I ordered Bret the “Glute Guy” Contreras’ book, Strong Curves, in February 2018 and have done several rounds of the Gluteal Goddess program. The focus is on building bigger and more shapely glutes, but by doing so you get a better figure overall. There’s even a subreddit for those who follow the program, have questions, or want to show off their progress. This program was what got me to finally start lifting all on my own and I wanted to share my thoughts and experience with it. Bret now offers a program called Booty By Bret and it’s a subscription-based service where he’ll send you new workouts monthly. It sounds really cool, actually, I just haven’t wanted to spend the money on it when I can do Strong Curves and throw in my own exercises to combat boredom. Bret’s website is also full of detailed posts on the science behind working out, specifically on growing a bigger booty in many cases!
THE BOOK
- Chapters 1-9 teach you the key components when building a woman’s physique, provide the science behind muscle building, provide you with a practical guide for nutrition, and discuss proper movement patterns.
- Chapters 10-14 provide a comprehensive warm-up, four 12-week glute-focused resistance training routines for every fitness level, full-color tutorials for each exercise with descriptions and photos, workout logs for each plan, and simple ways to live the Strong Curves lifestyle.
- The remaining bulk of the book consists of an exercise term glossary and an Exercise Index with over 200 exercise tutorials—including common mistakes for big lifts and how to fix these mistakes. The Exercise Index serves as a fitness guide for life.
- Currently, $18.30 on Amazon as I’m writing this.
THE PROGRAM
The Strong Curves program consists of three or four full-body workouts per week, and there are a few different routes to take. I have only done the Gluteal Goddess program, as I felt I was at the point where I was comfortable lifting but needed a set program to tell me what to do. You have the option to do the following programs:
- Booty-ful Beginnings Program for Beginners
- Gluteal Goddess Program for Advanced Lifters
- Best Butt Bodyweight Program (for at home)
- Gorgeous Glutes Program (lower body only)
Each route is broken down into weeks 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12. There is a workout A, B, and C for each of the three phases. If you are doing four workouts per week, you do workout A again on your fourth training day. I like this a ton because just as I was sort of getting bored with my routine, it would switch just enough to become exciting again.
Here is a free sample that Bret published that goes over everything except the actual programs.
MY PROGRESS
I’ve loved doing this program and I return to it from time to time to this day. I thought it only made sense to show you some of my own booty gains following this program. My favorite takeaway from this has been the power of hip trusts, or as Bret likes to say, “the thrust is a must.” I went from about 150 lbs to start off with to currently doing 235 lbs comfortably. I should probably figure out what my 1 rep max is with it, I’d probably surprise myself! I also have a fitness only Instagram that I don’t really advertise. If you’d like to follow it, though, please do!
I’ve definitely seen improvements in my butt’s appearance, which is the most important part. It’s rounder and a little higher, as well as firmer. I’ve had some hamstring growth, which I was super excited about because I tend to be quad-dominant. Clearly, it was not an overnight transformation and I’m on 1.5 years at this point, but it is a noticeable improvement. I wasn’t out of shape by any means, to begin with, but hadn’t really done strength training before.
I started off with measurements of 32x27x36.5 and am currently 32x26x37. You will feel like your booty is getting smaller at first, but that’s just losing fat in that area, then you can focus on growing the muscle. I think this helps tremendously with your posture, as well. I can’t say enough good things about this program and I highly recommend it to beginners and those who are already lifting alike. I use the Body Space app and some users have already preloaded the workouts in there if you want to follow along on there and track your progress.
FOLLOW BRET
Have you tried Strong Curves? What did you think, I’d love to know!
