Having a rounder, more perky backside is all the hype these days!
We all want to look good in our leggings, jeans and yoga pants and a more shapely backside defitenly helps with that. It is totally fine to work the glutes for those reasons exactly, for we all deserve to show off our back side. But did you know our glutes do so much more than make us look good in our bikinis?!
Your booty actually helps with posture and other day to day activities like walking and going up and down stairs. Throughout the past year, we all have found ourselves sitting on our derriere.
Now, more than ever, it is important to get back to building up these muscles and strengthening our back ends. This will have a positive effect on your fitness goals as well as your day to day!
Before we dive into some great glute targeting exercises you can do at home, let's learn a little more about the three glute muscles. Your glutes are made up of - the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus.
The gluteus maximus is the biggest muscle in your body! It is a powerhouse which gives shape to your butt and is activated when you raise your thigh to the side, rotate your leg, or thrust your hips forward.
The medius and minimus work together and help the maximus with motions like lifting your leg to the side. These smaller glute muscles give you the ability to rotate your thigh outwards when your leg is straight and inwards when your hips are bent. This muscle group is critical for performing all kinds of physical activity!
Strengthening your glutes will improve speed, agility, and jumping skills. Every time you take a step, your gluteus maximus stabilizes the pelvis. When your pelvis isn't stable, it puts pressure on your knees and ankles to compensate.
An engaged backside prevents strained body movements, keeping you injury-free! Strong glute muscles make long-distance running less taxing so you can work on improving mileage and time.
What happens if you don't strengthen your glutes?
Disengaged glute muscles harm our hip flexors!! These are the muscles that pull the thigh forward. Tight and rigid hip flexors, without proper forward propulsion, leads to more stressed physical activity. Glutes reinforce pelvis motion and maintain integrity of movement in the hip joint, giving your lower back lots of support!
When it comes to talking about the booty, we must mention cellulite! We've all got it ladies!! Check out my blog on getting rid of cellulite here.
When it comes to building that booty, there are so many exercises, other than squats, that you can perform. In order to attain the round, lifted, shapely backside you are looking for, it is key to work all three muscle groups.
Adding in resistance bands to these exercises is a great way to give yourself that extra push. Bands are amazing for a few different reasons. They are able to be used by everyone and absolutely anywhere. You can get creative with resistance bands and really learn what it feels like to target specific muscle groups.
Different grades of band thickness provide varying levels of difficulty, so you can add extra challenge to a workout routine no matter what the focus is. Grab your BTES bands now!
Let's take a look at how to grow your glutes at home without squats. These exercises are ideal for making that booty plump and juicy!
Grow your Glutes with these Gluteus Maximus Exercises
Bridge Pulses: Lie on your back with your hands at your sides, knees bent, and feet flat on floor hip-width apart. Squeeze your glutes and abs and lift your hips a few inches off the floor. Hold the bridge and do small pulses working the gluteus maximus. Keep your pelvis tucked under, with no arch in your back, and pull your belly button to your spine to maintain correct form.
Donkey Kicks: On all fours, brace your core with knees and hips, use your glute to kick your working leg directly back as high as it will go without compromising your hip position.
Standing Glute Kickback with Bands: Place your resistance band directly above your knees. Hands on your hips and while balancing on one leg engage that booty to kick your opposite leg back. Bring your foot back to a starting position and start again.
Grow your Glutes with these Gluteus Medius Exercises
Side to Side with Bands: Place your BTES band below your knees or directly above your ankles, keep tension on the band and step side to side while in a lowered position.
Alternating 3 Steps Back Deadlift: Stand with your feet apart and weights in each hand. Lower your arms with the weights while taking 3 steps back. Then take a big breath lift your chest up and straighten your lower back with weights to the side.
Forward Tight Rope Lunges : Begin with your feet together and step one foot forwards about 1/2 foot as if you were on a tightrope. Bending both knees lunge and then push your booty to the front side. Add in some weights for an extra challenge!
Grow your Glutes with these Gluteus Minimus Exercises
Lying Hip Abductions: Lie on your side with both legs out straight and your upper body held up by your forearms. Raise your top leg as high as you can. When you reach the top, pause for a second and slowly bring your leg back down to your starting position. Repeat on both sides.
Fire Hydrants: On all fours, place your hands directly under your shoulders and engage your core. While keeping your leg bent at a 90 degree angle, lift one leg out to the side stopping at hip-height.
Curtsey Lunges: Start in a standing position. Keep your left foot straight in front of you, step back with your right foot back and to the left. Both of your knees bend and legs will be crossed with your left knee directly over your left ankle. Next drive yourself back up to the standing position.
By performing a variety of exercises and building all three glute muscles it is possible to achieve a round, full, perky bum! If you are looking for more exercises like these to lose weight, build muscle or simply maintain a healthy physique, make sure to sign up for this months calendar!!
Don't Forget About Nutrition!
As always, combining your exercise plan with healthy eating habits is the perfect way to get the butt you've always wanted! Achieving body goals requires 20% fitness and 80% nutrition - what you feed your body is either going to help or hurt the process of toning up, losing weight and creating muscle definition. Not sure where to start with your nutrition? Click here for a customized nutrition plan!
Enjoy these workouts while you are building your booty!!
Love, Rebecca
Monika
April 21, 2021GG, The 3 step deadlift is almost a single leg deadlift but in increments. Instead of raising one leg in the air as you would in a single leg deadlift, the leg going back does so a bit at a time (about under a foot each step) so it ends up looking a bit like a forward triangle pose. I like this move a lot because it definitely keeps me on top of form and slows down my movement. Definitely burns! Also my balance isn’t the best sometimes so if I’m not feeling the single leg deadlift I’ll do the 3-step.
Rebecca has a few videos with this one! If I find one I’ll post. Hope this helps!