The Official Blog of Diana Gordon

Allow me to let you in on a little secret.

The best butt transformations happen slowly… quietly, like a thief in the night… and most of them involved “GASP!” squats or heavy, heavy hip thrusts.

If you have ever squatted over and over trying to get a big butt but have zero results to show for it, then you need to read this post all the way to the end.

Despite the misguided advice to “STOP SQUATTING” if you want a big butt, squats are back, and in a BIG way.

Before I tell you about the squat heavy program I used to transform my butt over 8 weeks, you need to know one very important fact.

There is a WRONG way and a RIGHT way to do squats to grow your glutes.

For years (including my entire college career), I did squats the wrong way for glute growth.

I ended up with massive quads instead.

Thankfully, I stumbled on a few the youtube videos of a few experts and reviewed research from the strength community that helped me make the right adjustments.

The truth about building a big butt

There is a science behind squatting for a big booty, and you only have to get a handful of things right to make an incredible transformation.

Here’s proof:

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That’s me on the left in July of 2017. Definitely no squats. I was an extra small and had plenty of room in the butt area of my shorts.

That’s where the whole “Becky with no ass” title came about.

The pictures don’t do it justice.

My butt was FLATTTTT.

To make matters worse, I’d cut out most of my lifting while playing professional beach volleyball.

I was light, but also wasn’t as fit as I’d been in previous years.

My lack of butt inspired me to start lifting again, ultimately signing up for an NPC Bikini Fitness Contest in Ft Lauderdale, Florida.

You can read the full story here

The middle is me October of 2017, days before the show. I was feeling pretty good. I’d lost fat and replaced muscle. My butt is dramatically perkier. I’m still wearing an XS in the butt region though and I am missing a roundness to the sides of my derriere.

The picture on the right is October of 2019. I’d started squatting heavy again after resting from an IT Band flare up. I started in February of that year and progressed from 5 sets of 5 at 185 lbs to 5 sets of 6 at 265 lbs.

My glutes grew so much during that six month period, my swimsuit bottoms jumped to a Medium.

After shedding weight for my second NPC bikini contest in October of 2019 (pictured above) my glutes moved back into a size small.

Yet, my derrierre had a completely different shape.

I looked round and powerful from the backside.

What floored me was the judges told me my butt was so big compared to the other competitors it affected my placing!

Most people might feel bad about that.

I was ecstatic, and posted about it on Instagram @adventurewiz

So how did I grow my butt so much?

And how did I do it despite being 37, don’t experts tell you at this age your muscle is breaking down?

First, let’s start with the facts and fiction.

#1 You don’t have to squat to get a big butt

A: True

You don’t need squats to grow a big butt. For those that can’t squat, there are tons of great alternatives like hip thrusts. But if you can squat, it’s a powerful way to get a strong backside.

So why is it so popular nowadays to say squats aren’t going to grow your glutes? First, marketing. It’s always cool to say something controversial like DONT DO SQUATS.

Second, and a fact almost everyone overlooks, some people’s glutes are completely shut off. Meaning they compensate by using other parts of their legs to lift the weight. For me, I used my quads to lift most of my weight.

The simple test to know if your glutes are shut off

There’s a simple way to know if your glutes are shut off.

Is your butt big or small?

If it’s small, you absolutely need to do proper glute activation exercises before and during squatting. This is the right way to do grow your butt with squats. If it’s big, you can probably feel your butt working all the time, especially when you squat and are already activating your glutes.

More on activation in a moment.

#2 The only way to grow a big booty is heavy with low reps

A: False

Any sort of lifting that challenges you will lead to growth. According to kinesiology professor Stuart Phillips of Canada’s McMaster University you can see very similar gains in muscle growth whether training is done with light weights and high reps or heavier weights and lower reps.

Keep in mind though…

Lifting with low weight and high reps of 25 to 40 can take twice as long and be twice as painful as lifting heavier for 10 – 12 reps.

Which would you rather do?

#3 You’ve got a DEAD BOOTY

A: IDK do you?

Dead booty is a cute name for a really common problem. Your glute muscles have shut off (see first T/F answer above). That means you’ve stopped using your glute muscles to help you lift and move about in your daily life.

I sat at a desk for years for my research writing job. And it showed. My butt kept getting flatter and flatter. Once I figured out what happened and worked on waking my butt up, I started seeing results.

The moral of the story is, if you want glutes, you have to first wake them up, then you have to challenge them.

Here is an 8-week program for doing just that taking just 30 to 45 minutes a day.

