Expert Insights from Jenny Pacey: Celebrity & Gladiator Trainer and Bio-Synergy Ambassador
Unleashing Your Best Bum: Top 3 Exercises for a Perkier Behind
When it comes to sculpting a lifted and strong backside, Jenny Pacey, celebrity and gladiator trainer, has the inside scoop! Strong glutes not only enhance your aesthetic appeal—contributing to a more toned, higher, and rounder appearance—but they also provide crucial functional advantages, such as improved posture, stability, functional movement patterns, and enhanced athletic performance. Here are Jenny’s top three favourite exercises that target the gluteal muscles. She explains that the key to great glutes is muscle fibre activation, creating a mind-muscle link while targeting all three areas of the glute muscles—the maximus, medius, and minimus portions.
1. Hip Thrusts
• How to Do It: Sit on the ground with your upper back against a bench. With your feet flat, drive your hips upward, pressing into the ground as if pushing a hole into it, squeezing your glutes at the top and driving your tailbone towards the ceiling. You can add a barbell or weight across your hips to increase resistance and hypertrophy of the glute fibres, and a band around your knees to target the glute medius.
• Why It Works: Research from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research shows that hip thrusts yield the highest glute activation among all exercises. This powerful move allows for maximum contraction, making it a go-to for muscle growth (hypertrophy).
• Expert Tip: Try the eccentric version of the exercise—drive your hips up quickly and control the descent back to the ground for further activation.
2. Romanian Deadlifts
• How to Do It: Keep a slight bend in your knees while hinging at the hips to lower weights (dumbbells, kettlebell, or barbell) down your legs, maintaining a straight back. Return to standing, squeezing your glutes and engaging your core.
• Why It Works: A study in the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology highlights that Romanian deadlifts effectively activate the gluteus maximus, especially when performed with proper form. This exercise is a double whammy for building strength and muscle.
• Expert Tip: This exercise also strengthens your hamstrings and can be performed with one leg to target stability and glute activation.
3. Diagonal Step-Ups
• How to Do It: Place your right foot on a bench or box, with your left foot slightly behind your right hip on the ground. Step up onto the platform at a diagonal angle, focusing on engaging your glutes as you lift your body upward. You can add a bar to your back or hold a weight in the hand next to the leg on the box to increase resistance.
• Why It Works: According to research in the Journal of Sports Sciences, diagonal step-ups significantly activate both the gluteus maximus and medius. The diagonal movement engages a broader range of muscle fibres, making it an excellent choice for functional strength and stability.
• Expert Tip: Raise the driving leg to the side at the top of the step-up for increased glute medius activation and to challenge your proprioception, along with hip, knee, and foot stability.
How Often Should You Train Your Glutes for Fast Results?
As a former GB athlete and bobsledder, Jenny knows a thing or two about effective training. She trains like an athlete, with whole-body workouts 5–6 days a week, rather than traditional body part splits. Jenny incorporates different glute strengthening exercises into every workout and includes glute-specific isolated circuits with cables and bands. She suggests:
• Daily Glute Engagement: Train your glutes every day in various ways, just like you would for your core.
• Total Body Focus: Incorporate total body workouts 3-6 times a week that mix upper and lower body exercises, plyometrics, cardio, and core routines. I superset upper and lower body exercises to allow one body part to recover while I work the other part. This maximises workout time in my busy life in-between training celebrity clients including Rosamund Pike. As well as creating a higher calorie burn and challenging workout.
• Variety is Key: Include weighted glute exercises, resistance training, Olympic lifting, and even hill sprints, which are fantastic for glute activation.
The Biggest Mistake in Glute Training
Many people overlook specific glute-targeting exercises, focusing instead on general leg workouts. Jenny points out:
• Common Oversights: Weak glutes need targeted activation and strengthening. Exercises like cable kickbacks, which focus on the upper glutes, are often neglected.
• Balanced Growth: To see real glute growth, it’s essential to incorporate exercises that also engage the quads and hamstrings. Think squats, lunges, and hip thrusts for optimal functional glute activation.
Does Nutrition Impact Your Bum? What Should You Eat?
Absolutely! Nutrition plays a crucial role in muscle appearance. Jenny emphasises:
• Post-Workout Nutrition: Aim for a high-protein and carbohydrate meal within one hour post-exercise to maximise recovery. Consider a macronutrient split of roughly 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% healthy fats for optimal results. A Bio-Synergy whey protein shake with a banana and nut butter makes for a great post-workout meal.
• Hydration and Timing: Proper hydration and meal timing are vital for enhancing muscle hypertrophy and recovery, especially for your glutes! Aim to eat within the 60-minute post-workout feeding window. Jenny takes Bio-Synergy creatine with electrolytes daily to maintain muscle mass in her 40s and emphasises hydration throughout the day. Sleep is crucial, as this is when we grow and recover. Jenny prioritises eight hours of quality sleep each night and meditates in the evening to calm her mind and nervous system, aiding in achieving a restorative night's sleep.
Quick Glute Routine for Busy Bees
Short on time? Jenny’s got you covered with a quick and effective booty band circuit that can be done in under 5 minutes:
• Setup: Place a booty band just above your knees, with the option to add a weight on your hips.
• Routine:
• 10 Hip Bridges, ensuring full extension through the hips and turning your toes out slightly to activate the glute medius.
• Hold the bridge at the top and drive your knees out and in for 20 reps.
• Repetitions: Repeat this circuit five times.
This quick routine effectively activates glute tissue and guarantees that you leave the session feeling the burn, even when time is tight!
