Glute Lab: The Art and Science of Strength and Physique Training

by Bret Contreras, Glen Cordoza

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
IMPROVE YOUR PHYSIQUE, BUILD LEAN MUSCLE, AND INCREASE STRENGTH

For more than twenty years, Bret “the Glute Guy” Contreras has been on a quest to improve human performance, focusing his research on the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the human body. What started as an effort to improve his own weak, flat backside quickly evolved when he discovered the wide range of functional movements to which the glutes contribute. Properly trained glutes not only help you lift heavier, jump higher, sprint faster, and swing harder but also help prevent knee, hip, and lower back pain and injuries. Bret went on to earn a doctorate in sports science and is now known as one of the world’s foremost experts on strength and physique training.

After helping thousands of people reach their strength goals and achieve their ideal physique in his world-renowned training facilities, Bret brings you Glute Lab , which pulls his field-tested and scientifically proven methods and techniques together into an all-in-one glute training system that will help you develop leaner, rounder, stronger, higher-performing glutes. This all-encompassing guide explains why glute training is important for health and performance, how the glutes function, what critical role they play in the body, and how to design the optimal training program to accomplish your aesthetic and performance goals. This book offers thirty-six weeks of programming and several training templates for those who want to dive right in, breaking down each technique with step-by-step photos and descriptions. Bret also reveals the most common faults people make when performing these movements and offers hundreds of tips for getting the most out of every training session. You can implement his system in your local gym or even in the comfort of your own home.

Glute Lab is more than just a book on glute training. These principles and methods can help you maximize muscle growth and strength, improve body composition, overcome training and physique plateaus, train around injuries and discomfort, determine ideal training frequency and exercise selection, design periodized programs, and so much more. In short, this book gives you the tools to make strength and physique gains and design balanced programs that cater to a wide range of goals and work for your entire body. Whether you’re a regular person looking to improve your appearance, an athlete looking to boost your performance, a physique competitor or bodybuilder looking for an edge over the competition, a powerlifter looking to increase your strength, a CrossFitter inspired to gain knowledge, a personal trainer interested in offering your clients cutting-edge training techniques, or a physical therapist looking to improve your clients’ health, Glute Lab will equip you with the information you need. In this book you will

• The fundamentals of optimal glute training
• The anatomy and function of the glutes
• How to select exercises based on your physique and training goals
• How to perform the most effective exercises for sculpting rounder, stronger glutes
• Variations of the hip thrust, deadlift, and squat exercises
• Sample training templates and splits that cater to different training goals and preferences
• How to implement advanced methods into your training routine
• Diet strategies to reach weight loss and body composition goals
• Sample glute burnouts and templates
• Twelve-week beginner, intermediate, and advanced full-body training programs with a glute emphasis
• How to design your own customized training programs
• How to overcome plateaus in training, strength, and physique

Genres: Fitness, Health, Nonfiction, Bodies, Self Help, Sports, Science

608 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 2019

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I waited until I completed a full 12-week program before rating this one. This is full of great information for strength training and has many different programs you can follow and even repeat. I did the intermediate program and I was able to do almost every exercise with my squat rack, bench, and dumbbells. Had to get a little creative with some, though. The author has posted videos of every exercise on YouTube and that was really helpful for me to reference. I saw a ton of improvement in my numbers and saw visible bulk to my glutes and thighs. I would love to continue on to the advanced program but you really need access to a gym for most of the exercises in that one. I'm considering starting the intermediate program over and just continuing to up my numbers.