Mon –

Warm-up: 5 min on the bike at a moderate pace

Push press with light medicine ball – throw the medicine ball into the air and catch. Repeat 3 x 10 for warm-up

Activation exercises: Bodyweight 5 to 6 reps only – feel the squeeze in the glutes. This should not be tiring. Repeat these exercises in between each set of squats including warm-up sets

1. Glute Bridge
2. Frog Pump
3. Split Squat

Squat –

WK 1	5 x 4	80% effort	75 sec rest
WK 2	5 x 5	80% effort	90 sec rest
WK 3	5 x 6	80% effort	2 min rest
WK 4	3 x 3	90% effort	2 min rest
WK 5	5 x 3	90% effort	2 min rest
WK 6	6 x 3	90% effort	90 sec rest
WK 7	3 x 3	95% effort	90 sec rest
WK 8	3 x 3	100%	2 min rest

Super slow back squat (squat down slowly over 6 seconds, stand back up fast)

WK 1	5 x 4	60% effort	75 sec rest
WK 2	5 x 5	60% effort	90 sec rest
WK 3	5 x 6	60% effort	2 min rest
WK 4	3 x 3	70% effort	2 min rest
WK 5	5 x 3	70% effort	2 min rest
WK 6	6 x 3	70% effort	90 sec rest
WK 7	3 x 3	75% effort	90 sec rest
WK 8	3 x 3	80%	2 min rest

Medicine Ball Jump Squat (do immediately after rest from slow squats above

WK 1	5 x 4		90-sec rest
WK 2	5 x 5		90-sec rest
WK 3	5 x 6		90-sec rest
WK 4	3 x 3		90-sec rest
WK 5	5 x 3		90-sec rest
WK 6	6 x 3		90-sec rest
WK 7	3 x 3		90-sec rest
WK 8	3 x 3		90-sec rest

Barbell hip thrust – Hold 3 – 5 seconds at top of the movement. If you can do more than 8 reps, increase weight by 5lb increments.

WK 1	4 x 6 – 8		75-sec rest
WK 2	4 x 6 -8		75-sec rest
WK 3	4 x 6 -8		75-sec rest
WK 4	2 x 6 -8		60-sec rest
WK 5	4 x 6 – 8		60-sec rest
WK 6	5 x 6 – 8		60-sec rest
WK 7	6 x 6- 8		45-sec rest
WK 8	3 x 6- 8		45-sec rest

Tues – PUMP DAY – Go lighter and feel the squeeze

Activation exercises: Bodyweight 5 to 6 reps only – feel the squeeze in the glutes. This should not be tiring. Repeat these exercises in between each circuit

1. Glute Bridge
2. Frog Pump
3. Split Squat

3 Rounds no rest between 10 – 15 reps each exercise in circuit. Rest 90 seconds between rounds.

Circuit 1 A) Romanian deadlifts – pause one second at the bottom B) Walking Lunges C) Back Extention

Circuit 2 A) Wide Stance Goblet Squat, Hamstring Curls, Hip abduction (do 20-30 + 10 pulses on hip abduction)

Conditioning Finisher

Bike sprint or Prowler Push 1 Min + Thrusters 30 + Jumps 10

Wk 1:	3 rounds
Wk 2:	4 rounds
Wk 3:	5 rounds
Wk 4:	2 rounds
Wk 5:	4 rounds
Wk 6:	5 rounds
Wk 7:	6 rounds
Wk 8:	3 rounds

Day 3: Friday (On Wednesday and Thursday you can do arm work)

Activation exercises: Bodyweight 5 to 6 reps only – feel the squeeze in the glutes. This should not be tiring. Repeat these exercises in between each set of hip thrusts including warm-up sets

1. Glute Bridge
2. Frog Pump
3. Split Squat

– Hip Thrusts, Pause 3 to 5 seconds at top

Wk 1:	4 x 10 – 12	70%	90 seconds rest
Wk 2:	4 x 10 – 12	70%	90 seconds rest
Wk 3:	4 x 10 – 12	70%	90 seconds rest
Wk 4:	4 x 10 – 12	70%	90 seconds rest
Wk 5:	4 x 8 – 10	75%	90 seconds rest
Wk 6:	4 x 8 – 10	75%	90 seconds rest
Wk 7:	4 x 6 – 8	80%	90 seconds rest
Wk 8:	4 x 6 – 8	80%	90 seconds rest

Whole Body Workout of Choice or the following using “Rounds” table below:

DB Raise (10) + DB Lateral Raise (10)	20 total	30 sec rest
Box jumps	10	30 sec rest
Push Press and throw with Medicine Ball	10	30 sec rest
Burpees	10	30 sec rest
Medicine Ball Throw (ab emphasis)	10	30 sec rest
Air Squats	30	90 sec rest between sets

Wk 1:	3 Rounds
Wk 2:	4 Rounds
Wk 3:	5 Rounds
Wk 4:	2 Rounds
Wk 5:	4 Rounds
Wk 6	5 Rounds
Wk 7	6 Rounds
Wk 8	2 Rounds

After eight weeks you’ll notice your buns are firmer, tighter and bigger. It doesn’t take long, but the change can be dramatic.

