Butt Workouts: The 3 Keys to Mastery
There’s three keys to creating butt workouts that really get the job done: self-assessment, proper activation and tons of lunging. For the next couple minutes we’re going to go over each one in more depth. Join us!
Key #1) Wisely Gauge You’re Glutes
Right, so the first thing we need to do is self-assess our current glute situation or have a certified personal trainer conduct the assessment. You don’t need to use weights. Now, there’s two ways to do this. Either you begin from a sitting or standing position. Standing of course is going to be harder.
- Sitting: Sit with good form like in a chair, or on a bench. Keep your back straight and head up, breathing from the diaphragm. Hold your arms straight out in front of you. Then, you’re simply going to go to a standing position one on leg, hold it for 5 seconds or so and then go back to sitting on that same leg.
- Standing: Begin in a regular standing position with proper form, legs a little more than shoulder-width apart. With arms outstretched in front along with one leg of choice, you’re going to use the other one to do a single-leg half-squat, hold it at the bottom for a couple seconds and then power up.
If you already workout a ton but you’re still weebling and wobbling it’s because you haven’t trained your brain to fire the glutes, but instead focus on the thighs and core. That causes muscle imbalances. For everyone else those exercises become hard when your glutes and the hip complex are structurally weak/untrained.
Key #2) Focus on Proper Glute Activation
The average person today is sporting a super-weak and untrained backside because they either
a) sit on it most of the day,
b) have no idea they aren’t really using their glutes during exercises or
c) don’t do any specific butt workouts at all. A week rump is also a symptom that their lower body hip complex is also weak and likely not “firing” correctly.
Because of this an incredible number of glute-challenged people end up injuring themselves in their everyday lives do otherwise easy twisting- tasks.
- Stretching: untrained people should stretch their glutes and hip complex before working out, and ideally each morning (yes, now’s the time to join that morning Yoga class). Go with the Psoas stretch, bridges with both legs and one at a time and some quadruped hip extensions.
- Active Stretching: then it’s time to get up and prepare the joint capsules and soft tissue by actively stretching. Meaning, not static so hopping, tuck jumps, jogging in place, burpees, skipping, etc.
- Mental Focus: during lunges, deadlifts, squats, or anything else that involves the lower body (which includes the hips) you need to mentally focus on incorporating the glutes. Unleash the true power of your mind-muscle connection.
Key #3) Your Butt Lift Workout Shouldn’t Use Machines
Machines…you gotta love’em. They do some amazing things. However, effectively and working out the glutes really isn’t one of them. Well, technically a stair climber or elliptical trainer is a machine but they aren’t really efficient booty-sculptors. You need to use a mixture of pure body weight moves and free weight exercises.
Lunging is a Necessity in all Butt Workouts!
Keep in mind there are three planes of motion you can lunge into, not just one. There’s the Sagittal which is the most common (forward/backward). Then you have the frontal (side to side) and the transverse which is either diagonal or involves rotational movement.
Grab some dumbbells and lunge like there’s no tomorrow. Start performing lunge-hops is all three planes of motion. Do squats in all of them as well. This compound-approach not only trains your central nervous system for more body control, but hits the glutes, the hip complex, the core and the upper body.
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