Your gluteals, composed of the gluteus maximus, minimus and medius, are the largest muscle group in your body. The gluteus maximus moves your leg behind your body, while the medius and minimus move your leg away from the body's center. A gluteal workout must include exercises for each part of the muscle.
Muscle Firing
Your hip flexors, which connect your thighs to your pelvis, are your gluteal muscles' nemesis. Chronic sitting and poor postural alignment tightens your hip flexors. When a muscle group tightens, the muscles on the other side of the joint weaken, explains personal trainer Mehdi, founder of Stronglifts.com. Such is the case with the hip flexors and gluteal muscles. It's possible to select the most effective butt exercises, but if your hip flexors take over the movement, the glutes won't fire. Stretching your hip flexors is therefore essential for butt muscle activation. Before you begin your workout, place a foam roller on an exercise mat. Lie prone, with your hip flexors on the roller. Gently roll back and forth to massage the area. Then, let your weight sink into the roller. Hold the stretch for one minute.
Uplifting Aerobic Exercise
Even if you perform an effective butt workout, excess body fat will hide your hard-earned muscle tone. Aerobic exercise is therefore essential to the ultimate butt workout. Some types of exercise, such as hill running, incline treadmill training and working out on an elliptical machine, are also effective butt toners. Your body position on an elliptical machine affects how the muscle groups are utilized. The racing position, with your upper body totally forward, lengthens your stride and facilitates the greatest amount of gluteal muscle activity, says Lifefitness, an exercise equipment manufacturer. The American College of Sports Medicine advises 30 minutes of aerobic activity on most days of the week, but suggests lengthening these sessions to one hour if you need to lose weight.
Combo Lunge
Standing gluteal exercises double as aerobic cool-downs. The lunge combo is an example. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, with your palms facing your body. Lunge forward with your right leg, lowering the left knee toward the floor. As you straighten your right leg, tighten your gluteal muscles, and raise your left leg behind you while keeping the knee bent and your toes curled toward your shin. Then, lunge forward with your left leg, and repeat the sequence. Perform 20 repetitions, or 10 on each leg.
Band Walk
The band walk works your gluteus medius and outer thigh muscles. Aside from being an effective butt toner, it provides efficient training for sports that require lateral movement. Stand upright, and wrap a resistance band around your ankles. Take a big step to the right with your right foot, and bring your left foot in to meet it. Take eight steps to the right and eight steps to the lefts. Perform four sets in each direction.
Quadruped Combo
While the quadruped is a somewhat old-fashioned butt exercise, an American Council on Exercise research study listed it as one of the most effective gluteal exercises. Kneel on all fours, lifting your right foot so that it is perpendicular to the ceiling. Contract your butt muscle, and lift your right knee from the floor. Keep your weight centered, and do not allow your lower back to sag. Perform 12 repetitions, then roll over on to your back. Keep your right knee bent, and place your right foot on the floor. Bend your left knee and bring it toward your chest. Lift each vertebra from the floor and create a spinal bridge. Let each vertebra touch on the return. Perform 15 repetitions, and then repeat the sequence on the other side.
References
- Lordosis: Why it Causes back Pain and How to Fix It; Mehdi; November 2007
- Lifefitness: Biomechanical Research Presents Benefits of New Summit Trainer
- American College of Sports Medicine: Physical Activity and Public Health Guidelines
- Shape.com: Leaning Lunge Combo
- American Council on Exercise; Glutes to the Max; Mark Anders
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