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Ready to see some serious changes to your body? Check out my brand new book 3 Weeks to Thin: The Emergency Fat Loss Diet

I was at the nail salon on Sunday.

It was the big one over off Oak Lawn and Cedar Springs across from the Post Office (I live in Dallas, Texas).

I love that place.

Sunday’s are packed with the after brunch crowd.

No matter how many people show up, they always have a seat for my friends and I.

While I was sitting back in the massage chair about to start my pedicure, my nail technician asked.

“You workout? You have muscles everywhere.”

I laughed.

I get these questions daily for the most part. It’s a big reason I started this blog.

I needed one place people could go to see how I’m getting the results I am.

The feeling that comes from reaching your fitness goals is one I can’t describe and a feeling I wish to share with everyone.

“For how long?”

That started a discussion about how I workout, the gyms I got to, how often to lift and what kind of program to follow.

She was most curious about my arms.

“How much do I need to lift to get arms like that?”

“What kind of program do I need to follow?”

“How can I get started?”

First, it’s important to know, like most people, I used to be frustrated with my body.

And was clueless about how to make a change.

Not to mention, I had ZERO muscles on my arms growing up.

Even after playing sports like hockey starting at the age of four.

That’s me playing basketball at 17 years old.

No muscles in sight.

Luckily, you don’t have to be a Crossfit hero or Yoga Master to get great arms.

The secret has nothing to do with killing yourself.

Instead, it has to do with FREQUENCY.

Before I tell you the full story, you should know I didn’t get my best arms until just a few years ago.

Although I’d seen my arms being to take shape from a combination of pushups and other workouts I put together on my own…

It wasn’t until I questioned everything I knew about training that I really saw great results.

That’s when I learned exactly how much I could eat every day and how often I needed to train to stay in that kind of shape.

If you’re interested in following what I did, and getting arms like mine, you can See the full program RIGHT HERE.

Now let’s get back to FREQUENCY..

Basically, if you want better arms or shoulders you need to do short arm sessions, and more of them.

How short?

I started by doing three sets of pushups every morning.

Later, I did a couple exercises for shoulders and biceps at the gym three times a week.

Can so little exercise make a difference?

You betcha.

That’s because the more often you work a muscle, the more often your brain gets the signal it needs to get better at doing that exercise.

And I’m not talking about any crazy lifting sessions by the way. I’m talking about doing just enough pushups you still have a few more left in the tank.

Then you rest and do a few more.

If I get enough requests, I’ll make a video demonstrating what I mean. Drop a request in the comments below.

Start doing this every morning and in six weeks you’ll be amazed by your progress.

Or you can workout right alongside me in my next challenge group.

If you’re interested in joining the next group

Get on the waitlist for my book. That will get you signed up for emails from me and I’ll let you know when there’s an opening.

JOIN THE WAITLIST

I remember it like it was yesterday.

It was 4 am show day.

I’d made it…

I’d completed a dramatic physique transformation in just under 11 weeks.

I hardly recognized myself.

My arms looked like the chiseled statue of a greek goddess.

The clothes I wore just three months ago were in the donation bin and I was two sizes smaller than the smallest jeans I’d ever worn.

In just a few hours I’d be under the bright lights of the stage…

displaying the best body of my life.

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to get fitness model lean…

Keep reading.

You’re about to see how I went from zero to fitness competitor in a few short weeks.

“Years of sitting at a desk had left me with a butt that looked like a loaf of bread that sunk in the oven.”

Firstly, I’d never been to a bikini show…

( I highly recommend it by the way).

It wasn’t exactly something I considered within my wheelhouse.

I definitely did not have a bikini look.

You know the one I’m talking about…

LEAN…

SEXY…

Straight out of the pages of a magazine.

That was not me.

I’d only had two looks my whole life:

Thick…

And skinny fat.

My body was curve less.

My butt also looked like a loaf of bread sunk in the oven.

It was a family gift.

No butts and no eyebrows (I started penciling them in when I was 12 years old).

But after years as an athlete (two as a professional beach volleyball player), this was downright embarrassing.

So when I saw a picture of a bartender in her early 20s competing in fitness shows, I wanted what she had.

