Booty gainz plateau (pics)

wargrrl

pics are 4 months apart

http://i58.tinypic.com/dpw968.png

Ive been rly frustrated with my lack of gains in the glutes. I have been training for 10 months now and i havent noticed a lot of diff in the last four months. However, my strength has been increasing,, currently squatting 185Lbs. I also squat lighter on some days but deeper.

my main leg day ezercises are squats, dumbbell deadlifts, leg press, hip abductions, lunges

I havent tried hip thrusts yet because it seems intimidating to set it up lol

anyways what can i do??? im getting rly annoyed and obsessive w my gains

wargrrl

bump

Tresiel

Pic didn't work for me but care to go into more details - routine, all exercises (reps/sets), current macro breakdown (kcals per day) etc?

Brolympus

If you are hitting a plateau, here are things to check for:

-Have you tried increasing your calories? Your BMR gradually rises as your muscle mass increases. If you have been weight training for 10 months, and haven't seen results in 4 months, it is highly possible you are now eating at maintenance and no longer at a surplus needed to gain muscle. You have just gained more muscle and your body has a higher calorific upkeep. MFP will NOT adjust your calories for you correctly. I would advise readjusting your calorie goals at every couple pounds of weight gained (or lost).

-Have you tried doing alternative exercises? Different weight/rep schemes? Have you tried using an isolate exercise machine for glutes? Yes, the machines are constricting to movement, but sometimes isolate exercises "wake" your muscles up if they are getting lazy. I definitely have to do this to my triceps, those muscles are LAZY. They hate getting bigger unless I absolutely punish the crap out of them.

-Have you been following a gradual overload program? There should be zero problems if so, that is the textbook way to get big. Keep adding either an additional rep, or more weight, every time you hit the squat rack. Writing down your weight/sets/reps is imperative.

-Try giving yourself two, maybe even three consecutive rest days and sleeping a ton those days. Maybe you are just overtrained and your body can't keep up with repairs as fast as your are causing damage. I will occasionally give myself two days off. After two days off, I feel full of energy and my lifts are explosive and powerful. Might be what you need to bust your plataeu.

Hope this helps, best of luck!

jquijas

Jim_Barteck

If you are hitting a plateau, here are things to check for:

-Have you tried increasing your calories? Your BMR gradually rises as your muscle mass increases. If you have been weight training for 10 months, and haven't seen results in 4 months, it is highly possible you are now eating at maintenance and no longer at a surplus needed to gain muscle. You have just gained more muscle and your body has a higher calorific upkeep. MFP will NOT adjust your calories for you correctly. I would advise readjusting your calorie goals at every couple pounds of weight gained (or lost).

-Have you tried doing alternative exercises? Different weight/rep schemes? Have you tried using an isolate exercise machine for glutes? Yes, the machines are constricting to movement, but sometimes isolate exercises "wake" your muscles up if they are getting lazy. I definitely have to do this to my triceps, those muscles are LAZY. They hate getting bigger unless I absolutely punish the crap out of them.

-Have you been following a gradual overload program? There should be zero problems if so, that is the textbook way to get big. Keep adding either an additional rep, or more weight, every time you hit the squat rack. Writing down your weight/sets/reps is imperative.

-Try giving yourself two, maybe even three consecutive rest days and sleeping a ton those days. Maybe you are just overtrained and your body can't keep up with repairs as fast as your are causing damage. I will occasionally give myself two days off. After two days off, I feel full of energy and my lifts are explosive and powerful. Might be what you need to bust your plataeu.

Hope this helps, best of luck!

QFT

/end thread

DWBalboa

Squats are always the de facto exercise that most people default to and while they are good you should also do weighted walking lunges. I prefer kettle bells for the lunges. Also try Bulgarian Split Squats and Step ups with weights.
Something that is often over looked is plyometric jumps, box jumps, and other plyometric exercises as well as wind sprints/suicides will work wonders for your legs and glutes. If you’re going to do sprints I would suggest getting a HRM; I do sprints until my HR gets above 150’s-160’s then rest until it goes down by 20-30. For you since you are considerably younger, I would go to 160-170 and then take a break until you are back down to 120-130. But of course before you start any new exercise regimens always consult your doctor.
Additionally, make sure that you are getting plenty of calories; you need a surplus to build muscle effectively.
Good luck.
DW.

55044TeamJoy

What's your diet? Are you eating enough to support gains? How are you gains in other parts of your body?

