Should I include hamstring and glute accessory work for my GPP days?

[Lilllyb]

I have just started The Bridge (the free 8 week program) and I am on Day 5 of Week 1 which is my GPP day. I was just wondering if including hamstring and glute work such as Good Mornings and Hip Thrusts would be okay (in addition to the pullups, isometric ab work, arms, and cardio of course)? My boyfriend tells me that it isn't necessary to include those movements since the Squats and Deadlifts will be enough for my glutes.

Also, what do you think about the idea of "Glute Activation" (the movements that you do with a resistance band as a warmup) before doing heavy squats and deadlifts?

Thanks!

[Alex Kovaleski]

The degree to which adding that work is unnecessary depends mostly on the deadlift stance that you train with: it will be less unnecessary if you train with the sumo stance, and more unnecessary if you train with the conventional stance, since conventional deadlifts have been shown to activate more glute and hamstring musculature than sumo deadlifts. Regardless of stance choice, I am of the opinion that it will still be unnecessary since the vast majority of the glute mass gained will come from consistently deadlifting in an overloaded fashion to increase the loading of these tissues in the long-term. Sure, one could argue that adding hip thrusts will increase the loading of these tissues and facilitate expedited growth of one's glutes beyond what would already be achieved through The Bridge. It just appears to me that this added work is unnecessary - which is why I specified more or less unnecessary earlier in this post - considering that deadlifts are already very effective at facilitating glute growth. Squats don't do much for hamstring and glute activation; however, that is made up for by just how much benefit the glutes and hamstrings receive from deadlift training.

Glute activation is superfluous. Just warm-up for training in a way that helps you feel best prepared for the programmed work of the day.