max
¬ Side Clam and medius.
¬ Frog Thrust Pulses
¬ Laying Side Circles
¬ Wall Abductor
¬ Laying Side Bicycles
¬ Mini-Band Side-Lying Clam
¬ Laying Side Clam
¬ Unilateral Leg Raise
¬ Kickback Circles
¬ Standing Cable Lateral
Raise
¬ Lateral Walks
¬ Monster Walks
¬ Banded Toe Taps
¬ Thrust Abductors

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 8

MAXIMIZING
YOUR GLUTE
TRAINING
When it comes to training there are a few keys
to getting your booty in the best shape:

1. Variety is ideal, so don’t just rely on one exercise for

glute building. Find movement patterns that you feel
the best connection in.

2. Ensure that you’re regularly performing at least one

type of hip hinge and thrust movement during your
sessions.

3. Make sure you’re regularly performing a back-

extension movement.

4. Performing a couple of squatting movements that

feel right for your body.

5. Make sure you’re regularly performing a deadlifting

movement that feels right for you.

6. When possible, try to add in an open chain hip

extension movement such as any form of kickback.

7. If you want to grow your glutes you need to be

working with a hypertrophy-based program. The
best way to get your glutes to grow is to utilize
mechanical tension, metabolic stress and by
causing muscle damage.

8. If your goal is to get your glutes to grow, prioritize

strength work and minimize your emphasis on
cardio.

If you are trying to build and maintain glutes for aesthetic purposes, you must understand how much
work goes into this. It comes down to so much more than doing a few thrusts here and there.

UNFORTUNATELY, AS WE BEGIN TO AGE, GLUTES, LIKE ALL MUSCLES IN THE BODY

BEGIN TO DETERIORATE AND ATROPHY SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO TRAIN THEM PROPERLY,
OFTEN AND SUPPORT YOUR GAINS WITH NUTRITION.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 9

WHAT ARE THE BEST
EXERCISES TO GROW
YOUR GLUTES?
This is subjective as like I mentioned above,
each person’s physiology is slightly different,
so you may get more of a contraction in one
exercise that another person may feel minimal.

As an example, frog thrusts and pumps are

a movement that some people either feel
well and others don’t feel it at all, so it is
really about working to find your unique top
exercises.

As a whole, however, these exercises

universally rank top 10:

1. The Barbell Hip Thrust

2. Frog Pumps
3. Banded Glute Bridge
4. Hyper Extension (rounded back)
5. Banded Hip Thrust
6. Banded Kick Back
7. Dumbbell Sumo Squat (leaning forward,
slow tempo or paused)
8. Step Up (high box)
9. Dumbbell Monster or Diagonal Lunge
10. Side-Lying Hip Abduction (extended range)

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 10

 NUTRITION FOR
GLUTE GAINS
Unfortunately, training alone will not help your
glutes grow.

We all know the saying “abs are made in the kitchen”,

well guess what, so are the glutes! Eating the right
foods, at the right times (pre-training and post work
out especially) will make a massive difference to the
way your glutes will maintain or build muscle, or, if
done incorrectly, lose muscle.

Nutrition is key to building a perky peach. If you are

eating low calorie or very low carbs, you are starving
your muscles of all of the nutrients required to grow.
If you want to build muscle, you need to eat. Generally
speaking, to gain muscle, you need to be in a slight
caloric surplus, this means eating slightly above your
maintenance calorie level. Furthermore, you want
to ensure that you are eating enough to fuel your
workouts, if your goal is to lift heavy things and get
stronger, you need to eat in a manner that supports
that goal.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 11

WHAT SHOULD 1. PROTEIN.
Protein is the building block for every cell in the human
YOU FILL THESE body, so if you want to increase your booty, then you’ll need
to ensure you are hitting your macro targets for protein.
CALORIES WITH?
2. COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES.
Carbohydrates are the quickest source of energy for our
muscles (glycogen). Carbs are extremely beneficial pre
and post work out. Pre work out for muscle energy and
stamina, then post work out for recovery; topping that used
glycogen back up.

3. HEALTHY FATS.
Good fats are essential for optimally functioning hormones;
if our hormones aren’t working correctly, especially as
women, our muscles won’t grow, we won’t have the energy
to train, and we won’t recover efficiently.

Here is an example of how to time your nutrients for optimal training and recovery:

PRE POST M1 M2
TRAINING WORKOUT
Easily Digested Easily Digested Complex Carb + Slow Digesting
Protein and Protein and Protein + Healthy Protein + Healthy
Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates. Fats. Fats.

