The science behind the Method

Every claim the BootyMaxxing Method makes is listed here next to the research it rests on, with a grade. Green means the evidence is strong. Red means we do not make that claim, and we say why. Click a number to see the study.

What training does to the glutes

• Established

  Resistance training increases gluteus maximus size.

  A 2025 meta-analysis pooled the longitudinal trials and found a moderate overall effect. Single-exercise and combined programs both work. 634

• Established

  Both squat-type and hip-thrust-type loading grow the gluteus maximus.

  Nine weeks of hip thrusts or back squats produced similar glute growth on MRI. Six weeks of horizontally or vertically loaded programs both increased glute thickness. 2128

• Supported

  Fuller range of motion and training at longer muscle lengths favor growth.

  Full squats beat half squats for glute volume over 10 weeks. Reviews of range of motion point the same way. 3303132

• Supported

  Leg-press and even bodyweight squat progressions can grow the glutes.

  Leg-press training increased glute volume. Progressive bodyweight squats matched barbell squats for glute thickness in untrained women. 45

• Supported

  Combining multi-joint and single-joint hip-extension exercises at higher set volumes produces larger changes in trained women.

  A 12-week trial compared the three program types. 29

• Unsubstantiated

  The exercise that activates the glutes most on EMG grows them most.

  Acute muscle activation does not predict long-term growth. The framework never ranks exercises by EMG alone. 76

Why the Method uses four exercise categories

• Supported

  Hip thrusts and squats load the hip at different muscle lengths.

  Biomechanical analysis shows the hip thrust peaks near full extension at short glute length; squats and hinges load the hip in flexion at long length. 22

• Supported

  Glute activation is higher in the hip thrust than in the squat, split squat, Romanian deadlift, and deadlift variations at matched loads.

  Several EMG comparisons agree. This justifies treating the two orientations as different loading conditions, not as a ranking for growth. 232425

• Supported

  Variations inside a category produce similar activation.

  Barbell, band, and American hip thrusts are similar. Parallel, full, and front squats are similar in trained women. 2627

• Established

  Horizontal and vertical hip extension are complementary. A program that covers both captures the loading the trials used.

  This is the practical conclusion the Method draws. It does not claim a fixed ratio between them. 21286

• Extrapolated

  Abduction and external-rotation work adds useful coverage of gluteus medius and minimus.

  A systematic review maps activation in these tasks, but no long-term trial shows they add size beyond hip-extension training. The Method gives them a smaller dose and labels the claim accordingly. 8

• Supported

  Keeping an exercise in the program long enough to learn and measure it beats random variation.

  Planned variation protects both motor learning and like-for-like comparison across checkpoints. 33

How much and how hard

• Supported

  Novices commonly start near 6 to 10 hard glute sets a week, intermediates near 10 to 16, with more earned by measured response.

  Dose-response syntheses show diminishing and individually variable returns to added volume. 343536

• Supported

  Most working sets finish within 0 to 3 reps in reserve; failure is used selectively.

  Proximity to failure influences growth but carries recovery cost. 3738

• Established

  Light and heavy loads produce comparable growth when effort is adequate.

  Meta-analysis across a broad repetition range. 39

• Supported

  Adding reps or adding load can both drive adaptation.

  A direct comparison of repetition progression and load progression. 40

• Supported

  Clients can estimate reps in reserve, with error that shrinks closer to failure and with experience.

  A scoping review and meta-analysis of prediction accuracy. 16

• Framework rule

  When anchor lifts drop across two sessions and recovery worsens, volume or effort is cut 20 to 30 percent for a week, then reassessed.

  This is a coaching rule, not a biological threshold. We say so.

What remote measurements can and cannot tell you

• Supported

  Some remote physical assessments are reliable under standardized conditions.

  A review of telehealth physiotherapy assessment found variable evidence quality. 9

• Supported

  Self-measured circumference agrees well with a technician on average, but individual error is wide.

  Video instructions improve self-measurement accuracy over written ones. That is why baseline setup is done live. 1011

• Supported

  Tape error comes from placement, tension, posture, timing, and the measurer.

  Protocol only partly controls these sources. 21

• Supported

  The repeat-the-tape rule (spread over 1.0 cm, measure again) comes from standard anthropometric practice.

