I had a thought about bodybuilding the other day and I was hoping some of the more experienced vets around here could help me sort it out.
Basically, what puzzles me is the following.
Whenever someone comes around and says something along the lines of “you don’t need to do curls/ext. because your bis/tris are hit by chin-ups/pressing,” more experienced lifters are very quick to point out that some direct training for the muscle group is closer to optimal.
Likewise for legs, well-rounded splits hit the big compounds of course, but are bound to have calf-raises, curls, and extensions. What puzzles me is that you hardly see any isolation work for the glutes (something like a weighted or banded glute bridge) as most seem to rely on the fact that they are worked during squats, rdl’s, lunges, etc.
i think most people find their ass grows easily from heavy squats, even lunges and thus do not need glute specific lifts, but there is alot of talk of glute activation exercises that are used to so that u can use glutes more in latter exercises. If your glutes are that small, i dont see why working them directly wouldnt make sense.
Any routine worth a shit has things like dead lifts, stiff leg dead lifts, squats, leg curls, etc… PLENTY of “posterior chain” work going on.
You are correct when you say that they rely on the fact that they are hit during those movements, but there is no discrepancy. Its obviously unnecessary, as these programs are producing phenomenal glutes without “banded glute bridges.” There isnt one video on youtube of Ronnie Coleman doing planks or glute bridges…
An ATHLETE or a power lifter might need different exercises for different reasons, but body builders obviously don’t.
I think glutes are criminally undervalued in bodybuilding, possibly at the fear of evoking images of femininity or homosexuality.
Personally, I think nearly all competitors I see on stages these days could benefit from alot of direct glute work. The ‘humoungous leg popping out farther than the pancake butt’ look isn’t really a good look to me.
doing deep squats and activation exercises is what really made my ass grow. Going below parallel was the key and it wasn’t easy to atg, I had to work on mobility and just practice, practice, practice, it took months to be able to go below parallel with proper form.
what i’m still trying to figure out is what is the best rep scheme for me for mass. I mix up heavy/medium/high reps. I go heavy 3-5 reps for a few weeks, than medium 7-10 and high 12+. Sometimes doing the the 20 reps which is brutal. i think this works for me by mixing it up, and everyone is different.
[quote]want2getlean wrote:
I think glutes are criminally undervalued in bodybuilding, possibly at the fear of evoking images of femininity or homosexuality.
Personally, I think nearly all competitors I see on stages these days could benefit from alot of direct glute work. The ‘humoungous leg popping out farther than the pancake butt’ look isn’t really a good look to me.[/quote]
Undervalued?
If they got any more attention, the stigma would make it even harder to discuss bodybuilding in public. If your ass isn’t developed from 500+lbs squats and the rest of your training, something is wrong.
I personally think LESS attention needs to be on glutes because basing a win on “glute striations” has gotten old.
a little of topic but don’t box squat work deeper ass&femorals???
because of (no)cartilagine in my knees I’m doing just box squat with a belt and my ass is toasted per days after a 30 reps set…