She looked lean, strong, and super sexy.

I kept thinking, “why can’t I look like that?”

Was she really putting in more work than I had as a high school, college, and professional athlete all these years?

I needed her secrets.

So I called a local bodybuilding coach my friends had posted about on the gram.

“Hi, I’m interested in doing a bikini contest asap and I had some questions about how this works.”

Her name was Karen. She was warm and friendly and told me what to expect.

Basically, eleven weeks wasn’t enough time in her opinion to really hit major transformation goals, but if I was dedicated she said I could see some big changes.

I was ready.

I had spent my whole life wanting to reach a certain weight and look.

I’d recently made the decision to stop playing volleyball competitively after a recurring shoulder injury wouldn’t heal.

What better time than now?

Karen told me we would pick a contest date and then I’d need to sign papers.

Every four weeks she’d send me a weight program and nutrition plan.

Once a week I’d send her photos and my weight.

Her price also included two in person posing sessions so I could practice how to walk and turn on stage for the bikini show.

She had two other contestants going to the 2017 Ultimate Grand Prix in Ft. Lauderdale October 14th.

Before we could start she needed photos (and payment).

I hung up the phone, took these photos… what I call my skinny fat, pan flat butt, days…

And sent her $750 to get started.

SEVEN FIFTY?!

My friends thought that was crazy.

I actually thought it was pretty reasonable.

After years of shelling out big bucks for unexpected items…

A $1000 deductible on my car when it had a tire blowout…

$850 for a scan and five minutes of a doctor’s time at a preventative visit..

$1200 to fly home and see my brother’s wedding.

It felt good to put money into something for me.

Before I could start, I had one last volleyball tournament to play.

The next day I flew to Paris

I was headed to Switzerland for my last volleyball tournament before I hung it up for the summer.

The plan was to start the diet and training when I came back.

While I was gone I ate normally. I didn’t try and watch my food at all before I got my new plan. I drank hot chocolate and ate sausages and cheeses in France, Germany, and Switzerland.

Here’s a pic from the tourney in St. Moritz.

Day 1 back:

I got my official plan by email.

The jet lag was killing me but I headed to the gym.

The workouts Karen sent covered the next four weeks. It was four days of arm and leg day splits plus a fifth day, Wednesday, being a bodyweight workout to burn extra calories. Saturday was just cardio and Sunday was a day off.

Most of the workouts were supersets of 2 to 3 exercises for 4 sets of 12 – 20.

Superset means you perform at least two exercises back to back. For these exercises I took no rest in between.

If I went as fast as I could, I could finish the weights in 60 to 75 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of cardio on a stair stepper or 45 minutes of uphill walking with lunges and a jog here and there.

Food was six meals a day. About 25 grams of protein at each meal. Carbs at the first three meals and after working out. Last two meals just protein and veggies.

I noticed right away the calories were too low for the volume of working out I was doing. So I added about 500 calories… mostly in the form of fat.

At first, I didn’t think anything of the super low calories. A coach wouldn’t give me it if it would hurt my weight loss goals right?

I soon learned this cookie-cutter type of approach is very common in the fitness industry for coaches who may have too many clients or lack the knowledge to create custom plans.

How could I have known? I was new to this world.

What I discovered was the higher level coaches create a custom plan for you specific to your metabolism. Each week I let them know if I’m struggling on the plan or if I’m hating the workouts and they adjust them for me. That’s what a real one on one bikini competition prep should look like.

But that’s a topic for another time. Back to my contest prep as they call it.

The first month was exciting

I saw huge changes in my body. I had not been lifting weights or doing cardio for months leading up to this program, so my body reacted quickly.

I was having fun and loving the dramatic changes.

Month two the program was similar except my calories dropped. The calories seemed laughably small so I continued to keep them higher than my coach recommended.

The workouts were now taking me about 90 minutes to complete.

Plus, my cardio increased, so I was doing about 45 min a day six days a week on the stair master.

My body handled it fine for the next three weeks.

At a total of seven weeks of training pretty high volume and eating clean I had only lost three pounds on the scale, but had dropped more than two pants sizes.

And

here is what I looked like…

That’s what I call body recomposition. I had gained muscle and lost fat in all the right areas.

I had my first ever photo shoot with the well-known photographer Justin Price at Delray Beach.

I was loving my body.

I didn’t have a chiseled six pack, but my booty was perky and I felt proud when I looked in the mirror.

Everywhere I went people stopped and asked me how I got this look.

Things were going good.

And that’s when everything changed

By week eight, I went from feeling energetic and satisfied with my food to ravenously hungry.