Please note, I have not given calorie or gram amounts, as every individual has different macronutrient
needs to reach their goal. The above is simply a demonstration of the best nutrient timing for your
muscles. You can make this fit regardless of how many meals a day you consume; essentially its carbs
and protein pre and post for efficiency.

I ALWAYS SUGGEST HAVING FATS AWAY FROM TRAINING SESSIONS AS THEY CAN SLOW
DIGESTION AND THE UPTAKE OF NUTRIENTS.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 12

 HELP, MY
GLUTES WON’T
GROW!
Much to our dismay, there is no magic pill
that will help you grow your glutes. Growing
and maintaining your glutes takes a lot of
work. If you are putting in work and you aren’t
seeing your peach perk up, here could be some
reasons why...

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 13

 1. YOU AREN’T ACTIVATING.
You should be spending 10-15 minutes activating your glutes
before you do any sort of glute work. Activating the glutes
ensures that they are switched on and ready for the task at
hand. By sending blood directly to the glutes and firing up
the muscle, you can feel your glutes so much more intensely
throughout your entire session; more muscular contraction
leads to better growth.

2. YOU ONLY TRAIN COMPOUND

MOVEMENTS.
Compound movements like deadlifts and squats are incredible
for strength, torching calories and building the entire leg.
However, compound movements utilize multiple muscles at
once and unfortunately, when it comes to legs, this means
our quads load first, hamstrings second and glutes last. If
you want to see some serious gains in the glutes, you need
to couple compounds with isolation movements, as these
target your glutes directly. Make sure you are incorporating a
multitude of hinge and abductor variations to your sessions.

3. YOU AREN’T LIFTING HEAVY

ENOUGH.
If you want to grow, you have to move some weight.
Unfortunately, as women, we can tend to under lift or get
complacent with our strength in the gym. This doesn’t do our
body composition any favors. If you want to grow you need to
challenge yourself every single session.

4. YOU’RE TRAINING GLUTES TOO

INFREQUENTLY.
If your primary focus is glute growth, you want to be hitting
them 3-5 times per week. You also want to include variety in
your movements to continually shock the glutes and recruit
more muscle fibers. I suggest having one or two compound
and heavier days, with other days of purely sculpting and
isolation work.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 14

 5. TOO MUCH CARDIO.
The difference between sprinters and endurance athletes
is that sprinters preserve muscle, and endurance athletes
chew through it. Cardio has its place in the fitness
world; it is great for fat loss, NEAT levels, mental clarity,
cardiovascular health, and general wellbeing. Just be
mindful that you aren’t overdoing it. We want to preserve
muscle mass, not burn it all off. Prioritize weight training
over cardio if your goal is a bigger booty. The stepper,
plyometric leg movements, the sled, bike and incline walks
are a great cardio option. HIIT training is the most effective
way to do cardio whilst preserving muscle so swap long
cardio sessions for sprints.

6. YOU ARE UNDEREATING.

Carbs are not the enemy, if you want to grow your glutes
you need to eat in a manner that supports that. You should
be eating at maintenance calories or a slight surplus if your
goal is growth. A harsh deficit is not going to get you a big
perky peachy. Ensure you are eating enough carbohydrates
to fuel your sessions and recover properly and prioritize
protein.

7. NO REST AND RECOVERY.

The statement “less is more” is very applicable when it
comes to wanting to grow your glutes. Know when to
work and know when to rest, you can only train as hard
as you can recover. People often assume that we grow
in the gym. This is incorrect. We grow and repair muscle
tissue when we sleep and when we rest. You must
prioritize your recovery if you want to see changes to
muscle development. Ensure you are getting your 8 hours
of sleep every night and take at least one rest day a week.
Smashing yourself in the gym 7 days a week for 2 hours a
day isn’t helping you as much as you think it is.

8. MISSING PIECES.
The mistake many people make is only working the gluteus
maximus. As you saw in the previous section, the various
gluteal muscles are responsible for several different
movement patterns, and you need to train all of those
movement patterns and muscles to build a round strong
booty.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 15

