Glutes and Kettlebells

 

My training has been really interesting to me lately, and the switch has made a dramatic change in my physique.

This picture was taken on Thursday morning at 6:30 am right after I returned from the gym. I am pretty pumped up, but the thing is, that is how I am looking all the time! It was GLUTE day for god sakes!

I know that the dietary change is helping a lot for me too, I am eating more fats and I can see that the lean mass is definitely increasing and the body fat is getting lower, I can easily see it in the abdominal area.

I seem to have found the perfect diet for my body, it has taken me two years.

Glute day involves the use of my Gymboss more than any other day. This is an interval timer that is indispensable for those who do not have a trainer.

I was performing what SC called a bench reverse iso hyper, a mainstay of my glute training. You lay face down on a flat bench, with the crease of the hips at the very edge, you will be raising your straight legs up so they are parallel with your prone body, and this will be held for a period of time. You are basically straight, or with your legs slightly higher than your body (ideal but difficult), contracting the glutes to keep it all in position and the only part of you on the bench is your body from the hips up.

An added dimension is I do this with a 25 pound free weight clamped between my ankles and I hold it for 30 seconds, timed by the Gymboss. 30 second hold, 30 second rest, three times. It's pretty difficult.

I finished and collapsed to my knees on the floor, and one of the regulars, an attorney, nice but not a serious lifter starts this conversation:

Attorney: "ha another one of your oddball made up moves!"
Me: "What? This is not made up, this is a serious lift!"

Then a trainer walking by says "Old school buddy, she is old school, everyone knows that move"

Me: "Yeah, look at my butt and look at yours then tell me if the move is that oddball!"
Trainer "Yeah, and she isn't here to exercise her mandible like you"

Attorney: "Do you have a competition coming up or something?"
Me: "Yup, can't you tell by the way I look!?"
Attorney: "No, I just notice when your intensity level is kicked up a few notches!"

Laughter all around and I go back to my odd ball, but highly effective moves and he goes back to his little plastic ab rolly thingy.

Next is swings, I have started back with my kettlebells, I love them so much and had all but abandoned them. There is so much to do, it's easy to leave something behind, but in the quest for low body fat, I completely forgot that this is what really melts it away for me. As you know, I am not a real fan of lots of cardio, I have not seen many physiques that I feel benefit from a lot, unless it is one that has copious amounts of bodyfat to lose, or one on drugs. Steroid users can do a lot more cardio without looking haggard than a natural athlete can.

I find tabata interval style training or kettlebells work best for me, so high intensity intervals basically.

Monday was 5 sets of 20 with a 20 kilo kettlebell, today I switched it up to be 7 sets of 15. I perform a two handed swing, set the bell down, walk around the gym to lower my heart rate and get right back into the next set.

That's the end of the training day, and a good end. As I put the bell away, a woman who was training with the guy I consider to be the most knowledgeable trainer in the place (the only trainer there who is RKC - Russian Kettlebell Certified by Pavel), and the only one I have seen actually swing bells in the gym correctly says "Your back looks really good. I have been wanting to see you do those for a long time"

I thanked her and pointed to her trainer and said "He's the expert right there" and she said "Yes I know, that's why I hired him"

I showed her my white hands and told her about the great Liquid Grip I started using, it really helps when swinging kettlebells. I am not a fan of gloves, I think for three reasons, I like to feel the weights in my hands; I think you can actually get a better, more functional grip without them; and SC used to tell me I wouldn't be allowed in the weight room if I even attempted to walk in wearing wimpy gloves. "No real man wears gloves" he would tell me, and the hell if I wanted to be treated like a woman!
 
The trainer walked up, looked at my white messy hands and said he loves the stuff too, he uses it with his high school football team he coaches at a private school.

The fact that she had been wanting to see me perform swings is a great moral booster, and I can never see my back so I do rely on my pictures and comments from others. Funny how people watch and I never realize it. I think I am in a zone.



