1. Your favorite clothes may no longer fit. Shirts will become tight across the chest and lats and your pants will become tight in the booty and legs with a waist that gaps in the back (a little peek-a-boo area to view those gorgeous glutes)
2. Clothes shopping will be mandatory to fix the above “problem”
3. You will need to become very good friends with a tailor so that he may take in the waist of the newly purchased shirts and pants
4. You will need to be in a sitting position while having any serious conversation with your significant other; otherwise, you will find he has a very short attention span and you will hear yourself repeating, “Could you please look at my eyes while we are talking?” The smarter man may reply with, “Honey, I’m just checking out your strong curves” (he’s giving you credit for your hard work) instead of “hmmm, did you say something?”. 
5. You may start to wonder if there is a magnetic force field hovering between your newly gained “assets” and your significant other’s hands and eyes. Baggy clothes may help with this but it is not a guarantee.
6. You may start to wonder if there is a magnetic force field hovering between your newly gained “assets” and your own hands and eyes. Lol!! 
7. You may exhibit signs of the strained neck syndrome from constantly looking over your shoulder to view the assets
8. You may start to *constantly* check out your pumped up, bootylicious backside in any mirror or window you pass… feeling quite vain but it’s true 
9. You will no longer be able to wear boy-short panties and have to opt only for thongs, as your booty will not fit into boy shorts anymore.
10. Wearing spandex in commercial gyms should be cautioned against. Extreme gawking, drooling, and the uttering of inane comments will be experienced by those in your presence and will interfere with the bootylicious workouts. Proceed with caution.
11. You will become obsessed with ‘activating your glutes’ at all times and may find yourself doing so during the most inopportune times… like the grocery checkout line. 
12. You will become obsessed with the word glutes and find yourself using more than you do your own name. You will begin using the word glutes in place of common words like coffee, dog, and bicycle. “I really need my glutes in the morning or I can’t function.” “I’m going to take my glutes out for a walk. Be back later.” “I think I’ll just take my glutes rather than driving to the store. Need me to pick up more glutes while I’m there?”
13. You will no longer want to shop for clothing, just bikinis-in fact with new and improved glutes you will think that you should always be wearing your bikini!

I was recently asked what my five favorite books for strength coaches are. Here was my answer:

1. Supertraining

This classic by Mel Siff and Yuri Verkoshansky is a must-have for any serious sports scientist. I had to read through it three times in order to truly understand much of it, and even now I’ll pick it up and glance through it and learn a thing or two.

2. The Science and Practice of Strength Training

This classic from Vladimir Zatsiorsky is a shorter and easier-to-read book on strength and conditioning that should be read prior to Supertraining as it will provide a good foundation of S&C knowledge.

3. The Charlie Francis Training System

Charlie Francis was a highly influential track & field coach who popularized new methods, exercises, and systems and benefited the sprinting field greatly. This book is especially valuable because Charlie includes actual training logs of his athletes.

4. The Fountainhead

Written in 1943, this book was Ayn Rand’s first major success. I read this in my early 20′s and it helped me realize that if you follow your passion and do things for the right reason, success is bound to follow.

5. How to Win Friends and Influence People

This book was written in 1936 by Dale Carnegie, and all of the advice contained within is still highly applicable in today’s changing world. It contains simple but oft-ignored tips such as looking people in the eye, shaking their hand firmly, and talking to them about what they like to talk about, in addition to interesting stories and anecdotes.

Articles

1. HERE are slides from a symposium pertaining to exercise and its effect on the autonomic nervous system
2. HERE Chris Beardsley gives an excellent talk on hip extension torque as it pertains to squats, deadlifts, lunges, sprints, and vertical jumps.
3. In THIS Jeremy Loenneke interview, he provided a quote from Dr. Sam Harris that I instantly loved pertaining to science, evidence, logic, and humans: “If someone doesn’t value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide that proves they should value evidence. If someone doesn’t value logic, what logical argument would you invoke to prove they should value logic?”
4. HERE is a good article for prospective strength coaches to read, written by Todd Hamer.
5. You have to see THIS! A female Russian powerlifter named Yulia Vins with the face of a porcelain doll. 

Videos

Insanely strong deadlifts!

