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

Hardcover – September 17, 2019
608
English
1628603461
9781628603460
16 Sep
WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST SELLER

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 learn:
  • 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


 

Reviews (432)

You can build glutes! At any age! Transform your physique!

Bret’s book will transform you mentally, physically, and help you achieve the physique of your dreams! I have been training with Bret for nearly 2 years. I didn’t even start physique training until I was 46 (pics on left) and now 48 years old I became a pro fitness competitor. All because of Bret’s strength training and glute building methods. No crazy supplements, no steroids, no magic pill.... just following his methods and this book! It’s a must read. I have never had so much life balance and happiness in my life. This book also touches on nutrition, which is key to building muscle. Bret is one of the most brilliant and passionate people I know and his book shares all of his research that works!! My photos say it all. But this book and achieve anything you desire.

Useless as a workout guide. Perfect for science geek

I returned this book. I wanted a workout manual filled with exercises. This is literally an Anatomy & Physiology textbook of the glutes. That’s fine if you’re a science geek and want all the details on muscle fibers and how & why a movement is necessary for specific muscles and all that jazz. Only about 15-20% of the book is useful to someone who just wants exercises. The rest is Bret’s life story as well as science and research. It’s so huge and cumbersome that i wouldn’t take this anywhere

A Must Buy For Glute Training!

This is by far the most informative book on glute training out there! 608 pages detailing training splits, biomechanics, anatomy, dieting strategies, breaking plateaus, and so much more. Not only is the information backed by research, but you have Bret Contreras' 20+ years of personal training experience poured in here as well!

This should be subtitled The Booty Bible

I wanted to completely finish reading this before leaving a review just to make sure the whole thing was as good as the beginning, and quite honestly, it was even better than expected. This has to be the most complete and comprehensive book on glutes ever conceived. (It might also be the most helpful book about training that I’ve ever read.) There is NOTHING about the glutes that isn’t covered here: anatomy, mechanics, functionality, training, sample workouts, exercise descriptions. Bret goes into how he constructs (and personalizes) workouts for his clients, so if you’re looking to create your own workout, this will tell you how. He not only goes into the how but the why behind each recommendation, so you understand every exercise and variation and how it will work for you (which I find makes my workouts more productive). I am NOT any kind of fitness competitor or athlete; I’m just a normal woman who would like her hips and back to stop hurting (and who wouldn’t mind regaining the fullness I once had round back). I work out in my basement, and I don’t have a lot of equipment, but I’ve been following the programs in Bret’s other book, Strong Curves, for about 4 months, and the gains I’ve made in strength are pretty damn amazing. I can only see those gains increasing after reading Glute Lab. This book was admittedly quite dense and I wondered how long it was going to take me to read, but it goes quickly, and it kept me riveted the whole time. The writing style is personable and although the content gets scientific, it’s never hard to understand. There are excellent descriptions and photos of all the exercises, and the infographics make pertinent information easy to find. If you’re a fan of Bret’s work, or if you’re just hungry for quality information on glute growth, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

An Absolute Must!!

I remember when I first discovered Bret on Instagram. I began doing some of the workout videos he posted. I then proceeded to buy his Strong Curves book and complete those programs; which were very different to how I had been training for he past 6 years. His training methods worked wonders for me, so I went ahead and joined his Booty by Bret online. I was ecstatic whenever he made the announcement of his new book. I am already a two chapters in, and I love everything about it. The breakdown of everything that he researches, the scientific sections, the diagrams, the explanations, the photos of exercises are beautiful. This book is truly written for all types of people, whether you’re a beginner or advanced. Bret is always sharing knowledge that I continue to use in my training and see improvements. I 150% recommend this book!

Want to get rid of your flat ass? Buy this now!

I can’t believe how massive this book is! huge thanks for this book. So much detail and excellent quality paper and color pictures. Really well done! It’s really everything you need to know! So exited! Thank you Brett! You are a rock star.