David? One look at me this morning and he said I needed a cheeseburger. That's what happens when I start losing fat too quickly, and I need to "arrest" the fat loss, I have a real cheeseburger, white bun and all and it halts the process for a while. I told him I think he may be a week premature, check with me next Friday!

Right now I am thinking I might be able to sport a Dana Linn Bailey shirt soon, and look like I belong in it!

Reverse Hyper

I am forever working on the posterior chain, this is the missing link for most people.

It is vital not only esthetically, but for your health to ensure a strong lower back, glutes, hamstrings and calves. 

A strong posterior chain will allow you to run faster, squat more, deadlift more, and make sure you fill out your jeans a lot better than most people!

There is a piece of equipment called the Reverse Hyper, and like the wonderful Glute-Ham Raise, most gyms don't have one, they are tough and not for sissies, so gyms choose to have a biceps curl machine instead....

The Reverse Hyper was invented by Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell after breaking his back.

My gym doesn't have one, so I have to make do with what I have. You can perform a very effective Reverse Hyper with a flat bench and a firm stability ball.

I was doing this last week and a trainer stopped and watched. I finished and he asked where I learned to do it and I explained I used to use a Reverse Hyper when I trained with SC, and I hated every minute of it, but knew it was a great exercise. 

The trainer said he was impressed, he never saw it done like this and he thanked me, said he learned something from me.

When Maria was taping this today, another trainer and her client were watching. As I finished the client said "that is physically impossible!" and the trainer said "Wow! Amazing!"

I told them, "No, it isn't physically impossible, in fact, it is quite easy and if you did it, you would have a butt like me!"

I am demonstrating a reverse hyper in the video below. I caution you, unless you have a very strong lower back, do not hyper extend your legs up as far as I do, I can do this as I have well developed muscles in this area- beginners should try to maintain a more neutral position (don't bring your legs up so high, I wouldn't be going so high with weights on my ankles).

Once you have become accustomed to this, add weights strapped to your ankles. Make sure you perform the movement slowly and deliberately, do not swing or use momentum!

Turn up your speakers! There is a great clip by Dragonfly to accompany this short 22 second video. Email subscribers will need to navigate to the blog to see the video.

Booty

My favorite part, the booty! I work hard for this round butt, and I will always work hard on it.

I have been doing my squats faithfully and now that my gym got the glute ham raise I can see the roundness increasing!

It really is a shame to see someone with an attractive physique only to find that when they turn around, they have no rear end. Not only is it not attractive, it is signs of a weak posterior chain. Show me someone with a flat butt and I guarantee you they have, or will soon have back problems.


I was at home on Friday having a new garage door installed, the worker said to me "Don't take offense, but you have great glutes."  Now why on earth would I be offended? Doesn't he know I train hard just to hear people tell me things like this?!

He then wanted to know just what I do for my great glutes, so I gave him the run down of my one hour glute training day, and of course the squats and lunges on leg day that hit the glutes too.

He very kindly then replaced some rotted wood on the side of the garage too, and he didn't have to do that.

I understand they now make padded underwear! Too darn funny. They are called Booty Pop and I guess they are selling quite well, pretty sad really. So what happens when you take off those underwear and you have a sorry flat rear end? I say stick to those glute exercises, squats and lunges like me.

Here is a video of the Booty Pop underwear on a TV show called The View:
(email subscribers will need to navigate directly to the blog to see the video)

Three weeks of my diet

Things are moving along right on track! I have lost two pounds in three weeks, I don't have a lot to lose so I want to take it slowly. Losing it too fast results in a look that can be haggard, and your skin can look loose instead of tight and smooth.


Shoulders are looking good! I am starting to get a nice cap, but it will never be enough so I will keep working on them.

The abs are looking better and better as I lose the body fat, as I said before, I never let myself gain very much fat, I don't believe in the old theory that to gain lean muscle you need to pack on the fat. There is no reason to do that. Science has proven that you need to ingest more calories than you expend so you can gain, it has also proven that you don't need to ingest hundreds more calories that you expend resulting in a great deal of unwanted (and un-needed) fat. There is a happy medium, most people just like to use it as an excuse to pig out.