[Allie Jo Arendell · Rating 5 out of 5]

From world-renowned strength and physique coach, Bret Contreras-"The Glute Guy", Glute Lab is the most comprehensive lower body training system on the market. I first discovered Bret Contreras through his Youtube channel and purchased his first book, Strong Curves, in January 2014. I went through the beginner, intermediate and advanced programs in Strong Curves about 3-4 full times from 2014-2019 during both in-gym and in-home/garage training and began following him on Instagram before awaiting the release of this book in August 2019. And I have absolutely fallen in love with Contreras as a coach. "There is no universal way to perform movement"....I think one of the best things Contreras has done for me as a coach myself is to allow me to see the bigger picture- to fit movement to peoplesʻ bodies...to see how best they move with all types of variations...some exercises simply just do not work well for the skeletal anatomy of individuals for ROM and movement mechanics, but others do...pointing your feet slightly outward or widening your stance can make you FEEL 100% more engaged with your own body. Contreras had made me a master at curiosity of my own body and has truly helped me "embrace my genetics to fall in love with the training process".

I have been sitting with Glute Lab for this entire last year and it is my #1 training bible for everything lower-body related. Contreras speaks to me as a coach because he "does not pretend to have all of the answers. [He] remains curious and does his best to think outside the box...If someone comes up with something better [he] will embrace it." He gives you 100% of what he has been currently implementing and learning with his strength and physique clients, within his own training (the guy can deadlift 635 lbs....) and from the large body of up-to-date research and journals (as well as his own research). He is the full package and brings the full package to this book. It is easy to read, organized well and has fantastic diagrams and photographs of real women in the industry.

You will not be disappointed- this book will change and enhance so much about how you train yourself and your clients! I now have my 76 year old client doing weighted glute bridges and her lower back has never felt better. GET THIS BOOK! READ THIS BOOK! KEEP THIS BOOK IN YOUR TRAINING BAG!

"At the end of the day, you are your own physique artist...strength and physique training is a 24 hour endeavor. You have to train smart...sleep, eat well, and avoid activities that night compromise performance."

"We must cover our bases and target all three mechanisms by performing a variety of exercises, loads, and rep ranges at varying levels of effort. I call this the shotgun approach."

"Focus on the things you can control (body composition, muscular development, exercise selection, diet, mindset, sleep, stress management."

"Remember, exercise is a movement and movement is a skill...continue to master technique with every session."

"You have to listen to your body on a day-to-day basis and a lift-by-lift basis...roll with it and make the necessary adjustments...you are rarely going to feel perfect, but understand that you are stronger than you think."

"Not all Volume is created equal."

"You have a lifetime of weight training ahead of you, so donʻt be afraid to experiment along the way..."

"For advanced lifters strength training becomes a juggling act. To get stronger and reach your physique goals you have to focus on certain areas of your training while maintaining the other areas of your training."

"Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, and add in what is uniquely your own." -Bruce Lee

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most helpful book for learning to train glutes on the planet. Bret is so wonderful to share his knowledge in such an easy to understand (and use) format!

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

The material on particular exercises is excellent. The breakdown into squat, deadlift, glute dominant is very useful. This section is the reason to buy this book.

The section on programming and including glute dominant exercises (beyond just squat and deadlift patterns) is very helpful as well. Bret does provide some good base programs at three levels of expertise to start off with.

I could have done without the front sections about fitness, training, diet, etc. It’s general stuff I’ve read before and seen covered better. If that had been skipped this book would be much more focused and half the size.

Recommended to trainers and fitness enthusiasts.

[Mike Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend.

I was super skeptical when I picked it up, but all the excellent reviews compelled me to check it out.

The book clearly covers many basic fundamentals of weight training.

Yes, the focus is glutes, but that is not a bad thing as there are a TON of peripheral benefits to the entire lower body and lower back which are typically neglected.

I really like the author's conversational tone.

The illustrations are excellent - they did not spare any expense on the images which is really important when you are learning new movements.

Highly recommend. I will definitely keep this book close by for future review / reference.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lifelong sufferer of pancake butt, there was a TON of great information. I don't agree with everything, but Contreras has the right perspective on this--find what your body prefers and it'll be great. As long as you're hitting the muscles, you don't need to force yourself to do "the one true exercise," which just doesn't exist.