Max Misch (used to go by the nickname Diesel Weasel) pulls 555 x 2 at 165 lbs bodyweight. Two years ago I wrote a blogpost HERE talkin’ all sorts of smack about this guy, but he stuck with things, improved upon his form, and is now very strong (wants to hit 605 lbs in his next meet). Congrats Max!

Watch Olympic Weightlifting coach John Broz work his way up to 200 kg squats in 2 weeks following knee surgery. He attributes this to “PMA,” or positive mental attitude! I’m not suggesting that folks should always rush the recovery process following surgery, but this just shows that John walks the walk!

In this one-minute video, Richard Feynman discusses how we would look for a new law. “If it disagrees with experiments, it’s wrong!”

Check out this badass sumo wrestler kicking the asses of much larger opponents!

No big deal, just Dmitry Klokov  squatting 240 kgs x 10 reps!

Barbell hip thrust gone wrong. Step it up Bodybuilding.com! Hold onto the bar and don’t rise up onto the toes.

After my horrible back episode in May 2010 (when I was laid up for an entire week – could not eat, could not walk, could not sit), once I was out of acute pain, I decided enough was enough. I weighed 129 pounds the beginning of June 2010. On my 5’7 1/2 inch frame, it was not a good look. I was weak. Worst of all, I realized after looking at a picture of myself taken a week after my back episode that I had also had no ass…..which was probably why I had so much trouble with my back in the first place. ;(

I got back in the gym and I started to train. Not workout. Train. I started Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program. I learned how to squat, deadlift, press and bench. I also started doing barbell glute bridges and hip thrusts thanks to Bret. I did chin ups, push ups….but the staples of my program were the squat, deadlift, bench, press and glute bridge/hip thrust. Three years later, they are still the meat and potatoes of my programming….along with single leg hip thrusts, clams, glute marches, x-band walks, kettlebell swings, goblet squats….all things glutes. 

As you can see in the pictures from left to right, I started with nothing…..and now I definitely have something!

It continues to be a work in progress. Thanks Bret!!! – Emily

I took your advice, avoided the Good Mornings, and took each exercise very slowly and carefully to see whether the back would twinge much. As a substitute, I did glute bridges — but I did them very light and with the feet on the ground. Something amazing happened: My glutes fired so much that after 15 x 3 with just 65lbs my glutes were aching. In trying to avoid back pain, I inadvertently tightened up my form. SO EXCITING!!  I walked away from that exercise thinking, “These pants must be ready to split, because my booty just outgrew them with a few bridges!”  – Lucy

Bret, you get this all day every day but I thought i should tell you that your work has helped me tremendously. I am not gifted in the gluteal area and I have always had thin legs. I put on a bikini today (it’s winter in Australia at the moment) and I was really impressed! I have been hip thrusting (working up to PB of 130kg for 3 reps) Glute Bridging (100kg for 3 sets of 10) for a few months and by god – I have a nice ass! my quads and hammies are coming along very nicely also. I need more work of course but WOW! Is that really my body? I also employ heavy sumo, RDL’s and conventional deadlifts and full ROM squats. I was squatting for a few months before I took up the HT’s but my progress really skyrocketed when I started doing heavy HT’s. I have just found myself a coach and am looking at becoming an amateur physique competitor. THANKS!! – Connie

Hi Bret, I have a story for you! My friend, Denise (who is also a follower of yours), and I have been following your Strong Curves program and love it!  Although still a work in progress, I was at a wedding this weekend and a friend of mine had taken a picture with the caption: “great ass! Where’d THAT come from??” I’m very proud to say that your program has done two things for me…

1. Made me over analyze the gluteal prowess of everyone I encounter…
…and
2. Given me a whole new appreciation for a strong, round, fantastic butt!

Thanks for your knowledge, being the instigator of such a comment, and help so far! 

Cristina, Great Ass in Training

I’m ruined. You’ve turned me into a glute snob. I shake my head @ weak glutes everywhere. They are everywhere! #strongcurves – Tanis

Went for a bike ride tonight and felt my glutes becoming reality sore! I have never felt my glutes activate during a bike ride before. Had to quit shortly after 5.5 miles because they were really starting to burn! Lol – it was great! Will finish up my fourth week of get glutes tomorrow. It amazing how often I’m feeling my glutes activate during activities where I never noticed them before. – Teresa

I’m stronger than ever…..I get an awesome pump every workout and my gym pals are commenting on the new fullness in my glutes.  Yay! – Traci