GLUTE ACTIVATION...
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
The reason you may not be feeling your
glutes in your training or not seeing growth
in your gluteal may be caused by a lack of
activation.
The reason you may not be feeling your glutes
in your training or not seeing growth in your
gluteal may be caused by a lack of activation.
Unfortunately, most people fail to activate their
glutes correctly, if at all. Mostly this occurs due to
excessive sitting and inactivity, which lengthens
and loosens the muscles along our posterior chain.
When these muscles become slack, so does our
ability to maintain good posture; the hip flexors
tighten, pulling our upper body and shoulders
forward. In turn, this sets us up for a recipe of
lower back and neck pain, and possibly even
sciatica pain due to pinched nerves around the
hips and glutes. Not only that, but weak glutes can
also set us up for injuries in the gym due to valgus
knees, and poor pelvic stability.
Glute activation is different from just performing
lower body exercises. Even though you’re doing
squats and bridges, if you’re unaccustomed
to “turning on” or using your glutes correctly,
ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE
you’ll unconsciously place stress and tension on
surrounding muscles, like those in the legs and
lower back.
The goal of glute activation is to stimulate
and wake up the glutes and train them to fire
throughout all of your lower body exercises, so the
muscles become stronger and act as a support
system for your core and legs.
Glute activation techniques such as booty band
work or ankle weight sessions help us to form a
deeper mind to muscle connection between our
brains and our booty. This connection allows for an
increased “burn” and blood flow to the site during
our training, which results in more effective glute
sessions and increased muscle growth.
The one-piece of inexpensive equipment you’ll need
for these exercises is a mini band. I know they
don’t look like much but trust me you’ll change your
mind when you feel the burn! These unassuming
bands will take your squats, bridges, and other
exercises to the next level by keeping each area of
your glutes firing at once.
16
 GLUTE
ACTIVATION
EXERCISES
Glute activation doesn’t need to be fancy, in fact
sticking to the same trialed and tested movements
for your body are going to work best.

Find the right positioning and stance that allows you

to form the deepest mind to muscle connection whilst
bringing about that deep glute burn. Perform your activation
exercises before each leg session to keep your glutes firing
whilst you train. I suggest creating a solid activation routine
that lasts around 10 minutes. You should aim to include
hinge, rotation and abduction movements and focus on
mobility as well.

Some of my favorited glute activation exercises are:

¬ Walking High Knee Holds ¬ Thrust Abductors

¬ Squat To Stand ¬ Banded Standing/
(Froggers) Kneeling Thrusts
¬ Bird Dogs ¬ Banded Toe Taps
¬ Lateral Band Walks ¬ Banded Hip Bridge
¬ Banded Monster Walks ¬ Kneeling Thrusts
¬ Side Plank Leg Circles ¬ Reverse Lunge to Curtsy
¬ Banded Thrusts Lunge
¬ Frog Pumps ¬ Banded Kick Ups
¬ Frog Kicks ¬ Banded Fire Hydrants

Here is an example of a glute activation routine:

CIRCUIT ONE: MOBILITY CIRCUIT TWO: ACTIVATION

A1. Walking High Knee Holds
A2. Froggers (squat to stand)
A3. Alternating Low Lunge,
Hip Stretch
A4. Bird Dogs
A1. Banded Thrusts
(3-second isometric hold)
A2. Banded Thrust Abductors
A3. Banded Fire Hydrant
A4. Banded Kick Up
A5. Banded Lateral Walks

Complete 10 reps of each movement and 2-3 rounds of each circuit.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 17

 I CAN’T FEEL MY
GLUTES…
WHAT NOW?
If you’ve spent time activating your glutes before
your session and you just can’t get the desired
contraction that you’re looking for, fear not, you aren’t
alone. Fortunately, there are a few tips that you can
implement to help your glutes fire better.

Your number one goal if you don’t feel your glutes switch on
is to focus on quality muscle contractions. Play around with
your form and stance to figure out how to maximize gluteal
recruitment during your sessions. Each person’s physiology is
different, so it is only natural that we may require different feet
placement, stances, range of movement and tempo. Positioning
for maximum gluteal recruitment on each exercise will vary from
person to person, there is no black and white answer, you need
to figure it out for your own unique body.

In addition to playing with stance, I find a lot of women feel their

glutes better when they have a lighter weight load. Utilizing
booty bands, bigger squeezes and pulses can isolate the gluteal
area and draw your attention there which will result in better
contractions.

Another great trick is to “activate” throughout your session.

In between heavier sets chuck a booty band on and do some
thrust pulses to remind your glutes that they should be working
at all times.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 18

GLUTE SUPPORTING
CARDIO
Cardio gets a big question mark when it comes to the glutes. I touched on this
briefly above but let’s dive in a little deeper. The most common cardio concerns
people tend to have are:

1. If they should do any cardio whilst trying to grow the glutes,

2. What the best cardio is for lean legs and maintaining the peach,

Have you ever noticed the difference in glute size between runners and sprinters?
Sprinters have a nice round, perky glutes, and marathon runners generally have no
glutes at all. Thus, the question about glutes and cardio isn’t so much a question of
cardio itself, but more so the type of cardio and the duration you perform it.