[Ieva Krūmiņa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bret is the best! Glute God🙏
Such a detailed book. Loved it as much as fiction books😄

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book with scientific explanation on all things regarding glute training. It gets quite repetitive in some parts but you can easily flip through those pages. Last part has detailed explanation on every single exercise. Be prepared for some ego comments on the author being "the most experienced person on the subject" I'm sure he his but I don't know if I needed so many reminders of it.

[JoAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fat-ass book about ass xd A lot of exercises focused on building butt, based on solid studies and experience. Good position for every PT

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

To think Bret is the person that invented the loaded bridges and thrust variations we use nowadays, being such a young man, is pretty mind-blowing. I bet you didn't know that either before reading this book. It is highly impressive how passionate he has been about glute training and how all his research and experience lead to this book today. Makes you feel lucky to have it so easy and so handy now. It was very informative, clear, and to the point. What I learned:

To grow your muscles you need mechanical tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress.

MECHANICAL TENSION
Believed to be the most important. 2 types of tension:
- passive: tension on a muscle being stretched passively
- active: by contracting the muscle
How to achieve it:
- Include eccentric and concentric exercises.
- Move through a decent range of motion.
- Create maximal activation and contraction by lifting heavy or moderate weights as many times as possible until you fail, or contracting the muscle as hard as you can.

MUSCLE DAMAGE
Created by doing something unfamiliar, or performing an exercise that stretches a muscle. Says it's overrated and the least important of the three. Feeling sore can be detrimental to your training. His recommendation is only 1 or 2 exercises of these a week.

METABOLIC STRESS
It is achieved through the burning sensation during the exercise and the pump (muscle swelling) you feel after it.
How to achieve it:
- High reps at fast speeds
- Short rest periods
- Mind muscle connection
- Using bands and chains
- Kaatsu, or blood flow restriction (BFR) training
- Constant tension (isometric hold)
- Partial reps
- Pyramids
- Torque doubling
- Dropsets
- Supersets
- Burnouts

TIPS AND INTERESTING FACTS
He says weight is as important as the quality of movement and he prefers to perform the first one or two exercises of the day with the goal of lifting heavy and then do the rest of the workout with a focus on the feel, not the weight.

When your knees stay bent as in a hip thrust or glute bridge, you have higher glute activation because your hamstrings, which are also responsible for extending your hips, are less active due to the fact that they cannot produce maximal tension when they're shortened to that degree.

What I expect my female clients to be doing if they train with me for 6 months or longer:
Hip thrust 225-275 pounds (102-125 kilos) for 5 to 10 reps.
Back squat 115-155 pounds (52-70 kilos) for 5 to 10 reps.
Deadlift 135-185 pounds (61-84 kilos) for 5 to 10 reps.
Bulgarian split squat 60-100 pounds (27-45 kilos) for 5 to 10 reps.
Back extension 60-100 pounds (27-45 kilos) for 10 to 20 reps.

Avoid the big compound lifts and high-intensity interval training, which work more than one muscle group and can be taxing on the body. Instead, focus on isolation exercises that don't beat you too badly, such as leg extensions, leg curls, calf rises, crunches, biceps curls, delt rises, triceps extensions.

If you don't like cardio and are active in your daily life, don't feel compelled to do much of it at all. Your heart will be healthy from all of the walking and non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT-such as cleaning the house and running errands) and lifting. If you really like cardio, I prefer for you to limit it to three 30-minute sessions per week.

Don't feel the need to use a stopwatch and be super strict with rest times; research has shown that going by feel leads to the best results.

If you can't access a gym, do bodyweight workouts consisting of squats, push-ups, Bulgarian split squats, lunges, frog pumps, single leg hip thrusts, frog reverse hypers, side-lying hip rises, and extra-range side lying hip abduction. If you have someone who can hold onto your ankles, do Nordic ham curls and back extensions. You can also do partner rows if the other person is strong enough to hold you up. If you have mini bands, do various lateral banded glute exercises.

