How To Achieve A Well-Toned Butt (Part 2)
A better butt makes for a more attractive overall physical appearance. With a perky backside, one’s unsightly skinny legs will no longer look as noticeable. A better butt is of course a requirement if you’re to look good in your swimsuit and even in your jeans. And last but not the least, a strong backside is one of the things you’ll need if you’re to stably and safely carry weights, ride a bike, or pound the pavement.
So whatever your motivations are for wanting to achieve a strong and perky backside, you’re sure to find this article crucial for your specific fitness efforts. Not only will you learn how to achieve a well-toned butt, but you’ll also learn what exactly your butt muscles do, what the most ideal exercises for this specific part of your body are, and lastly, four quick and simple solutions to get your glute muscles firing.
Why A Strong and Well-Toned Butt is Crucial
The butt muscles are perhaps the least taken care of part of the body, even among athletes. This imbalance can be blamed in part on the fact that most of us have desk-bound jobs and we’ve no choice but to have our butt muscles turned off for most part of our days. And after sitting long hours on end, we then hit the gym, only to utilize exercises that are in no way helping the butt get strengthened and toned.
If this scenario is quite common for you, then you inevitably subject yourself to three problems:
1) The butt’s natural perk will diminish and thus will result in you losing your overall aesthetic appeal.
2) You’ll often suffer from low back pain since your pelvic joint will have to work double time just to offset your butt muscles’ lack of strength.
3) Your legs and hips won’t be able to generate as much power as they’re supposed to if they’re not supported by strong butt muscles.
The Muscles That Make Up Your Butt
Just like any other part of your body, your butt too is made up of several groups of muscles.
- Gluteus maximus – Is one of the most powerful muscle groups in the body. This runs from the hip all the way down to the upper leg’s bone. The gluteus maximus is the one working when you extend your trunk, as well as when you extend and rotate your leg. When you workout and perform said extending and rotating motions, then it’s mostly your gluteus maximus that gets toned and gets “round”.
- Gluteus medius – This muscle group supports the gluteus maximus, especially when the body needs to be temporarily supported on just one leg, such as when one walks, climbs stairs, or runs.
- Gluteus minimus – This muscle group works alongside the glutes medius, and functions overtime too when the body needs to be supported on one leg.
Exercise Routines That Are Good For Your Butt Muscles
If you’ve ever experienced your butt muscles become sore from undertaking a tough hilly hike, then you now know how crucial your glute muscles are for stepping and climbing movements. Now, when you simulate these hiking movements, you’ll not only improve the overall strength of your legs, but you’ll inevitably make your butt well-toned too.
To help you develop good butt muscles, here are three exercise routines:
1) Stair-Climber Strides. Utilize your gym’s stair-climber contraption for this exercise. Set the equipment to a climb rate that you consider to be just relatively slow and climb 2 to 3 steps at a time so that you push your glutes efficiently. Try to do sets of 3 to 5 with 2 to 4 minutes each time, opting to hold a dumbbell in each hand for a more intense workout. Also, you can do non-leg exercises for the arms or core during your recovery period for each stair-climber stride set.
2) Kick-Outs. There are numerous variations to the kick-out routine. However, all of these still require you to bend at the waist and kick outwards behind you. The crucial thing you need to remember is to kick in such a way that your heel is much higher than your back. The easiest way is of course to assume the crawl position and do the kick-out as is. Another way to do it would be to utilize the kick-out contraption in the gym. Lastly, you can put a cable or elastic band to your leg and perform the routine. Whichever method you choose, make sure you perform 10 to 20 kick-outs for each leg which you’ll repeat for preferably 3 to 5 sets.
3) Step-Ups. To best perform this routine, make sure the platform or bench you choose is the height of your knee or higher. Put your leg on the chosen elevated surface and start stepping-up, making sure you drive your opposite leg towards your chest as you perform each move. You can consider holding a dumbbell against your chest, or putting a barbell on your back, if you want a more intense workout. Ideally, 3 to 5 sets, each having 8 to 12 repetitions, should be done for each of your legs.
4 Quick Ways to Get A Well-Toned Butt
The three exercise routines above are a good way to start your butt-strengthening regimen. But there are four more steps you can utilize to make your butt even more impressively toned.
Step 1: Bridges. Perform 4 sets, with each set comprising 25 bridges, and do this every other day for 2 weeks.
Step 2: Ball Bridges. Do 4 sets, with each set comprising 25 ball bridges, and do so every other day for the next 2 weeks.
Step 3: Ball Bridge and Single Leg Bridge Combination: Execute 25 ball bridges for 2 sets followed by 25 single leg bridges for 2 sets. Perform these routines for two weeks.
Step 4: Single Leg Bridge and Single Leg Ball Bridge Combination. Perform 25 single leg bridges for 2 sets and follow it up with 25 single leg ball bridge for 2 sets. These exercises should be done for 2 weeks as well.
Of course, you’ll need to continue exercising if you want to maintain your better-toned butt. So after completing the 4 exercise regimens described above, make sure you do 25 single leg bridges as well as 25 single leg ball bridges for 2 sets each. Do these twice a week and keep at it for the following 2 weeks.
This may be hard to believe, but that’s it!
All the exercise routines that have been described here won’t take longer than 15 minutes to perform daily too. You’ll be able to clearly see your butt’s muscle tone as well as your body’s overall stability improve as you slowly progress through the exercise regimen.
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