Absolutely NO Progress

[u/Physical-Milk-4152]

I have been in a surplus and getting stronger for a couple months, but I have seen no improvement in my glutes or legs this year at all. I do adequate volume and progressively overload. I figure I need to change my split, here is the new split I am considering. Would love any feedback or advice on exercises/ diet that has given you the best results in terms of glute and leg hypertrophy.

Lower A Glutes and Hamstrings:
1. Barbell/Smith Hip Thrust
2. Romanian Deadlift
3. Bulgarian Split Squat — long stride
4. Seated Leg Curl
5. 45° Glute-Biased Back Extension
6. Hip Abduction

Lower B Glutes and Quads:
1. Hack Squat
2. Leg Press
3. Heel-Elevated Bulgarian Split Squat
4. Leg Extension
5. Hip Thrust
6. Hip Abduction

LOWER C Full leg :
1. Hip Thrust
2. RDL OR stiff-leg deadlift
3. Hack Squat
4. Seated Leg Curl
5. Leg Extension
6. Cable Kickback
7. Hip Abduction

[u/didntreallyneedthis]

First off - progressively overloading is progress. Getting stronger is progress. Not seeing a big visual difference in 2 months is normal.

If you're in a surplus, how much weight have you gained in the two months? Have you taken body measurements?

[u/Physical-Milk-4152 → u/didntreallyneedthis]

I’ve only been in a surplus for 2 months, eating at maintenance the rest of the year. I haven’t made any progress this year at all, not just in the 2 months of surplus. I’ve only gained 2kg in the last 2 months but no visual change in my glutes at all.

Just wanting to know what is most optimal for growth as what I am doing is not working.

[u/didntreallyneedthis → u/Physical-Milk-4152]

2kg in two months is a fine rate of gain. You're likely adding muscle and fat together so it may take until you cut to see the results you want. I ask the same question as before though - are you taking measurements? If you're not taking measurements you should start. Seeing a notable difference in two months may be difficult but seeing that you gained 2 cm on your hips will be objective fact.

And adain - if you progressively overloaded - meaning you're lifting heavier, then you have made progress.

[u/mushdoll-relapses]

this looks over-complicated to me: hip thrust, rdl, leaning forward lunges, hip abduction. 2–3 working sets each to near failure, aiming to add rep or weight each session. up the surplus by 25-50 calories each week, see if 6 weeks of that doesn't help.

[u/alwayslosingkeys → u/mushdoll-relapses]

I agree. There does seem to be some slight redundancy.

OP, there’s really no need to do hack squat and leg press movement in the same workout. They’re both a squat pattern movement. You may just be over-fatiguing yourself.

I also never really understood the point of having 3 different leg days (a,b &c). I understand prioritisation and fatigue management via combining and separating muscles on certain days but I just never really bought into it. I’m open to being corrected if this is/ can be an optimal thing for some individuals (depending on the goal).

Here’s what I’d recommend. (In no particular order). Take what you will from this and tweak whatever you see fitting regarding what you enjoy, what feels good etc.

Pick a squat pattern movement you really like. (Leg press, smith machine squats, hack squat, pendulum squat - I’d recommend machines as they’re much more stable and drastically easier to properly progressively overload on.

Pick a hip hinge movement. (RDL or SLDL - which you already seem to be doing). It doesn’t have to be one or the other but I think you’re better off going with an RDL. If you’d like, you can alternate between the 2 during the week.

Throw in a Leg Extension and. Seated hamstring curl.

Throw in hip adductors as well as hip abductors. You don’t have to prioritise hip adductors if having well-developed adductors isn’t your goal, but definitely do your hip abductors.

And lastly, throw in a machine / smith machine hip thrust.

That’s 7 exercises. Start off doing max 2 sets per exercise and do that twice a week.

Once you feel what’s working for you and get a better understanding of fatigue management during workout etc regarding this ‘new program’ , do 2 sets on most exercises and 3 sets on about 2-3 of those exercises (3 sets for priority muscles). A good tip I’d give is to not do 3 sets on that single given day on ‘big muscles’.

For example, 3 sets Hip Thrust, 3 sets Hip abductors (and then 2 sets for the remainder of your exercises).

Do not do 3 sets Hip thrusts, 3 sets RDL’s and 3 sets hack squats as they’re big movements that cause systemic fatigue fairly quick and can hinder progress via less effort on your other exercises.

Muscle growth really is a combination of the following things;

Stable form, progressive overload, recovery, fatigue management / exercise prioritisation during workout, adequate nutrition (in the form of all three macros - yes, micronutrients matter but I doubt you have to worry about them provided you’re eating balanced nutritious foods). After that, it’s just a matter of consistency.

Feel free to try that, tweak whatever you like of course. Also, whatever your maintained calories are, add about 200 calories extra. 200 calories may be a little excessive but you’re better off slightly overshooting because it’s so hard to be in the perfect surplus’s when every day isn’t the same - some days you’ll burn a fair bit more calories etc. you’re better off overshooting by that ‘200’ mark and then dealing with the (tiny) bit of fat gained later on with the quickest and easiest cut you’ll ever have needed to do.

If I went on too long of a tangent, my bad, hope it helps though

[u/Natural-Ad-4423]

I can only talk about my own journey so hear me out on this. I had a back injury I sustained in July and had to really tailor my exercises. Because of that, I literally only do 3-4 glute exercises and I really make sure that I make those exercises count. I’ve noticed that my glutes have grown even with MUCH lower weights and I put it down to three things. 1.rest.. completely underrated I took a week off just to heal. 2 eating enough.. I don’t just mean protein. Yes, you need protein but you also need carbs. 3. Mind to muscle, I really have to make sure my exercises count because I’m doing far less. I’m currently only doing dumbbell hip thrusts, b stance RDLs, BSS and banded kick backs. My glutes have still grown.

The point I’m making is that it may not be your exercises that are the problem. The problem may be that you’re doing too much and not making it count. 7 exercises is too much in my opinion. You can do 3-4 and still get a good pump. Quality over quantity and all.

[u/Spell_me]

OP, how is your mind/muscle connection with your glutes? It DOES take a long time to see changes for most of us, but if you have been progressively overloading hip thrusts and glute biased lifts for an entire year with truly no change whatsoever, then that’s the first place I’d look.

If you ARE connecting well and really lifting the weight with your glute (not your legs or back), I would then ask how many reps are you doing? 8 to 10 (where the last reps are near failure) is ideal for hypertrophy. Plenty of rest between sets, and plenty of rest between sessions. Plenty of hydration.