Giving away our glute growth secrets

If you've been trying to grow your glutes for a while, chances are you've already heard the usual advice.

Do hip thrusts. Eat more protein. Train glutes twice a week.

All great advice... but it's also only part of the picture.

The biggest breakthroughs we see inside TWS usually don't come from finding a magical exercise. They come from getting the basics right consistently and fixing the little things that are quietly limiting progress.

Here are some of the biggest glute growth secrets we wish more women knew.

1. Your last few reps are the ones that matter

One of the biggest mistakes we see is stopping a set because it starts to feel uncomfortable. Muscle growth happens when your muscles are challenged.

That doesn't mean every set has to be an all-out grinder, but if every set finishes with five or six reps left in the tank, you're probably leaving a lot of progress behind.

The last few challenging reps are often the ones that create the biggest stimulus for growth.

2. Growing muscle while dieting is hard

This is probably the least popular advice... but it's true. If you've been eating in a calorie deficit for months (or years), your body simply doesn't have the same resources available to build muscle.

Can beginners build muscle in a deficit? Absolutely. Can people returning after time off? Often, yes. But if you've been training consistently for a while and your goal is to grow your glutes, spending some time eating around maintenance (or even in a small surplus) can make a huge difference.

3. More isn't always better

Adding three extra glute workouts every week isn't necessarily going to speed things up. Your muscles don't grow while you're training. They grow while they're recovering.

For most women, training glutes two to three times per week with enough recovery between sessions is more effective than smashing them every day.

4. Stop changing your program every few weeks

One week it's Pilates. The next it's a random influencer workout. Then a new challenge. But progress comes from gradually getting stronger over time. That only happens when you stick with a structured program long enough to improve your lifts, add weight, increase reps and build confidence with the movements.

Consistency beats novelty every time! 

5. Your exercise selection matters more than you think

Not every glute exercise trains the muscles in the same way. The best programs include a mix of movement patterns.

Think heavy hip thrusts for shortened-position strength.

Romanian deadlifts for lengthened-position loading.

Split squats or lunges for unilateral strength and stability.

Cable kickbacks or abductions for higher-rep isolation work.

Each movement challenges your glutes a little differently, which is why variety within a structured plan works so well.

6. Sleep is part of your training plan

If you're training hard but sleeping five or six hours a night, you're making muscle growth much harder than it needs to be.

Sleep is when your body repairs and adapts to your training.

Aim for seven to nine hours where possible, and remember that recovery is just as important as the workouts themselves.

7. Walking won't kill your gains

This one surprises a lot of people. You don't need to stop moving just because you're trying to build muscle.

Walking is fantastic for your overall health, recovery and cardiovascular fitness.

Unless you're doing excessive amounts of cardio that you're struggling to recover from, your daily steps are not what's stopping your glutes from growing.

8. Progressive overload isn't just adding weight

Yes, lifting heavier is one way to progress.

But it's not the only way.

You can also:

• Add an extra rep.

• Improve your technique.

• Control the lowering phase.

• Increase your range of motion.

• Reduce the amount of assistance.

• Improve how close you train to failure.

Progress isn't always measured by the number on the bar.

9. Patience really is a strategy

Glute growth is slow. Slower than social media often makes it look.

The transformations you admire usually represent months or even years of consistent training, eating well and repeating the basics.

The women who get the best results aren't constantly searching for the next secret.

They're simply giving the right plan enough time to work.

Final thoughts

If there's one takeaway from all of this, it's that glute growth isn't about finding one magic exercise.

It's about combining good training, enough recovery, quality nutrition and consistency over time.

Train hard.

Recover well.

Eat enough.

Trust the process.

Your future glutes will thank you. 

Love coach Bronte x