Contreras, 43, has made it his life’s work to show everyone the power of their glutes, and he’s squeezed all that knowledge into his new book, The Glute Lab: The Art and Science of Strength and Physique Training. “Glute training is vital to so many things,” he says. “It’s the engine for your power.”
Contreras, a 193-cm, 113-kg slab of a human, is using that engine to power an empire. He has more than 745,000 followers on Instagram, and his BootybyBret program has more than 4500 monthly subscribers. He also sells his own line of glute-building gear, including that hip-thrust machine, a bespoke barbell that’s better for glute training since the handles are specifically designed with glute work in mind, and special buttbuilding resistance bands you loop around your knees.
It’s not merely that your glutes look good in jeans. Although that’s no small thing. Well-developed and functioning glutes protect you from knee, hip and lower-back injuries, and they power you in the gym and in sports. And training them is even more important if you’re sedentary or have a desk job. Sitting all day can tighten your hip flexors and lead to weak glutes, which can inhibit your ability to achieve what’s called “hip extension”— essentially, the opening of your hip joint. Without that, athletic heroics will be confined to your past.
Strong glutes also stabilise your pelvis, supporting your spine and alleviating back pain.
“Your glutes are like a Swiss Army knife,” says Contreras. Do the exercises above to make them stronger.
HOW TO GROW YOUR GLUTES
Hip extension is a critical human motion that’s driven by your glutes. If you sit too much or avoid activating them on a daily basis, your body forgets how to do it. Wake up your glutes and you get better at these things:
1. RUNNING
Hip extension helps you explode off the ground when you run, lengthening your stride and pushing you a bit further with every step. “Have you ever seen a sprinter with a small butt?” Contreras asks. “No.”
2. JUMPING
Want to jump high? Then you need to extend at the hip. Explosive, powerful hips react with your ankles and knees to propel you upwards. They’re fuelled by a strong glute contraction.
3. WEIGHT TRAINING
The final motion of a squat or deadlift occurs when your pelvis shifts into a truly neutral position. Are you having trouble doing that? Squeeze your glutes extra hard and watch what happens.
THE BRET CONTRERAS BUTT BUILDER
Add these moves to your workouts, doing them as often as 3 times a week, to grow your glutes
PULSE GOBLET SQUATS
Stand with a dumbbell at your chest, heels on 5-kg plates. Squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. This is the start. Lower until your thighs are below parallel, then press up until they’re just above parallel. (You’re doing only the bottom half of a full squat motion.) That’s 1 rep; do 20.
BENCH HIP ABDUCTION
Lie with your right side on a bench, legs and hips hanging off it, legs straight. Bend your right leg. Keeping your left leg straight, let it drop toward the floor until you feel a stretch in your left glute. Drive your straight leg up as high as it will go. That’s 1 rep; do 12 per side.
