Emily: Evan, it is so great to have you here! Let’s dive straight into it: Can we really get a lifted, stronger booty without doing a single squat?
Evan: You can absolutely workout your booty without doing squats — in fact, squatting is actually at the very bottom of my list for targeted booty gains. The glutes are primarily in charge of straightening or extending the hip joint, but during a squat, your ankles, knees, and hips all move simultaneously, meaning your dominant quads often hijack the movement and leave the glutes acting as mere stabilizers.
Because our sedentary lifestyles act like an "off switch" that leaves our glutes stretched and asleep for most of the day, running straight to a squat usually just results in a tight squeeze at the very top of the exercise. That is why this course relies on highly effective 10-minute daily workouts that start with specific floor exercises to expertly isolate, activate, and wake up your glutes from all angles and intensities before safely progressing to squat-free standing moves that expand your range of motion, build stability, and improve your balance without putting any pressure on your knees or lower back.
Emily: That makes so much sense — we have to wake the muscles up first! Another major assumption people make is that we have to pile on heavy weights right out of the gate to see results. Is that true?
Evan: Heavy weights are fantastic, but they’re meant to build on top of efficiently working glutes. If you add heavy resistance straight away without establishing that strong mind-muscle connection, your body will just compensate. Your glutes will end up simply stabilizing the movement while other dominant muscles do the heavy lifting.
Prepping the movement with bodyweight makes targeted isolation much easier. The more you practice this with just your bodyweight, the more subconscious it becomes. Once that connection is second nature and your booty fires right away, then it’s time to load the movement with weights. Even then, adding weight introduces a brand-new stimulus, so you have to bring that same focus back to ensure your form stays perfect and you aren't compensating.
During our 14 days together, I consistently encourage "drop sets". This means if you want to try a heavier weight, go for it! But if things get shaky or you realize you aren't feeling your glutes fire at all, you immediately drop to a lighter weight or go right back to bodyweight to get that fire back. I love heavy weights, but I love moving well even more. Gain the connection first, then add the challenge.
Emily: You mentioned the mind-body connection. Our trainers talk about this a lot, but what does it mean practically when we are talking about a 10-minute glute workout?
Evan: The mind-body connection is simply your awareness of correct movement and muscle recruitment. When you truly understand what you should be feeling during each movement, you immediately know if you are doing the exercise correctly or if your body is cheating.
The most common mistake people make in any exercise program is simply not knowing what muscles are supposed to be working. If you can't feel the difference between right and wrong, the chances that your body is compensating are much higher. My ultimate goal is to educate people on body awareness so they can feel exactly how to adjust a move if it feels wrong.
That is exactly how these short, 10-minute workouts are designed. We start with specific floor exercises where you'll learn to expertly isolate and activate your glutes without putting a single ounce of pressure on your knees or lower back. Once you've built that foundation, we progress to squat-free standing exercises that expand your range of motion, build stability, and improve your balance. You learn how it feels to move effectively so that it transfers beautifully into your real life.
Emily: Let’s talk gear. What kind of equipment do students need to have on hand for these two weeks, and can they participate if they don't have gym equipment at home?
Evan: We use a light-to-medium mini band to wake up the booty, dumbbells ranging from 10 to 15 pounds depending on your experience, a yoga mat, and a bench or couch to elevate your shoulders or feet. If you don't have a bench, any soft surface or a step stool around 13 to 16 inches high works perfectly — just avoid dropping your hips all the way to the floor during hip thrusts if you are shorter than 5'3" so your shoulders don't slide off.
Most importantly, you can do every single movement in this course entirely with your bodyweight. If you lose your balance, feel peer-pressured, or aren't feeling the correct glute muscles fire, drop the equipment completely to focus on building that strong foundation first.
Emily: I love that this is so customizable. To wrap things up, what are some of the unexpected benefits of functional glute training? What do you hope changes for people by the end of the 14 days?
Evan: The biggest unexpected benefit is a radical reduction of lower back and knee pain. We hear all the time that lower back stiffness is just a normal part of aging, but in reality, it's often a completely preventable irritation caused by dormant glutes. When your glutes are asleep, your body compensates by using your knee joints and your lower back to get normal, everyday things done. When you build strong, active glutes and healthy hip joints, your body stops compensating. You protect your joints for the long haul and automatically improve your posture.
By the end of this course, my hope is that you notice a significant difference in how you move around in your day-to-day life. Consistency is key, and it takes time to retrain a body that has been sitting for years — so have a little patience too. But with practice, you'll walk away not only with a lifted, shapely booty, but with the ability to confidently stand taller and move pain-free.
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