Coach Micah's: Fit Project Podcast · Micah Smith

The Best Exercises for Glute Growth | FPP #164

·39 min·2 clips

Coach Micah calls the Smith machine Bulgarian split squat his “absolutely destroyer” for glute growth.

Coach Micah starts with the obvious goal: growing the glutes. He treats it like a real training problem instead of just another trend. He explains that he thinks about the year in phases, and winter is his muscle-building season. That matters because he is choosing where to place emphasis, not just collecting exercises. He talks through how many sets make sense for glute growth, and he notes that available time changes the answer. If the schedule is tight, the plan has to be tighter too. From there he gets into frequency and volume. He is not presenting them like abstract programming words. He is using them as the basic levers that let a person fit the work into life. The episode then moves into the tricky part. A lot of leg exercises are not just glute exercises. Squats, deadlifts, and lunges all pull in multiple muscle groups. Even when the glutes are a priority, the quads and hamstrings are still getting work. That means the rest of the leg plan has to be counted honestly. He argues for thinking about indirect work instead of pretending it does not exist. He also separates machine work from freer compound lifts. Leg extensions and lying hamstring curls get described as direct tools for specific muscles. Free-weight movements get described as broader and less isolated. That difference shapes how he would build a routine. He suggests dividing glute work between movements that lean more quad and movements that lean more hamstring. That way the whole lower-body week does not get pulled too far in one direction. He also frames the decision as partly practical and partly personal. If glute growth is the priority, the training has to reflect that priority. If the goal is broader lower-body development, the balance changes. He keeps returning to the idea that a good plan is the one you can repeat. He is not interested in a program that sounds impressive but does not fit the calendar. He closes by acknowledging that some listeners may not know every exercise by name. He tells them to look it up or message him if needed. The overall message is simple. Pick the right glute work, count the rest of the leg work honestly, and build the week around what you can sustain.

As heard by us

A practical glute-growth walkthrough that turns gym theory into a usable routine.

Coach Micah keeps the focus on a practical question: how to fit glute growth into a training plan. He lays out set targets, frequency, time constraints, and how a winter muscle-building phase changes what gets priority.

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Why you'd press play

Build your glutes without guessing which lifts earn their place.

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