  Trained anthropometrists repeat a girth when the first two readings differ by about 1 percent, which is about 1 cm at the hip. 20

• Unsubstantiated

  A change in tape or photos proves muscle growth.

  Our own grading calls this unsubstantiated. Circumference is corroboration only, never evidence of tissue change. 1019

• Established

  Measuring muscle size needs MRI or a validated ultrasound protocol.

  Gluteal ultrasound reliability depends on observer, muscle, and protocol, and the measurement site changes the result. 12131415

• Supported

  Video movement scores are more reliable with experienced raters, and a composite score should not be sold before its reliability is known.

  The Method does not compute a movement-quality score. 171819

Appearance, hip dips, and what we will not promise

• Established

  Gluteal shape is a mix of bone, muscle, regional fat compartments, and presentation.

  Anatomical study of deep subcutaneous gluteal fat compartments. 41

• Established

  The side dip at the hip is normal anatomy.

  A lateral trochanteric depression is normal variation, not a defect. 42

• Our rule

  No promise to remove hip dips, no universal body-fat number for appearance, and no claim of local fat loss through training.

  None of these has evidence behind it. They are banned from everything we publish.

• Our rule

  The Method as a whole has not been tested. Its parts have evidence of different strengths.

  Transparent and testable is not the same as validated. We say this in the paper and here.

What we say and what we never say

Where our own research stands

References

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2. Plotkin DL, Rodas MA, Vigotsky AD, McIntosh MC, Breeze E, Ubrik R, et al. Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift. Front Physiol. 2023;14:1279170. doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1279170 PubMed
3. Kubo K, Ikebukuro T, Yata H. Effects of squat training with different depths on lower limb muscle volumes. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2019;119:1933-1942. doi:10.1007/s00421-019-04181-y PubMed
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23. Williams MJ, Gibson NV, Sorbie GG, Ugbolue UC, Brouner J, Easton C. Activation of the Gluteus Maximus During Performance of the Back Squat, Split Squat, and Barbell Hip Thrust and the Relationship With Maximal Sprinting. J Strength Cond Res. 2021;35:16-24. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000002651 PubMed
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26. Contreras B, Vigotsky AD, Schoenfeld BJ, Beardsley C, Cronin J. A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyography Amplitude for the Barbell, Band, and American Hip Thrust Variations. J Appl Biomech. 2016;32:254-60. doi:10.1123/jab.2015-0091 PubMed
27. Contreras B, Vigotsky AD, Schoenfeld BJ, Beardsley C, Cronin J. A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyography Amplitude in the Parallel, Full, and Front Squat Variations in Resistance-Trained Females. J Appl Biomech. 2016;32:16-22. doi:10.1123/jab.2015-0113 PubMed
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29. Barbalho M, Souza D, Coswig V, Abrahin O, Paoli A, Gentil P. The Effects of Resistance Exercise Selection on Muscle Size and Strength in Trained Women. Int J Sports Med. 2021;42:371-376. doi:10.1055/a-1121-7736 PubMed
30. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J. Effects of range of motion on muscle development during resistance training interventions: A systematic review. SAGE Open Med. 2020;8:2050312120901559. doi:10.1177/2050312120901559 PubMed
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36. Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2017;35:1073-1082. doi:10.1080/02640414.2016.1210197 PubMed
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40. Plotkin D, Coleman M, Van Every D, Maldonado J, Oberlin D, Israetel M, et al. Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or repetition progression on muscular adaptations. PeerJ. 2022;10:e14142. doi:10.7717/peerj.14142 PubMed
41. Frojo G, Halani SH, Pessa JE, Pazmiño P, Wall S, Kenkel JM, et al. Deep Subcutaneous Gluteal Fat Compartments: Anatomy and Clinical Implications. Aesthet Surg J. 2023;43:76-83. doi:10.1093/asj/sjac230 PubMed
42. Lourenco L, Medeiros H, Ferreira L, Favoretto Dias de Oliveira N, Lopes R, Sigrist R. Hip dips technique: Filling lateral depressions with hyaluronic acid of large particles. Skin Health Dis. 2024;4:e461. doi:10.1002/ski2.461 PubMed

Numbering matches the reference list of the framework manuscript submitted in November 2026. All 42 references checked against PubMed records and retraction flags on 10 November 2026.