High-Volume Glutes Workout | Stephanie Sanzo aka StephFitMum

Follow along with Primeval Labs Athlete and powerbuilder Stephanie Sanzo (StephFitMum) as she takes you through her personal high volume lower body workout with an emphasis on the glutes.

The focus of this workout is to get in a lot of volume and pump the muscles full of blood, so get ready to put in a lot of hard work!

Here’s the complete workout:

Stephanie Sanzo High Volume Glute Workout

Prior to beginning her training session, Stephanie performs a thorough lower body warm up to increase blood flow to the muscles of the legs and prep the joints, ligaments and connective tissues for the taxing work ahead.

For a detailed look at how Stephanie warms up for her high-volume leg days, click here.

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Reverse Lunge	5	10 per leg
Barbell Hip Thrust	5	10 / 8 / 6 / 8 / 10
Seated Hip Abductions	5	25 / 15 / 10 / max / max
Deep Kettlebell Sumo Squats	5	10
Kettlebell Swings	5	20

Advice from Stephanie Sanzo

“One thing I’ve found over the years is that the glutes NEED direct work in order to grow 💯 I used to solely rely on heavy squats and deadlifts which are great movements 👌 but it wasn’t enough direct stimulation to create significant growth in the glutes 🔥 I then started adding in some light band and cable movements to directly target the area 🙌 I noticed that these sort of exercises helped improve activation .. but still there wasn’t any big growth 🤷‍♀️ It wasn’t until I started prioritising heavy hip thrusts and lunges when I noticed they finally started to grow !! 🙏 So make sure you’re including some heavy direct work in your training if you’re trying to maximise the growth in your glutes.”

Glute Training Tips

Reverse Lunge

Stephanie begins her high volume glute workout with a lunge variation that serves dual purpose as great warm up for the entire lower body as well as one that places extra emphasis on the glutes.

Stephanie performs these with a barbell across her back, but you could also perform these with dumbbells or kettlebells, depending on your training preference and equipment availability.

When performing the reverse lunge, taking a longer step back will focus more on the hamstrings and glutes, and using a shorter stride will place greater focus on the quads. Regardless of which stride length you use, rest assured that your legs and lungs will be burning after these 5 sets.

For an extra challenge, perform all reps on one side with a pause at the bottom of each rep before performing all 10 reps on the other side.

Seated Hip Abductions

The seated hip abduction is a phenomenal exercise for those seeking to specifically address the muscles located on the lateral side of your thighs and butt.

Focus on driving out with the knees during the exercise which will help put extra emphasis on the medial glutes.

The medial glutes are the unsung hero of the glutes. WHile everyone tends to prioritize exercises that emphasize the glute max (hip thrust, glute bridges, etc.), the medial glutes play an important role in hip stabilization, balance, and power. 

Strong glute meds also help protect your knees and lower back from unnecessary strain during other lower body exercises, such as squats and lunges.

Barbell Hip Thrust

To create serious overload on the glutes, Stephanie goes for the bread-and-butter butt building exercise -- the barbell hip thrust.

As you likely know, the glutes are one of the strongest muscles in the body and can handle a serious amount of weight. The barbell hip thrust allows for maximum loading on the glutes, and it’s also easy to learn and well tolerated by just about everyone.

To set up for the exercise, Stephanie wraps a mini band above her knees, which helps force her to drive her knees out during the exercise, increasing the involvement of the glute med and preventing her knees from caving in during the exercise.

Make sure the pad is situated in the middle of the bar to make sure the weigh is evenly distributed across your hips during the exercise.

Brace your core and make sure not to hyperextend the lower back at the top of the movement, which is a common mistake many people make when performing the barbell hip thrust.

At the top of the movement, make sure to hold for a solid count of one to really ensure a peak contraction. 

Stephanie works up to her heaviest set of 6 using 160kg (352.75lbs), and follows it up with two more back-off sets to increase volume and focus on building a strong mind-muscle connection.

Deep Kettlebell Sumo Squats

For this exercise, you’ll need two flat benches or steps (one under each foot). The reason for this is that elevating your body off of the ground allows for an increased range of motion, which increases the total time under tension as well as the amount of work completed during each rep.

To really hammer the glutes with this exercise, make sure to keep your weight on your heels with your feet slightly flared out. And, at the start of each rep, make sure you use a slight forward lean of your torso and maintain that angle throughout the entire rep.

Kettlebell Swings

Following your set of deep elevated sumo squats, you’ll go right into a set of kettlebell swings.

This exercise is great for developing explosive power for the posterior chain, with a special emphasis on the glutes. One thing to keep in mind when performing kettlebell swings is that you are not “squatting” the weight down each rep. The kettlebell swing is more of an explosive hip hinge than a squat.

Keep your shoulders pulled down and back, chest up, and hinge at the hips to initiate the movement. To return the weight to the top, squeeze the glutes as hard as you can and “snap” the hips forward. Your arms should not be lifting the weight, they are merely along for the ride.

Fuel Training with Intracell 7 Black

To help fuel her intense lower body workouts, Stephanie takes a serving of Intracell 7 Black.

Intracell 7 Black is a scientifically-formulated training fuel for athletes who demand the most of the mind and muscles during training. Each serving of Intracell 7 Black contains fast-digesting carbohydrates to support energy production and glycogen replenishment alongside a full complement of essential amino acids to aid muscle repair and growth.

There’s even hydration and blood flow agents to encourage stronger performance and protect against the dehydrating effects of intense training.