My V taper is looking better as my waist comes in, and I can see that I don't have as much fat on my upper back, an area where many women my age will start to store it.

 

I think the next thing I need is a new camera!

So, I have 12 weeks to go and honestly, I think I may be a bit too lean to start now, so it's a good thing I am going on vacation and plan to enjoy myself, I won't go crazy, but I will eat one of my favorite dishes that Dona Nica makes for me: Camarones empanizados con mayonesa (breaded, fried shrimp with mayonnaise) and a cold tecate!

And of course a few margaritas while watching the sunset on the beach.

Oh Happy Day....Glute Ham Raise

Oh Happy day! Oh Happy Day! When Jesus washed, oh when he washed, he washed my sins away....

Don't worry, this post is exercise related.


Do you remember that song by the Edwin Hawkins Singers? This song makes me feel oh, so alive! Here is a fantastic version:

(Email readers- there are two videos so you must navigate directly to the blog to view them.)



So what am I so excited about?

A Glute Ham Raise also known as  GHR.

My gym got one on Friday night, I have been asking for it for three years now. I came in Saturday and something was different in the weight room. A new leg press, looked nice, but not the hack squat I had asked for (it's all about me, see?). I looked further, and there it was, in all it's glory taking up a huge footprint in the very back room.

Most commercial gyms don't have one of these, they are found in professional athletic facilities, colleges and hard core gyms, ones that allow chalk and grunting!

But Courtside just got one and it is all mine....(because I doubt anyone else knows what to do with the thing).

So what the heck is GHR? What is it for?

It helped developed this wonderful butt of mine, it is the best piece of equipment available for your posterior chain: lower back, glutes, hamstrings, calves.

It's also one of the toughest workouts you will ever mess with. I am a little scared about what I shall feel like tomorrow, I haven't been on one of these in about 9 months, since I was training with SC, and we had quite a long session Saturday morning.

Here is a short video that shows a few variations of exercises that can be done on the GHR.






My training has just taken on a whole new life....I am so excited, I cannot wait to use the GHR every week, the bands are killer, I have done those, and SC taught me several variations, sometimes my entire body would be shaking as I stepped out of the machine.

He used to laugh and laugh and laugh, it was always a great source of entertainment.

If your gym doesn't have one, ask for it!

Booty!

I love butts. I happen to be one of the "genetically gifted" , I have a beautiful, full round butt all the time, even when I diet. And when I purposely gain weight, it gets even rounder.

Although I was "gifted" with a great butt, that doesn't mean it will remain looking great with no effort. I train my glutes once a week, for a full hour. I work them like the big muscle they are. People laugh at me, most of them have no idea that they could actually work their glutes for that long.

Let them laugh all they want, I don't have a flat butt, ever! I see heads turn when I walk by, and sometimes after I walk by, I quickly turn right around, look them in the eye and smile. Caught in the act! ha ha

SC (my previous trainer) actually gave me a 675 page book called:

Advanced Techniques in Glutei Maximi Strengthening, The Secret to Top Speed Sprinting, Back and Knee Injury Prevention and a Better Butt by Bret Contreras.

I have two videos here, the first is a serious one, 4 minutes long and it is Will Brink telling about the importance of "butt" training and eating properly to get that round butt. If you aren't feeling serious and want to see some awesome butts, at least take a look at the belly dancers in the second video. You will be amazed at what a well trained butt can do!

Make sure your speakers are on and email subscribers will need to navigate directly to the blog to see them.

Booty Building Facts by Will Brink:




The Way Your Back End is:

K. Lo

Surely you have heard of Jennifer Lopez and her infamous rear end?! She is lovingly known as J. Lo. You may like large rear ends you may not, we all have our preference. 

