Strong Curves: A Woman's Guide to Building a Better Butt and Body

I've been following Bret Contreras' blog and YouTube channels for a while, and have been really intrigued by his ideas about the glutes. I've incorporated hip thrusts into my training, but really wanted to try a comprehensive program designed by someone with a lot more knowledge than me. I'm just finishing up my current 8-week program, so the timing of this release was perfect... the authors posted a free PDF a week or so before the book's release, which I read from "cover" to "cover," and I downloaded the kindle version of the book as soon as it was available. I may still purchase the hard copy though, because already I find myself wanting to reference different parts of the book over and over, and it's hard to do that with a digital version. I knew based on the PDF that this book is well-written and does a masterful job of combining clear, easy to follow instructions with just enough technical information to really help you to understand why they recommend the type of training they do, and also how to fine-tune it for your specific needs. I love the technical/ scientific aspect, and there's enough of it in the book to make me happy, but it's presented in small enough chunks and clear enough language that I think non-techies will also get the full benefit. I kind of skimmed the nutrition chapter because I am very happy with my diet right now, so I can't really comment on that. The real reason I personally bought the book though, as I mentioned already, was for the workouts, and I was not disappointed. I haven't actually done the workouts yet (obviously, since the book only came out 3 days ago) but it's easy to see that they are very carefully thought out and well-designed. For example, each workout in the "Gluteal Goddess" workout for the advanced lifter, which is the one I plan to start on Monday, includes one lower body exercise from each of the 3 big movement patterns, an upper body push, an upper body pull, a hip exercise and two core exercises. From day to day, the exact movements and the number of reps varies so that you get a good cross-section of intensity and volume in all movements. As you progress through the phases, more difficult variations are introduced while the basic program structure stays the same. I haven't analysed the other workouts as closely, but they seem to be based around similarly well-balanced templates. Also, in addition to the color photos showing each exercise, if you search for the exercise name on YouTube, there are videos of either Bret or Kellie (or both of them) to really show you the correct form. The programs alone are easily worth the price of the book. I'll try to remember to update this review once I've got a few weeks of the program under my belt as well.

This book is simply AWESOME. I started weight training from after practicing yoga for nearly 20 years nearly a year ago and my trainer was good but creating workouts using the old school bodybuilding method of splits according to body parts. Yes I got stronger but something in the back of my mind felt I needed 'more'. Plus I was in the gym for hours and the workouts were too grueling. I just felt that a lot of my lower body work was very quad-centric and I wasn't getting the strength that I wanted. My brother who is a personal trainer told me I probably needed to work my glutes more which made a lot of sense. So I googled and found the 'glute guy' Bret Contreras and have never looked back. Bret is the bomb. His blog has tons of thoughtful, insightful detail and this book is written in the same thoughtful, knowledgeable manner. He and his co-author Kellie Davis simply know exactly how to educate and empower the average woman who may be a gym newbie but want to build the body of their dreams. After devouring the book and starting with one of their templated workouts, I have never felt stronger, more sexy and can hip thrust nearly 200 pounds after only 5 weeks of following the program. Me, the 'skinny ectomorph' who never had any real muscle after years of yoga and cardio. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could lift 1.5 times my body weight for 8-12 reps. What I also love is that this book gives you the formula to create your own balanced workouts for LIFE. They give you the keys to the kingdom. I was simply blown away by that. One small quibble is that I would have appreciated a hyperlink from the exercise they describe in the templated workouts to an explanation of how to do the exercise in the reference section. That would make the book much more user friendly. But all-in-all, this book is a absolute MUST for any woman interested in taking control of her workouts and having a resource for life when it comes to creating your own workouts that get results and creating the body you'll be proud of for the rest of your days. This book is the perfect complement to any mind/body practice you may be doing right now.

You can find the workout online for free, but I read somewhere online that the book makes it MUCH easier to do the workout, and I completely agree now that I own the book. I had originally printed off the PDF pages to the workout plans, but as each move is pretty specific and unique (I didn't originally know what the difference was between a glute bridge and a hip thrust), my first few workouts with just those PDF printouts was slow and awkward as I looked up each move. It can be done - Bret Contreras has lots of helpful, short youtube videos on performing exercises - but it is cumbersome and I would only recommend it if you're REALLY on a tight budget. This book is more than just the workout. The first 1/3 of the book breaks down different aspects of general health and exercise - the value of this exercise plan, what it does for women, how to set up a productive diet, how to treat your body, etc. This was really positive, realistic information that I think can benefit any and every woman, whether or not they do this workout. There are 4 different 12-week workout plans detailed in the book - beginner, advanced, bodyweight (at-home), and lower-body-only. The middle section of the book lays out each program, which is compromised of 3 workouts (A, B, C), and broken up into 3 segments (weeks 1-4, weeks 5-8, weeks 9-12). The suggestion is that you would do 4 workouts a week - Day 1-A, Day 2-B, Day 3-active rest day, Day 4-A, Day 5-C, Day 6-active rest day, Day 7-full rest day. The moves in this section give you a picture of each move, and each 4-week portion advances to a more challenging version of each exercise if you are able to make the change. The back 1/3 of the book gives a MUCH more detailed explanation on each and every move, like an index referenced from the middle section of the book. It walks you through each move, with multiple pictures to show the motions. It tells you which muscles to focus on as you move, which is SUPER important, because you may otherwise go through the motion but be using different muscles to compensate, and thus not be getting the full benefit and strength. I carried this book with me throughout my workout for the first week, and then had it down on my own (using my phone to track the order of the moves and the weights I use) after that. I think that this program, and book, has so much value. It can be used and adapted for any fitness level, whether you are a beginner or a gym regular. For the previous year, I had been following the Strong Lifts 5x5 (Ice Cream Fitness) program, and had been doing relatively heavy weights. However, I suffered from continual lower back pain, especially after doing heavy squats, and I couldn't take it any more. Shifting to the beginner level of Strong Curves felt like a step or two backwards, but it has incredibly been helping me to build up strength in my lower back and lower body, particularly my glutes, which I think had not been functioning/firing, and so other muscles had compensated, which left my lower back struggling. I am happy to be doing any necessary body weight exercises just to build up all of my strength in a quality and whole body-focused approach. I highly recommend this program, and the high quality book, to any and every woman.

Summary: This book is great! It is simple enough for a beginner to do, but still physically challenging. My only complaint is that the book layout can be a bit confusing, especially the e-book. I started this workout program a week ago, and I'm really impressed with it. I've been weight lifting with friends for a few months, and felt confident enough to venture into a weight room alone, but not create my own program. Additionally, I've been unhappy with the rate of growth in my glutes compared to my quads. I decided to try this book, because the author is known for his glute workouts. The workouts are simple, in that they don't require a lot of fancy equipment or skills. The lifts and actions are fairly basic. However, I still find myself challenged by them. You can easily add more intensity by adding weight if the body weight portions are too simple, or increasing your weight on the lifts that call for weight to begin with. If you're looking for a program that doesn't require a lot of knowledge, but is still challenging, this will work for you. A word on the layout here - if you're reading the ebook you're going to have a tough time because there's a lot of flipping back and forth. The warm ups/routine for each day are laid out on single pages, but actual instruction on how to do each one are on separate pages in the exercise glossary. This can result in a lot of flipping back and forth if you're not familiar with how to do in every exercise beforehand. Reading through each routine and the instructions for each exercise before you start your workout will help with this, but sometimes you will have to flip back and forth to review. The paperback version is much better for this. I was using the Kindle version on my phone when I started, and ordered the paperback version after 2 sessions. The other thing I like about this book is that it is very supportive of women who are choosing to lift. As women who lift, we often hear disparaging comments about 'looking like a man,' or 'working out too much.' This book not only explains the science behind why women should lift weights (and why we won't end up looking like men), but also commiserates with us for all the crap we get from people around us. The authors really work hard to make women feel supported in our choice to lift weight instead of other forms of exercise. I like that, because I've read other lifting books that are 'for women' but still come off as condescending. Additionally, they are very realistic from the get-go about how much work you have to put in to get the results you want. They don't claim to have a miracle program, and they are up front about the fact that different bodies will respond differently to this program. Ultimately, the only way to get results from this book is hard work, and they are not shy about that. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially people who are new to the weight room and don't feel confident putting together their own plans. The book also includes a body weight only routine, so those without access to a weight room can benefit as well. The only reason I took one star off is that the layout was somewhat confusing to start out.

1. As someone who's trained pretty seriously for 3 years, I think that this book contains a lot of information for a beginner or someone advanced. For the beginners, I think it does a very nice job of presenting a program that addresses fears of getting too big or too muscular. Of particular importance I think is the fact that the authors have provided a program for women who are not interested in upper body muscularity (which it seems to me is a vast majority of women). I like upper body strength and I like the look that one gets from a developed upper body, but I understand that most women don't and I like that the authors respect that. (Note: I think the lower body only program that is provided is still healthful as it develops hip mobility and takes seriously spine health.) 2. If you're like me and are serious about training, it's sooo nice to have a book that isn't designed primarily for men insofar as the authors are interested in providing programs for glute development. A lot of books out there, when they include isolation work, it's isolation work for muscles that I'm not all that interested in isolating (neck, forearms, pecs, etc). 3. This book benefits from a neat approach to strength training, namely that there is some place for isolation work at all. In recent years a lot of trainers have been focused on full body and no isolation work at all it seems. (As a matter of fact, a lot of books out there seem to denigrate the use of isolation work.) Not so, in this book. There's a whole section in the end describing isolation exercises that I think primarily of interest to women. 4. There are a lot of pictures demonstrating exercises in this book. Some exercises are common and some not so common. Either way, in this respect the book is a great resource. 5. Finally, I think it's awesome when any training book gives you a broad blueprint for building your own workout, and this book does so.

This book is just what I needed to get started with free weights at home without a trainer. For anyone not aware, the basic premise is that men and women have different bodies and thus require different strength training routines to get the best and fastest results. Men focus more on building arms and chest, but since most women aren't looking to build their pecs and get a huge, ripped back, Strong Curves focuses more on building the legs and glutes while developing tone and strength in the upper body as well. The idea is that women tend to have the most potential for strength in their lower bodies, so we are strongest when we train those muscle groups hard and often. There is no leg day vs. arm day vs. chest day here, butt and legs are a big part of every routine and will be mixed in no matter which other muscle groups you are working on that day. The exercise plans are concise and well put together and I find the photos and descriptions of each exercise are descriptive enough for me to understand what I'm supposed to do. I did supplement with some Youtube videos for form, though. I am new to free weights but not a complete novice to strength training in general, so I found the first week of exercises to be below my abilities. Since the book has modified versions of several exercises that let you turn the intensity down or up depending on what you can handle, this wasn't a problem because I could just do the tougher version and still get a good workout in. That said, I think this is a great routine for beginning or more advanced lifters. One complaint I have is that the instructions for each exercise are way in the back of the book so you have to thumb around a bunch when following the routine, at least until you get things memorized. I found it easiest to keep a separate workout journal (there is one in the book) so I didn't have to go back and forth in the book as much. As others have said this will work best for people who are working out in a gym. I workout at home and I have had to swap out some moves for others when I don't have the equipment required. If you want to get the most out of this at home I recommend getting a home gym system (I have the Weber Total Body system which was reasonably priced here on Amazon) because a lot of the upper body workouts in this book require a cable/suspension system. At minimum I would recommend a bench, barbell set, dumbbell set, resistance bands (one with handles and a set of loops), and possibly a squat rack to get you started at home. It's only been a few weeks for me but I am already feeling stronger and having a great time. I can't wait to see where this routine takes me.

I've been following Bret's blog and YouTube channel for about a year and had incorporated some of his advice (glute bridges, hip thrusts) in my workouts. I was super excited to preorder this book which came in the mail on the day of release and I started studying it ASAP. I love that he gives several workout programs to choose from, each 12 weeks long. There is a Beginner's program, an Advanced Lifter's Program, a Bodyweight at Home program, and a Lower Body Program, which is my favorite. Things I like this book are many, first of all it was cowritten with a woman Kellie Davis and I really appreciated that. I felt that this helps balance the writing in the book which is for women, but written by a man. I also think that Bret has a deep appreciation and respect for the female body, and he is interested in understanding more about women's specialized fitness strengths, weaknesses, and of course our goals! I can't say that I've sensed that a whole lot from other advice gurus. I've been doing glute focused workouts for about a year and half now, I've made great progress, but I would never feel comfortable asking a trainer at the gym I go to about it because I think they would be dismissive. Bret actually encourages this approach in the Lower Body only program and I did Workout A today. I felt the burn and am excited about making progress in the next 12 weeks. The great thing about this book is that I can look at it, go to his YouTube channel, and see all the exercises demonstrated. Another useful thing about this manual, he provides a log for each workout that you can copy, and log all your reps, wieght, notes. I've never done this with consistency and then only on my phone. I was kind of skeptical about it, but I took it to the gym today and used it. It turns out I liked it because it kept me focused on what I had to do and I have something concrete that shows I accomplished instead of being lost in virtual world. I"m very happy with my purchase!!

First of all I want to say that all my life I've been told that I'm never going to have anything other than a completely flat butt, that it was just a family "curse". After reading this book as well as Bret Contreras' blog I now know that I'm not doomed to this fate and the that with proper training I can completely transform and reshape my glutes and learn to activate them. The writing style of this book is simple and clear and also does NOT make you feel like some type of idiot or a fitness snob air that many other books I have read do. There is so much research and real world experience put into this book that I feel I can trust to work. There are 4 plans that cater to a wide variety of people. There is also an extensive index of exercises. Overall this book is well written, well illustrated and well researched and I think so many people will benefit from this. also i would like to mention i only paid for regular shipping but it arrived the very next day. UPDATE************ I have been doing this program for 2 and a half weeks and have already lost 10 pounds!!! I have been doing the glutes only plan (4 workouts per week) been slacking on my active rest days and I have only been counting my calories and trying to eat healthier foods but have not completely changed my diet. I'm going to put in harder work and change my diet completely and will update again. My boooooty is also looking better from what my husband tells me. I can feel myslef getting stronger and I highly recommend at least trying this program ! I always start programs and then quit after 2 days but I actually enjoy the workouts and am so happy to see results(

Amazing! I really have seen a growth in my glutes following Bret’s knowledge and insight into strength training. And you can tell the intention behind every word is to empower women I’m so glad I bought this book! I’m on my way to achieving my goals!

Fantastic book. Easy to read with programs ranging from beginner to advanced, home workouts and a lower body only workout. Bret is one of the very best in his field and he works only scientific so you can trust his advise. This book is not only about glute development, but features fullbody programs. There is a huge amount of different exercises listed in the book with explanations and pictures to show you how to do the different exercises. A must buy for any woman (or man) wanting to build a better body

Good info

Penso che un personaggio come Bret Contreras non abbia bisogno di recensioni. Un libro magnifico, fa capire quanto molti concetti sull'allenamento dei glutei (e non solo) siano molto indietro quando trattati qui in Italia. Libro consigliato a chiunque, dal semplice appassionato all'esperto del settore. Consegna puntuale ed in ottime condizioni.

Esta guía fitness es la más completa, más exhaustiva, más científica y más "femenina" que he encontrado a un precio excelente. Te enseña cómo conseguir un cuerpo fuerte y femenino, realzando los puntos de nuestro cuerpo clave para conseguir una figura de reloj de arena, con un apartado completísimo de nutrición y ciencia del deporte por el experto Bret Contreras.