DjinnMarie

:noway:

You look great! You may have hit your natural limit in the posterior department. Any gainz after that is going to be slow and tedious, and requiring strict nutrition. Others have already covered it, protein, upping calories, and progressive overload... But even then don't expect massive gainz.

BobT84721

IDK. you look perfect to me!

missycj87

i didnt really see a difference in the pics. how big of a butt are you trying to get? every woman was not built to have a big *kitten*. its all about body type. i think its kind of like trying to grow boobs. i have gained 14 pounds and my boobs havent moved a bit. and they probably never will because i am not meant to have big breast. and while my boobs didnt grow, my *kitten* sure did lol. i found out i have a pear body type. so i really dont have to work too hard in the butt department except for putting on more weight. the more weight i gain the bigger my *kitten* and hips gets. my stomach stays flat and my breast stay the same(im a 32A by the way:sad: ). so ur butt may never get any bigger if ur just not built that way

wargrrl

If you are hitting a plateau, here are things to check for:

-Have you tried increasing your calories? Your BMR gradually rises as your muscle mass increases. If you have been weight training for 10 months, and haven't seen results in 4 months, it is highly possible you are now eating at maintenance and no longer at a surplus needed to gain muscle. You have just gained more muscle and your body has a higher calorific upkeep. MFP will NOT adjust your calories for you correctly. I would advise readjusting your calorie goals at every couple pounds of weight gained (or lost).

-Have you tried doing alternative exercises? Different weight/rep schemes? Have you tried using an isolate exercise machine for glutes? Yes, the machines are constricting to movement, but sometimes isolate exercises "wake" your muscles up if they are getting lazy. I definitely have to do this to my triceps, those muscles are LAZY. They hate getting bigger unless I absolutely punish the crap out of them.

-Have you been following a gradual overload program? There should be zero problems if so, that is the textbook way to get big. Keep adding either an additional rep, or more weight, every time you hit the squat rack. Writing down your weight/sets/reps is imperative.

-Try giving yourself two, maybe even three consecutive rest days and sleeping a ton those days. Maybe you are just overtrained and your body can't keep up with repairs as fast as your are causing damage. I will occasionally give myself two days off. After two days off, I feel full of energy and my lifts are explosive and powerful. Might be what you need to bust your plataeu.

Hope this helps, best of luck!

Thank you! i could def eat a lil more and change up my routine. Been considering to get an ankle cuff for the cable machine to do cable kickbacks

3laine75

Do the hip thrusts - they're awesome

Great progress so far!

margannmks

Agree you look great, that being said im still building up my backside and i saw no difference till i started hip thrust and glute bridges with weights. This huge guy saw me on the floor trying to get a barbell over my legs all squashed up between two benches, i had a mat for butt a pad on the bar and i try to do them on the slower days at gym but no matter where i set up i feel obvious. So he says i think you can do those on the smith machine so he shows me how, but hes thinking glute bridge so then he gets this other guy to help figure it out, i really appreciated there help but it just wasnt working. Im about ready to just get a barbell and do them at home.

wargrrl

Agree you look great, that being said im still building up my backside and i saw no difference till i started hip thrust and glute bridges with weights. This huge guy saw me on the floor trying to get a barbell over my legs all squashed up between two benches, i had a mat for butt a pad on the bar and i try to do them on the slower days at gym but no matter where i set up i feel obvious. So he says i think you can do those on the smith machine so he shows me how, but hes thinking glute bridge so then he gets this other guy to help figure it out, i really appreciated there help but it just wasnt working. Im about ready to just get a barbell and do them at home.

Yeah i been telling myself foreverrrr to do hip thrusts but i feel so awks and intimidated to do them at the gym cus no one at my gym seems to do it. Perhaps i could get away with using those long dumbbells (i think thats what theyre called lol ) but they only go up to 100. Setting up the barbell seems challrnging.. to get it propped up onto my hips with all that weight. I dont always have a gym buddy to assist

Daiako

Agree you look great, that being said im still building up my backside and i saw no difference till i started hip thrust and glute bridges with weights. This huge guy saw me on the floor trying to get a barbell over my legs all squashed up between two benches, i had a mat for butt a pad on the bar and i try to do them on the slower days at gym but no matter where i set up i feel obvious. So he says i think you can do those on the smith machine so he shows me how, but hes thinking glute bridge so then he gets this other guy to help figure it out, i really appreciated there help but it just wasnt working. Im about ready to just get a barbell and do them at home.

