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Advice on routine for female newbie build glutes/lose fat


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Hey all

 

I want to get back into the gym armed with a training routine that puts enough focus on the glutes. My goal is to lose some fat (I'm not overweight) and at the same time build muscle, especially in the glutes and shoulders. (I think it will be possible to lose fat and gain some muscle simultaneously in the 'newbie phase'.) The reason I want to prioritize the glutes is that I actually already quite like the way my body looks when I have a little less fat than I have now, except for the butt because it gets pretty flat when I lose fat.

 

Half a year ago I started strength training with a basic full body routine, working out gave me so much energy I loved it. With this basic routine though, I felt like I wasn't doing much for my glutes while that area is my main motivation to work out when it comes to aesthethics (I want to work out for both health and aestethics!).

 

Then after three months already I stopped going to the gym because of skin issues.

 

I'm ready to get back to training again but this time without feeling like I'm ignoring the glutes. I'm pretty sure that when I start working out again I will be in the so called 'newbie gains phase' and I don't want to let the possible benefit go to waste in the butt area by not working it enough.

 

So I came up with this routine, partially inspired by 'the glute guy' Bret Contreras. I made sure to use a lot of compound movements and also to make sure I do horizontal/vertical push/pull excercises. I plan to do 3 sets of 8-12 reps, the 'hyperthrophy range'.

 

 

Would you give me some advice on this routine?

 

Day 1

Warming up 20 min cardio and after that knee bends, no weight, recommended by physiotherapist

Kettle bell deadlift (contract glutes at top) (legs glutes back, compound, hamstring/hip dominant)

Dumbell shoulder press (shoulders triceps, compound, vertical push)

Dumbell chest press (chest shoulders, compound, horizontal push)

Dumbell lunges (legs glutes, compound, quad dominant)

Leg extensions (quads, isolation)

Barbell glute bridge (glutes, isolation)

Glutes on hip abductor, backwards on machine (glutes, isolation)

 

Day 2

Warming up 20 min cardio and after that knee bends, no weight, recommended by physiotherapist

Squat (legs core glutes, compound, quad dominant)

Cable rows (back shoulders biceps, compound, horizontal pull)

Lat pull down (back biceps schoulders, compound, vertical pull)

Side lateral raises (shouders, isolation)

Lying leg curls (hamstring, isolation)

Barbell hip thrust (glutes, isolation)

Glute kickbacks (glutes, isolation)

 

My plan is to do stomach vacuums and planks at home in addition to the above routine that I will do in the gym. On a third day I want to do just cardio, running with my boyfriend.

 

I would really appreciate your advice!

 

 

Some questionsI have:

 

Any big concerns with this routine?

Any errors in which are push/pull excercises etc?

Am I forgetting anything essential?

Is there too much focus on the glutes? (like too many excercises so it may actually be too much for the muscle instead of beneficial)

Too much focus on the quads?

Is it a problem that there is only one chest excercise a week?

Should I change anything in the order of the excercises? Like do lower body isolation following lower body compound instead of following upper body compound?

 

Thanks!!

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I'd say you have the right idea definitely, but I would suggest tweaking a few things. My own program is fairly similar: I lift full body 5 days a week (3 heavy glute, light upper focused and 2 light glute, heavy upper focused). If the glutes and shoulders are your area of concern then frequency definitely helps and you are right to include them like you have done on both days.

 

First of all, I would suggest cutting out cardio (especially before your lift!) and assessing where you are at in terms of energy balance. Unless you want to do cardio for another specific reason, don't worry too much about it - focus on nutrition for fat loss. In your case I would think it is perfectly feasible to drop fat and build muscle simultaneously (ie body re-composition). And also - don't drop your calories low - there's really no need. You want to build a solid base so keep them as high as possible and from the sounds of it you haven't got much you want to lose. Try eating at maintenance for as long as possible whilst you start your training and see where you go from there. I'll just add here that you shouldn't obsess about seeing the scale go down - with a solid recomp. you might not lose 'weight'.

 

Secondly, I'd recommend beginning with your glute specific exercises. For example, on heavy days I will start with hip thrusts using pyramid sets and throw in a couple of sets of heavy band hip thrusts. Then I opt for either deadlift or squat. I do assisted pullups in-between sets (which is the nice thing about full body training!). This is followed by all of the accessory moves and higher rep exercises/ band work. On lighter days I start with band hip thrusts again but with a focus on higher rep and burnout/ iso holds. I make sure I burn out the glutes after every workout using bands/ bodyweight. Activating the muscle properly, using heavy weight and also moderate and lower with higher reps is the key - find the exercises that activate your glutes/ delts the most and stick with those and keep progressing each week.

 

And lastly, I would suggest warming up with foam rolling, activation exercises and light stretching. Make sure you really focus on the muscle you want to work on each exercise which honestly makes a huge difference!

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