Cover Model Workout

WORKOUT: STEPHANIE SANZO PHOTOGRAPHY: JESSICA APAP HAIR & MAKEUP: CYNTHIA SMYTH

build Booty WITH COVER MODEL STEPHANIE SANZO

Want to create a shapely posterior chain, get stronger and feel boss all at the same time? Then this powerbuilding workout, adapted from SWEAT Trainer Stephanie Sanzo’s BUILD program, is for you.

This workout is a combination of powerlifting and bodybuilding.

This style of training combines heavy work at the beginning of the session to stimulate a strength response, and finishes with higher volume set and rep schemes to encourage muscular hypertrophy (muscle growth). To help you determine how heavy your weights should be for each exercise, a Rated Perceived Exertion (RPE) intensity scale is used: one indicates a weight that takes little to no effort to lift, and 10 indicates a maximal effort or training to failure. Perform the exercises one after the other, in the order they are prescribed. Perform the prescribed sets of each exercise before moving on to the next. Rest for one to two minutes between sets and between supersets.

Warm-up Primary Accessory

Superset

Burnout

GLUTE WORKOUT

Exercise Equipment Sets Reps RPE Hip thrust Olympic barbell 2 8 6, 7 Hip thrust Olympic barbell 3 4 to 6 9 Squat Resistance band 3 10 8 Bulgarian split squat Bench, dumbbells 4 16 (8 per side) 8 Romanian deadlift Barbell 4 8 8 Crab walk Resistance band 3 20 (10 each side) 9

Hip thrust (barbell)

A great exercise that targets the glutes and hamstrings (backs of your legs). Once you are an experienced lifter, you may be able to lift heavy enough to reap the benefits this movement offers for the entire body. Performing this lift first in the workout also ensures your glutes are better activated for the remainder of the exercises.

Step 1 Begin seated on the ground, with a bench placed horizontally behind you, and your knees bent. Lay a barbell across your hips, holding it with both hands on either side of your hips. You may wish to place a pad or towel around the bar for comfort. With knees bent and feet firmly planted on the floor, lean back onto the bench so that it is gently pressing into your upper back. This is your starting position.

Step 2 Inhale. Exhale. Holding onto the barbell, press your heels into the floor and powerfully raise your hips off the floor until your body forms one straight line from chin to knee, resting your shoulders on the bench and ensuring that your head is an extension of your spine.

Step 3 Inhale. Lower your hips to return to the starting position, but without resting your glutes on the ground.

Repeat for the specified number of repetitions.

Squat (with resistance band) This squat variation can increase glute activation by switching on your hip abductors. Make sure you focus on keeping tension in the band and not letting your knees get pushed in during the movement. This is a great accessory exercise to complement your heavier lifts in the workout.

Step 1 Set the barbell on the squat rack (not pictured) at approximately chin height. With a resistance band looped around your lower thighs, position yourself underneath the bar so that it rests comfortably and evenly on your shoulders. Place both hands on the bar in an overhand grip (palms facing away from your body) slightly wider than your shoulders. Stand up tall and release the bar from the squat rack. Take a small step backwards and plant both feet on the floor, slightly further than shoulder-width apart. This is your starting position.

Step 2 Inhale. Looking straight ahead, brace your core before bending at both the hips and knees, ensuring your knees remain in line with your toes. Continue bending your knees and pushing your hips back (as if you were about to sit down) until your upper legs are parallel with the floor. Ensure that your back remains within a 45- to 90-degree angle to your hips. Be sure to keep your chest tall and back straight.

Bulgarian split squat (bench, dumbbells) The Bulgarian split squat helps isolate the muscles unilaterally and assists with developing the glutes and quads evenly. It also adds a balance component to your workout ensuring your core, hip, knee and ankle stabilisers are all firing.

Step 3 Exhale, push through the heels of your feet and extend your legs to return to the starting position. Repeat for the specified number of repetitions before returning the bar to a secure position on the squat rack.

Step 2 Inhale. Bend both knees to approximately 90 degrees, ensuring that your weight is evenly distributed between both legs. When done correctly, your front knee will be aligned with your ankle.

Step 1 With a bench placed horizontally behind you and holding a dumbbell in each hand, plant both feet on the floor shoulder-width apart. Carefully step your right foot backwards, allowing the top of your foot to rest on top of the bench. Carefully shuffle your left foot forward, if needed. Extend your arms by your sides to hold the dumbbells in a neutral grip (palms facing inwards). This is your starting position.

30 STRONGFITNESSMAG.COM.AU Step 3 Exhale. Push through the heel of your left foot and toe of your right foot to extend both legs and return to the starting position. This phase of the movement should be performed with power. Complete half of the specified number of repetitions on the same side, before completing the remaining repetitions on the other side.

Romanian deadlift (barbell) The Romanian deadlift isolates and targets the glutes and hamstrings, thanks to the straighter leg position, reducing the activation of the quads compared to a conventional deadlift. Because the barbell is not making contact with the ground, your glutes and hamstrings need to make a strong eccentric (downward) contraction to decelerate the barbell before you return to the standing position.

Step 1 Holding a barbell with both hands in a mixed grip (one palm facing towards your body, one palm facing away) in front of your legs, plant both feet on the floor shoulder-width apart. Draw your shoulder blades down and back to push your chest out slightly. This is your starting position.

Step 3 As you reach halfway down your shins, exhale. Push through your heels and, with power and using your glutes and hamstrings, extend your knees and hips to return to the starting position. Ensure that the barbell remains in contact with your legs.

Repeat for the specified number of repetitions.

Step 2 Inhale. Bend your knees slightly and set this as a fixed angle. Without changing the angle of your knees, hinge forward from your hips and allow the barbell to run along the length of your thighs and halfway down your shins. Ensure that you maintain a proud chest and that your head is an extension of your spine. You should feel tension in your hamstrings.

Crab walk (resistance band) This exercise targets the glutes and hip abductors. It’s a great way to add a little fire to the end of your session, with the muscles staying under tension for an extended period of time.

Step 1 With a resistance band looped around your upper legs, plant both feet on the floor hip-width apart, ensuring that your knees remain in line with your toes. Looking straight ahead, push your hips back slightly and bend your knees, ensuring that your knees remain in line with your toes. Continue bending your knees until your upper legs are parallel with the floor. Ensure that your back remains between a 45- to 90-degree angle to your hips. This is your starting position.

Step 2 Inhale. Exhale. While maintaining a squat position and keeping your right foot on the floor, step your left foot outwards so that your feet are slightly further than shoulder-width apart. Step 3 Inhale. While maintaining a squat position and keeping your left foot on the floor, step your right foot inwards to return to the starting position. Complete half of the specified repetitions on the same side before completing the remaining repetitions on the other side. S