Yeah i been telling myself foreverrrr to do hip thrusts but i feel so awks and intimidated to do them at the gym cus no one at my gym seems to do it. Perhaps i could get away with using those long dumbbells (i think thats what theyre called lol ) but they only go up to 100. Setting up the barbell seems challrnging.. to get it propped up onto my hips with all that weight. I dont always have a gym buddy to assist

I use the pre-weighted barbells for my hip thrusts right now (my gym goes up to 165 or something) but when using a normal barbell there are a few options: Use the big girl plates so you're able to just roll them over your legs while you're sitting on the ground (Hip thrusting 45's is, you'll find, not as hard as you'd think) or set the bar on the ground in front of you. Sit on the bench and grab the bar, pulling it onto your lap, then slide onto the floor into hip thrust position. This is what I do for the preloaded barbell.

And don't worry about other people in the gym. I'm the only person I see doing weighted hip thrusts but, frankly, getting dat *kitten* is far more important than a few people giving me funny looks.

margannmks

Great idea im gonna just sit on bench with preloaded then slide down. The thing i didnt like about smith machine was it didnt go low enough so bar bell wasnt being lifted on first part of movement and there is a mirror directly in front.

JoRocka

Agree you look great, that being said im still building up my backside and i saw no difference till i started hip thrust and glute bridges with weights. This huge guy saw me on the floor trying to get a barbell over my legs all squashed up between two benches, i had a mat for butt a pad on the bar and i try to do them on the slower days at gym but no matter where i set up i feel obvious. So he says i think you can do those on the smith machine so he shows me how, but hes thinking glute bridge so then he gets this other guy to help figure it out, i really appreciated there help but it just wasnt working. Im about ready to just get a barbell and do them at home.

Yeah i been telling myself foreverrrr to do hip thrusts but i feel so awks and intimidated to do them at the gym cus no one at my gym seems to do it. Perhaps i could get away with using those long dumbbells (i think thats what theyre called lol ) but they only go up to 100. Setting up the barbell seems challenging.. to get it propped up onto my hips with all that weight. I dont always have a gym buddy to assist

If you put 45's on each side you can fit underneath it no problem. - just get under- pull your heels closer to you and up you go.

You start adding some real weight- and people don't give you *kitten* about it- I can push upwards of 225- give up on the preweighted ones- they are awkward and not heavy enough. Seriously- no one gives you grief once you start muscling some weight around. I even had some big huge dude tell me he might even be adding them in to his workout.

Also- don't be afraid to make eye contact- if people are watching you- give them the "see what I'm doing here- I could crush your face with my legs and who-ya- see this steel? yeah that's right- it's an iron crushing vagina- you will NOT survive"

Oscarinmiami

you look awesome....great legs and butt!

Springfield1970

Hey, I'm a butt builder. Go on youtube and find everything that Bret Contraras has posted. He solves all these problems, it's quite common for a gym not to be able to accommodate. Bigger plates are a lifesaver. I have to use a zbar with padding, but 60kg digs quite a bit. Glute bridges and hip thrusts are the way to go. And sprinting and straight leg deads. Walking weighted lunges....it's all in strong curves.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Agree you look great, that being said im still building up my backside and i saw no difference till i started hip thrust and glute bridges with weights. This huge guy saw me on the floor trying to get a barbell over my legs all squashed up between two benches, i had a mat for butt a pad on the bar and i try to do them on the slower days at gym but no matter where i set up i feel obvious. So he says i think you can do those on the smith machine so he shows me how, but hes thinking glute bridge so then he gets this other guy to help figure it out, i really appreciated there help but it just wasnt working. Im about ready to just get a barbell and do them at home.

Yeah i been telling myself foreverrrr to do hip thrusts but i feel so awks and intimidated to do them at the gym cus no one at my gym seems to do it. Perhaps i could get away with using those long dumbbells (i think thats what theyre called lol ) but they only go up to 100. Setting up the barbell seems challenging.. to get it propped up onto my hips with all that weight. I dont always have a gym buddy to assist

If you put 45's on each side you can fit underneath it no problem. - just get under- pull your heels closer to you and up you go.

You start adding some real weight- and people don't give you *kitten* about it- I can push upwards of 225- give up on the preweighted ones- they are awkward and not heavy enough. Seriously- no one gives you grief once you start muscling some weight around. I even had some big huge dude tell me he might even be adding them in to his workout.

Also- don't be afraid to make eye contact- if people are watching you- give them the "see what I'm doing here- I could crush your face with my legs and who-ya- see this steel? yeah that's right- it's an iron crushing vagina- you will NOT survive"

I you. :drinker: