Butt-Lifting Exercises

Butt-lifting exercises may help you overcome the negative effects of your lifestyle, work or daily postural habits. The constant pressure of sitting or driving for long periods of time over the years can make your butt muscles shrink, which leaves nothing to hold up surrounding fatty tissues. Poor lifting habits, such as bending forward at the waist, also reduce butt muscle activity. Butt-lifting exercises can help reduce low back pain by providing more postural stabilization.

Hip Hyperextension

Hip hyperextension exercises move your thighs back and increase the distance between your knee and your abdomen. Hip hyperextension exercises lift your butt by targeting the gluteus maximus muscle, particularly the lower fibers of the gluteus maximus. An April 2010 "Testosterone Magazine" article by strength and conditioning specialist Bret Contreras reports that hip hyperextension exercises, which involve pushing a load forward along a horizontal path, are ideal for targeting the lower gluteus maximus. Barbell or body weight hip thrusts and glute bridges are examples of horizontal pushing hyperextension exercises.

Hip Abduction

Hip abduction exercises move your thigh outward to the side while your legs are straight. Hip hyperextension exercises lift your butt by targeting the upper fibers of your gluteus maximus. Use a low cable pulley machine to perform standing hip abductions. Stand with the weight stack to one side, and attach the ankle cuff to the far ankle. Pull the weight by raising the cuffed ankle out to your side and away from the stack while keeping your leg straight. You may also rest a dumbbell on the top leg while lying on your side to perform hip abductions on the floor.

Sprints

Sprinting exercises lift your butt, because they are among the best exercises for activating your gluteal muscles as much as possible. According to a September 2009 "Testosterone Magazine" article, sprinting produces 234 percent more gluteus maximus activation than do vertical jumping exercises. Run as fast you can for 100 meters two to four times, and let your heart rate go down to 125 bpm in between each sprint. Alternatively, run as fast as you can for 1.5 to 3.0 minutes for each sprint.

Stretching

Stretching exercises that lengthen your glutes are a critical element of your butt-lifting workout. Muscle tightness inhibits growth that lifts your butt by preventing blood flow, which delivers recovery nutrients to the muscles after each workout. Lie face-up on the floor, and bend one knee up toward your chest. Pull the bent knee up toward the opposite shoulder with both hands. Alternatively, lie face-down and bend one leg up under your stomach with your knee pointing forward. Lean forward to increase the stretch. Perform stretching exercises at the end of your butt-lifting workout while your muscles are still warm. Hold each stretch position for 10 to 30 seconds.