If you want to grow your glutes, I suggest you stop distance running, you are running
off your ass-sets off. The long duration and distance of runs with the steady-paced
motion eats away at all your hard-earned muscle.

Sprinting, on the other hand, will keep your glutes intact. You may have noticed
that the majority of sprinters have beautiful, toned, sculpted and lean legs? This is
because sprinters require their glutes to generate fast power and force to propel
them forward at such a speed. This need for activation by the glutes helps build
the muscle, as it is needed to contract so forcefully. When you sprint, your glutes
are contracting every single time you push off your foot. These contractions are
propelling (lifting) your body weight, which makes it a form of resistance training.
The short bursts of energy and distance allow sprinters to undertake a “HIIT” style
of training, which is beneficial for preserving muscle.

TO PUT IT SIMPLY, THE BEST CARDIO FOR THE GLUTES IS CARDIO THAT CONTAINS:

¬ HIIT style training or short bursts of energy such as sprints; whether that be hill sprints (incline), stair
sprints, treadmill, the elliptical, etc. The aim is to recruit massive surges of power from your glutes,
then ease off, rest and repeat.
¬ Plyometric exercises such as box jumps, jumping lunges, frog jumps, etc. You may even like to add
weight to these for an additional challenge to the glutes. These exercises are notorious for leaning out
the legs and giving them a beautiful shape whilst building a booty.
¬ Short distance and time with exercises that are hard and explosive, not long distances at a
steady rate.

Even still, if your primary goal is to grow your glutes, I would limit cardio and focus mostly on lifting.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 19

 MY GLUTES ARE
UNEVEN…
HOW DO I FIX
THIS?
Naturally, we are asymmetrical beings.

Our anatomy itself can be asymmetrical, for example,

pelvic and hip asymmetries and leg length differences
are common. In addition to this and more importantly,
our daily movement is distinctly asymmetrical, we tend
to shift to one side when standing for prolonged periods,
hold things in one hand more than the other, lift things
with one arm more than the other as an example and as
a result, we develop comfortable, asymmetrical patterns
for common daily tasks. One of the main reason why
the glutes shut down and imbalances form (besides
“favoring” one side of the body), is due to inactivity. We
talked about glute amnesia in the activation portion of
this book, with glutes the following is true: “if you don’t
use it, you lose it”. If you cease to use and activate a
muscle, it will inevitably stop functioning correctly.

Glute imbalances are extremely common, and clients

often query as to how they can remedy this, so let’s
discuss solutions.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 20

ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONS
The first port of call to try to fix a gluteal imbalance
is to place extra workload on the weaker glute. It is
paramount that you establish a firm mind-muscle
connection (MMC) with the dysfunctional glute. One
great way of going about this is to perform isometric
contractions. An example of an isometric series you
could do is:

¬ 5 sets of 3-second contractions with the weaker

glute from a standing position
¬ 5 sets of 3-second contractions with the
weaker glute from a seated position
¬ 5 sets of 3-second contractions with the
weaker glute from a prone position
DYNAMIC MOVEMENT
As well as the isometric contractions, you should
aim to perform a variety of dynamic movements for
the weaker glute to target the glute fibre through
their multiple roles. Choose simple exercises that
aren’t overly challenging, so that you can isolate the
glutes and not recruit any other synergists. Perform
a 5-7-minute routine for the weaker glute. Here is an
example:

¬ 3 sets of 15 reps of side-lying clams with the

weaker leg

IN ADDITION TO THIS, ¬ 3 sets of 15 reps of kick-ups with the weaker leg

¬ 3 sets of 15 reps of single-leg glute bridges with
VIA YOUR MMC, YOU the weaker leg

WILL NEED TO LEARN

TO PERFORM BILATERAL
MOVEMENTS PROPERLY.
Aim to perfect all of your compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts, and back
extensions with perfect symmetry. If you can feel the weaker glute activate properly, this is a win.

Lastly, performing unilateral movements when you train ensures that both legs stay relatively
balanced. Great examples of movements you should be utilizing are Bulgarian split squats, step-ups,
reverse lunges, single-leg RDLs, single-leg hip thrusts, single-leg side press, and single-leg back
extensions.

You don’t want your strong leg to get weaker, what you do want is for the glute on the weaker side to
catch up as quickly as possible, so it matches that of the stronger side. The best way to do this is to
work the weaker leg as much as possible.

ANITA HERBERT FITQUEEN CHALLENGE | THE BOOTY BIBLE 21