There's been a lot of research comparing strength training and stretching for improving joint range of motion, and the results are similar. In fact, strength training is arguably more beneficial because in addition to improving mobility, it also develops strength throughout those ranges of motion. Stretching doesn't change the mechanical properties of the muscle like strength training does. You're not lengthening your muscle or becoming more elastic. All that's happening is that your brain is recognizing that the position isn't causing your body harm, so your nervous system releases tension, allowing you to go a little deeper into the stretch.

As the famous French philosopher Voltaire said many years ago, "The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease".

I recommend trying the prone bent-leg hip extension and the standing glute squeeze and then assessing by feel which exercise activates your glutes more. If you get a higher level of glute activation with the standing glute squeeze, perhaps straight-leg exercises like back extensions and reverse hypers are better for your glute development.

If your goal is to maintain upper-body size, then you could do just one day per week and be fine.

Both multi-joint and single-joint exercises build muscle. Multi-joint moves should be prioritized.

Muscles targeted earlier in a workout will see slightly better gains than muscles targeted later in the workout.

Faster and slower tempos lead to similar levels of muscle growth, but you must control the eccentric. Anywhere from 2 to 6 seconds per rep yields similar results.

Total-body training has been shown to be equally effective for hypertrophy as body part splits.

2 sets of 2 different ab exercises twice per week is enough.

The more skill and coordination an exercise requires, the less effective it is at activating the muscle.

If you're performing +10 reps you can breathe rhythmically by inhaling during the lowering (eccentric) phase and exhaling during the rising (concentric).

RULE OF THIRDS
To develop your glutes maximally, you need to perform exercises from each of three vectors. Approximately one-third of the glute exercises you perform should be horizontal (thrust and glute bridge variations), one-third vertical (squat and deadlift variations), and one-third lateral/rotary (lateral band walks). Roughly one-third of the loads you use should be heavy for low reps (1 to 5), one-third should be medium for moderate reps (6 to 12), and one-third should be light for high reps (13 to 50). If you loathe a particular rep range, you can omit it and still see excellent results as long as volume and effort are sufficiently high. Most sets should be carried out close to muscle failure. All loads build muscle. Heavier loads require greater training durations and can beat up the load joints, and lighter loads can be nauseating, so bodybuilders tend to prefer moderate loads.

PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
There are many ways to progressively overload your body. Performing larger ranges of motion, smoother tempo, adding pauses, or adding an explosive element.
Although progressive overload is pretty straightforward, simply telling someone to add 10 more pounds or do two more reps with the same weight each week is not sustainable.
After you're established and ingrained proper form and full range of motion, it's time to worry about progressing in repetitions and load. Options:
-Lifting the same load for the same number of reps for increased distance (range of motion).
-Lifting the same load for the same number of reps with better form, more control, and less effort (efficiency).
-Lifting the same load for more reps (volume).
-Doing the same number of reps with heavier weight (load).
-Lifting the same load for the same number of sets and reps with less rest time between sets (density).
-Lifting the same load with more speed and acceleration (effort).
-Doing more work in the same amount of time (density).
-Doing more work in less time (density).
-Doing more sets with the same load and number of reps (volume).
-Lifting the same workout more often throughout the week (frequency).
-Doing the same workout and maintaining strength while losing body mass (relative volume).
-Lifting the same load for the same number of reps and then extending the set past technical failure with forced reps, negatives, dropsets, static holds, rest pauses, partial reps, or a superset (effort).

THE IMPORTANCE OF GLUTE TRAINING
Why should you prioritize your glutes in training? The glutes are the biggest and most powerful muscle group in the human body. In addition to being aesthetically appealing, the glutes control a wide range of functional movements. What's more, having big, strong glutes sets you up to lift heavier, jump higher, sprint faster, and swing harder and can even play a role in preventing knee, hip, and lower back injuries.
Research indicates a strong association between having big, strong glutes and being attractive and athletic. The instinct to check out a nice butt seems to be hard-wired into our genes. A woman might select a male based on his ability to hunt, fight, and protect. And such abilities might very well have been tied to his powerful glutes. A man might select a female for the same reasons, but with the added perception that bigger glutes meant better childbearing hips.