Me? I think you can work on your entire body, have perky breasts, smooth face, golden tan and the most fantastic drop dead jewelry and clothes, but if you have a flat butt you have nothing.

Really? Really!

Women would kill for a nice rear end, a nice high, round, tight set of glutes, ones that protrudes out toward the back, not the sides (in other words, no dreaded saddlebags!)

I have always devoted a great deal of time to my glutes, they respond quickly and that means just as quickly they can fade away...


One day of weight training is devoted to glutes but they are trained with legs too, and nothing is better for your butt than squats, which I do religiously.

Since I am deliberately trying to add some weight, and hopefully it is mostly lean mass, I have increased food and need to take advantage of those extra calories by training smart. 

For the last two weeks I have been running stairs at work during my lunch time instead of at home afterward, as often I was too tired or busy to fit it in. I figured I had already been at the gym for an hour and a half in the morning, so skipping the evening training session would be ok....wrong!


I change into my clothes and jog through campus, weaving my way through all the students until I get the the Event Center. It's a fairly large building, it holds 4,600 people for basketball and 6,000 for concerts, it's sizable!

 

 

 

 

I get to the Arena Entrance that you see above and I run up the stairs, there are 25 of them. I then jog across the top of the building and back down those same 25 stairs.

I do this 12 times. That's 300 stairs up, and 300 stairs down, not to mention the 12 jogs across the rooftop!

 

This is no steady state cardio, this is intervals and it gets your heart rate racing! I don't think there is much better for your butt than running up and down stairs.

Which brings me back to my butt. I went over my friends' house on Friday, he sent a text and asked if we wanted to have margarita's after work. Well, I hadn't had a margarita since February when I was in Mexico on vacation, and it sounded great on a sunny warm Friday.

As I sipped my (one) margarita, I was telling them about my glute training and how successful it has been, and that my butt has gotten so round and hard, that if you stuck a pin in it, it would pop like a big balloon!

We all laughed and I had to demo the look, and that's when I got the nickname K. Lo!

Here are a few stair running tips I have found that seem to work:

Step on every other step. I’ve found that it’s best to run stairs by skipping every other step. This manner of running ensures proper stride frequency and speed of running.


Use your whole body. running and climbing are whole-body movements. Engage all your muscles – not just the legs.


Use the quads. Climb stairs by pushing with your thighs. Make sure not to completely extend your legs – this puts too much strain on your knees. Instead, run by keeping your legs semi-flexed throughout.


The role of the posterior chain. The muscles of the back of your legs – calves, hamstrings (back of your thighs) and glutes (your butt) are responsible for most of the movement that occurs in running and jumping. Don’t make the mistake to push through your knees only. Instead, try to use your posterior chain and extend your hips.


Run on your toes. Just a quick note here – when running try to step on your toes or more specifically the place between your toes and your mid foot. That’s how all animals run – they step on their paws and on NOT their heels.

Use your arms. Make sure to use your arms to help you with the movement. Keep your elbows in, shoulders down (not shrugged) and your arms semi-flexed (like a sprinter).

Glutes

I love glutes. And I particularly like my butt when I am not at my lightest, because it looks round, full and healthy. If you have followed my blog, you know that back in December of 2009 I went on the "bring me a butt like Beyonce" workout, it was quite successful! SC developed it for me. He loves glutes and quads, so asking him to give me a set of exercises to make either bigger was no problem.

I make sure that I always include lots of glute training, in fact I devote an entire hour to glutes once a week, and many of my other days hit the glutes as a secondary muscle group.

There is nothing wrong with a nice, round full rear end, as long as it's not wide or heading south!  In fact, SC told me the other day he saw a very attractive woman, then she stood up and she had no butt to speak of, the back of her jeans hung flat and straight. He was sorely disappointed.

What can you do?

Squats

Reverse hypers
Hip thrusters
Glute Bridge

Reverse leg press

Sumo squats

Iso reverse hypers

Cable 45 degree abduction

Seated good mornings

X band walks

Triangle of terror

Lunges