Best book on training you will find

After Arnold, no-one one has had a bigger impact on the weight training world than Bret Contreras. His invention and popularizing of the hip thrust exercise, and of glute training in general, has radically changed whats going on inside gyms around the world. Not just for women; even the guys have caught on now. At my gym the hip thrusters are now being used by bikini competitors, male bodybuilders and StrongMen competitors alike. That said, don't fall into the trap of thinking that the "Glute Guy" only knows glute training. Contreras does active research on training in general, and his general teachings has relevance for all muscle groups. The book is a well of information, containing both theory and practical advice, and even though it goes enough in depth to satisfy even fitness nerds like me, it is written in a very accessible style. If you're at all interested in glute training, the book is worth buying for the chapter with exercise descriptions / tips alone. It covers all glute exercises you can think of, as well as general lower body exercises like squats with variations, deadlifts with variations, lunges with variations, etc. But that is only a small part of the book; it also contains theory about what makes muscles grow, about diet, and even lays out complete training programs, which is something many training book authors often skimp on. I suppose what best sums up how good I think the book is, is the fact that I've ordered 18 more copies; one for each of my coaching colleagues. :)

Detailed and generous gift to anyone looking for great glutes

I am a Bret Contreras fan so I couldn’t wait for this book to come out. It is fantastic! It is well organized and comprehensive, but broken down int easily consumable bits. He includes tons of pictures and explanations. If you want to train effectively and efficiently get this book. You won’t learn just what to do, but why you do it. He gives many workout programs for many different workout styles so those of us on a budget get extra value. I already had his Strong Curves book so I wondered if I’d be wasting my $ on this one. While many of the principles are unchanged, this new book gives you so much more. I am so glad I have it and I’d encourage anyone considering it to buy it. I am confident you will use it and refer back to it for years to come.

The booty building bible

I’ve purchased Vicky Justiz workout guidelines/plans, Workouts by Katya Elise Henry and so many other else and this is by far THE MOST INFORMATIVE, ALL IN ONE, GLUTE-BOOTY BUILDING BIBLE. We all need to know the cause and effect of what we’re doing, most especially when it comes to your workouts. Why you do a certain exercise/ what muscles it targets, how to properly execute it, and some other things that are very important to reaching your goal is now in our reach because Bret “the glute guy” laid everything in this book. Evidence based knowledge, studies, workout programs etc.. He is an expert in this area, he’s got the PhD and years of experience that’s why I trust him. Compared to others who just sell workout plans/exercises for expensive prices, which I find lacking of the very important information needed for a quality,effective and safe workouts/guidelines. This book is very cheap for all the knowledge/time/effort that Bret put into this book. I am very grateful to the author for all the hardwork you did and by selling it for a very affordable price for everyone. PS I am not related to Bret, I am not paid to give this review. I just put in writing the truth after having purchased different books and workout guidelines from alot of well-known newbie booty builders out there.. So grateful to the amazing Author and for my wonderful book..❤️

The pinnacle of glute training

I've followed Bret and his work for years, utilizing his methods from Strong Curves, and have always found him to be both passionate and thorough in his devotion to the science of glute training.... But this book blew me away! It's got answers to questions I never even thought to ask about the subject. At over 600 pages, this may well be the definitive text on glute development for many years to come. If you're at all interested in the subject, you'll probably be geeking out like me as you flip through it, and then rushing to the gym to get to work.

You can build glutes! At any age! Transform your physique!

Bret’s book will transform you mentally, physically, and help you achieve the physique of your dreams! I have been training with Bret for nearly 2 years. I didn’t even start physique training until I was 46 (pics on left) and now 48 years old I became a pro fitness competitor. All because of Bret’s strength training and glute building methods. No crazy supplements, no steroids, no magic pill.... just following his methods and this book! It’s a must read. I have never had so much life balance and happiness in my life. This book also touches on nutrition, which is key to building muscle. Bret is one of the most brilliant and passionate people I know and his book shares all of his research that works!! My photos say it all. But this book and achieve anything you desire.

Useless as a workout guide. Perfect for science geek

I returned this book. I wanted a workout manual filled with exercises. This is literally an Anatomy & Physiology textbook of the glutes. That’s fine if you’re a science geek and want all the details on muscle fibers and how & why a movement is necessary for specific muscles and all that jazz. Only about 15-20% of the book is useful to someone who just wants exercises. The rest is Bret’s life story as well as science and research. It’s so huge and cumbersome that i wouldn’t take this anywhere

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