ADVANCED TRAINING METHODS
CONSTANT TENSION REPS: going up and down like a piston. Not resting at any time. The rest are performed fairly rapidly, but smoothly and fluidly.
REST-PAUSE REPS: brief recovery followed by one to two more reps right after failure.
ISOHOLDS: holding a static position in a range that creates tension in the muscle. When you isolate the position, you're forced to spend time working on your mechanics in that one position, which can carry over and improve your overall technique. We don't do isoholds often because I believe that the other methods are better for growing muscle. However, isoholds are great if you are injured and can't perform certain ranges of motion for an exercise.
20-REP SQUAT ROUTINE: take your 10RM load and squat it for 20 reps by refusing to rack the bar and continuing in a rest-pause fashion.
PYRAMIDS: allows to hit the entire repetition spectrum. Helps you get stronger in a variety of rep ranges and ensures you target all of the muscle fibers in one session.
ENHANCED ECCENTRICS: There are 4 ways to do it:
1- Two legs up/one leg down
2- Weight releasers
3- Flywheel
4- Manual resistance
TORQUE DOUBLING: involves wearing a band on knees (hip abduction) while performing hip extension movements.
PULSES: moving up and down in a small range in the hardest part of the movement.
CLUSTERS: group of reps with shorter rest windows. Ex: instead of 3x10 resting 2 min, you do 6x5 resting 1 min in between. Same weight, same time but less fatiguing distribution of reps and sets.
DROPSETS/STRIP SETS: start heavy and get close to failure with each drop.
PAUSE REPS: Pause at the bottom or top of a movement during each repetition. Ex staying a sec on hip thrust lockout.
ACCOMMODATING RESISTANCE: involves attaching bands or chains to make it harder at lockout. Ex bench press chained bb or banded pull ups.
DYNAMIC EFFORT REPS: explosive reps. Develop power and athleticism but not hypertrophy. Ex kettlebell swings and Olympic weight-lifting variants.
LADDERS: 15 banded glute bridges and 15 banded hip abductions, then 14, 13 and so until 1.
PRE-EXHAUSTION: fatiguing the antagonist muscle activates the agonist more. The nervous system detects fatigue and steers neural drive to synergistic muscles.
SUPERSETS: types
1- agonist: sets that target the same muscle
2- antagonist: one set for one muscle the next for the antagonist.
3- synergist: muscle that helps facilitate the action carried out by the agonist so the agonist works more. Ex ham curls before back extensions. Hamstrings are fatigued and when using both muscles (glutes) during extensions, you'll feel the glutes more.
4- upper/lower: one set upper body one set lower body.
BUNOUTS: performing nonstop exercise for max 3 minutes. Provide good pump and burn.




TRAINING PROGRAM
Finished the book and I am following the intermediate program. At first it looked a little random, but after understanding his approach comes from stronglifting all the exercises selection made sense. It is based on the basic powerlifting movements: squats, deadlifts and bench press but adds military presses, hip thrusts and chin ups. He states that bodybuilding exercises might be useful for bodybuilders but for the general public, the best results are in stronglifting.

Only thing I didn't like as much was by the end, explaining exercises by text was not very practical, specially about machines that not every gym has. I think I would have liked to have a Youtube link with him explaining them instead of reading them.

[Dafne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have mentioned, this is a massive tome with more information than you'll probably ever need on the subject of lower body training. I've been following Bret's workouts for over a year now (originally with his older book) and I appreciate his ongoing research and dedication to finding the best techniques. Everyone can benefit from following his protocols, no matter your fitness or physique goals. The only reason this review is docked one star is because I was disappointed to see that no upper body exercises are explained at all. He gives you sample workout routines which include upper body exercises, but there is no information in the book about how to do them. I know this is about glute training but I would have appreciated some info about upper body movements since they are in the prescribed workouts. Fortunately Bret has a strong social media presence so you can find the info you need on YouTube and Instagram, it just takes a bit more research.

