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If there's one person you can trust for exercise tips, its all-rounder Lucy Davis. When she isn’t hitting the pavement training for a marathon, you’ll find her in the gym.
With a big focus on HYROX and marathon training over the last couple of months, her usual strength routine has been slightly neglected. Hybrid and cardio exercises have left her noticing a significant decrease in muscle mass across her lower body, and more specifically, her glutes.
Now, Lucy is left focusing on building her glutes while still prioritising hybrid training.
Hip thrusts
- Set up a barbell with the appropriate weight
- Take a seat on the floor with your barbell resting above your hip
- Rest your shoulder blades against a bench and plant your feet firmly on the floor
- Drive your hips upwards, keeping your chin tucked into your chest
- Stop when your hamstrings, glutes and back form a straight line
- Lower the barbell back down to the floor before repeating the movement
RDLs
- Load a barbell up with the appropriate weight
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and grip the barbell with both hands (roughly shoulder width apart)
- Lift the barbell, driving the weight through your feet and hips until your legs and back are straight, without locking your knees
- With a slight bend in your knee, hinge at the hip to lower the barbell until it’s at mid-shin height
- At which point, drive the barbell up again
Step ups
- Grab a dumbbell and a bench, ideally next to something you can hold on to
- Place your left foot on the bench and hold a dumbbell in your left hand
- Put all your weight on your left foot and drive your other foot off the ground until your left leg is straight
- Slowly return your right leg to the floor and repeat
Dumbbell squat
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart with a dumbbell between your feet
- With both hands, grab the dumbbell holding it between your legs
- Driving through your glutes, bring the dumbbell up off the floor until your legs are straight
- Then slowly lower the dumbbells back down, bending your legs into a squat position
As much as Lucy (along with everyone else) hates Bulgarian split squats, she can’t deny the benefit of them for building her glutes. However, they can be a tricky one to get right.
Bulgarian Split Squats for the Quads
Lucy has three main tactics when approaching Bulgarian split squats to target the quads.
- Keep the movement straight up and down.
- Keep your stance narrower and your hips under your shoulders so you can drive straight down and then back up.
- Make sure your knee is in line with your toes — this is essential to avoid wobbling.
Bulgarian Split Squats for the Glutes
If you want to target your glutes, Lucy says you should approach this exercise a bit differently.
- Make sure your stance is wider, keeping your feet further away from the box or step.
- Lean over your knee slightly by hinging at the hips.
![](https://static.thcdn.com/images/v2/app/uploads/sites/478/2024/02/Hyrox-Banner-1920x586-v2_1715845349-1024x313.png?width=700)
Take Home Message
Operation build back glutes is well on the way. And if anything, it’s only boosting her HYROX ability given Lucy and her sister Meg recently broke a record in HYROX Doubles, finishing with an incredible time of 57:59. Ultimately, the moral of the story is move in a way that suits you. If you love to run, do it. If you want to hit a squat PB, you can do that too.
Disclaimer: This advice is from Lucy Davis, a hybrid athlete – consult a PT if you want full information on how to properly perform a bulgarian split squat.
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