I felt like something inside me broke.

All I could think about was food and suddenly working out seemed to take a herculean effort.

I was exhausted.

I later learned this is pretty common when body fat gets too low, or in my case calories were too low for the volume of working out I was doing.

The last two weeks included twice a day cardio to try and kickstart my already tired body into losing weight again.

I was now at 90 minutes of cardio plus 90 minutes of high volume lifting.

And my calories were cut again.

Here I am at this point:

The 9th week I had to travel for work.

Right before I left, I started binging heavily.

I must have eaten more than 10,000 extra calories in just a few days.

My stomach ballooned in response to all the carbs, sodium, and influx of calories.

Thankfully, I got right back to basics to try and get the bloating and whatever fat I put on down.

During my final or PEAK WEEK period, I sucked it up and followed the exact program for the last 7 days.

My food was 1/3 cup of oatmeal plus egg whites for breakfast.

The rest of the day was just protein with no other carbs, almost no fats, and very little vegetables.

My calories were LOW. I don’t even want to do the math it’s so embarrassing. My diet was basically protein and asparagus five to six meals a day for 7 days. Thankfully, it was just a week. And you can do anything for a week in my opinion.

I kept telling myself “Nothing lasts forever… this will be over soon.”

That week I was working from home on my couch. I didn’t have the mental energy to talk to coworkers. The slightest confrontation could have brought me to a total meltdown.

But I survived.

I was also given a plan to increase my water intake heavily through Friday and take Expel to push water out of my system.

I followed the plan to a T!

My body bounced right back.

I couldn’t wait until stage day.

But I never expected what happened next…

Friday Night

I checked in at the show in the evening.

I’ve just had my first coat of spray tan.

I stopped drinking water at 3 pm to get that tight shredded look that’s supposed to happen after water depletion.

Show day arrives

I was up at 4:30 am for hair and makeup and second spray tan before stepping on stage.

Whoops…

The hair and makeup people were late. It took them an extra hour to get to the show putting us all behind.

Then the power went off in that section of the building…

The makeup artists did their thing despite sharing two outlets.

I got my second layer of tan and then wait around to hit the stage.

I asked my coach if I needed to eat carbs or pump up back stage because every one else is doing it.

She told me, “No, no, you’re good the way you are now. You don’t need anything.”

It’s Not a Skeleton Contest

If you ever wonder what you look like when you are dehydrated, look at those two photos.

I went through prejudging looking like that. Like a skeleton actually. I didn’t know at the time that without salt, carbs and water, your skin looks loose and flabby. I looked less lean than I really was because of the water depletion.

Finally… I hit the stage

I did my routine and then the judges called us by number to compare our physiques to other competitors.

This was the prejudging where the judges decide who wins the show.

We would come back at night to get our medals if we placed.

After pre-juding most competitors start eating.

The waiting area is full of every kind of donut and treat you can imagine so the contestants can indulge in their favorite treats once they finish.

I decided I was going to eat too.

While the other women backstage were super friendly and handing out treats they’d brought, I couldn’t accept any.

I have celiacs disease meaning I can’t eat anything with gluten. So I brought all the foods I would want to eat after the show.

I started sampling my gluten free cupcakes and Reece’s peanut butter cups.

And something crazy happened.

My skin started to look tighter.

I started to look leaner and better.

Not as good as I had a few days ago, but at least the skeleton look was less and my shoulders looked round and athletic.

I was having fun again.

By the time finals came I was relaxed.

My friends were all watching and I got out and did my thing.

While I didn’t expect to place, I took second in the novice division.

I was over the moon.

I couldn’t believe I had done it.

This single show started a transformation that would stretch to every part of my life.

Over the next two years I learned everything I could about eating and lifting weights to shape my perfect body.

More importantly, I learned a simpler way to get lean, a way that would protect my body from the binging and post-diet weight gain I experienced with the first show.

Two years later I stepped on stage again rocking a whole new kind of physique… complete with a butt so big and round the judges said it was too big for the women I was competing against.

When I look back, I wish that I would have taken the leap to start a bikini contest sooner.

Even though I followed a cookie-cutter program and I did a million things wrong my first time around, it got me on the path to discovering the simple secrets for long term body transformation.

If you’re interested in starting a transformation of your own, Check out my brand new book Three Weeks to Thin: The Emergency Fat Loss Diet.

It gives you everything you need to know to reach your ideal body weight.

I think you’ll be amazed at what you’re capable of.

To your best body,

Diana

P.S. Wonder what you’ll look like one month from now? Six months from now? And two years down the road?

It’s all inside my new book. Get a copy free here for a limited time.