[france · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Good for those who like to understand the science behind strength training and bodybuilding—especially for beginners who might feel overwhelmed by the amount of information found online (most of the time, conflicting and confusing). There’s a comprehensive guide to most of the common and important lower-body workouts as well as their variations too (e.g., squat, deadlift, hip thrust). That doesn’t mean this can’t get a tad overwhelming at times. It does. But it’s easy to know when you can just skim something and skip to the essentials.

My absolute favorite takeaways from this are the Rule of Thirds and the Periodization. I’d recommend that you don’t try and attempt to finish this one or two sittings. The information is complex, no matter the manner of communication and you need ample time to process.

[Thea Yusuf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for ones who aim for physical goals but also chasing strength at the same time. The book covers the basic of fitness well and easy to understand for beginners. Besides that there are detailed explanation on every important workout move, and more in the accompanying website for this. On the top of it also explained the basic of designing training program with Bret's method, which proven I managed to grow glute when implementing Rule of Thirds. Bret also put example exact program that makes you understand how to implement it along with periodization for more experienced lifter.

Highly recommended!

[Jana Vonšák · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptionally comprehensive book about stronglifting specialized on glutes. The book describes not only the various training methods, detailed individual exercises and their variations, but goes deep into the "how and why" - anatomy and function of individual muscles. Bret Contreras is known as the "Glute guy", he is the one who invented hip thrusts and believe me, he knows what he is doing. I believe this book might be and interesting source of information for all the fitness levels, in case you want to get more insights into lower body training.

[Prajwal H.N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book especially if you’ve never had an ass and want to grow it or you already have a decent enough bum and want to grow it further

Lots of training principles and lessons which are explained very easily

It’s a long read about 996 pages but totally worth it

Dr Bret Contreras has done an amazing job and his wanting for people to learn more about Glute Training and its benefits shows in the words used in this book

5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good, detailed book. I should pick this back up again when I am trying to work harder on gaining strength and putting more work into a workout plan.

Edit: jk. Just saw that this man is trash and creepy and his workout plan is overrated and way too focused on hip thrusts when there are other ways to grow glutes.

[Sandra Sanchez Nery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, all the science behind training for your desired objectives explained in the clearest way possible. The author has so much experience that every question I had thought of was always explained in the pages to follow. Definitely a guide for me moving forward!

[Bojan Avramovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enciklopedija treninga za gluteuse. Sve što treba da znaš o treningu gluteusa je u knjizi

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good science and lots of exercises.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A physically big Heavy book. Very well written. Illustrations are many, clear, and very helpful.

[Dania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Always grateful to read for someone like Bret, his passion and knowledge are another level!!

[Anh Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the techniques in this book, I could adjust my workout schedule and grow my glutes in 3 months from an absolute beginner level. I love the excellent body anatomy explains.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

clear instructions and explanations
great presentation

[Kate Dawe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll revisit this book again and again. Jam packed with information, research, advice and training programmes.

[Emma Linley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of Science and many useful ideas, enjoy having the scientific backing to my training

[Silvio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

[Noritaka Hara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book serves as a good reference for lower body hypertrophy exercises and a lot of relevant knowledge on it. The program part targets those who are interested in building ideal glute.

[Cari Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has reinvented the way I feel about my physique. Each section is laid out exceptionally well, and the exercise breakdowns are easy to follow.
Strength is truly sexy ❤️🤗

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve used this book more as an encyclopedia and reference it from time to time.

[Lyaman Agabekova · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is more like encyclopaedia with a lot of ideas and good exercises that everyone can include in their existing program.

The author definitely is one of the best in its field.