Me: "So what are your goals?"
Client: "Well I really want to work on my butt. Summer is almost here and I wanna look good in my shorts. I run like 8 miles a day; that's plenty of butt work though, right?
Me: shaking my head
Over the course of my personal training career I've met countless people, females especially, that believe running is the be all end all. Heck, I was one of them not all that long ago. Hey, if I'm running that means my legs are in constant motion; therefore, I'm really hitting those muscles hard and will have an amazing lower half, right?
No no no.
Ever since I really got serious with strength training my lower half, glutes especially, have done crazy things that could never be achieved through running alone. So if you're like my client and are looking to build up your backside then keep reading and find out my favorite glute exercises! Building up your glute strength will not only help you rock those summer shorts; having strong glutes will have much carryover to your main lifts. Build up your glutes and I guarantee you will see huge increases in your squat and deadlift.
Barbell Glute Bridge: Okay, I know, you think this exercise makes you look silly. Who cares? It's a crazy good exercise. Glute bridges (with a decent amount of weight) will let you get a really good glute contraction that really can't be found with many other exercises. Once you master the basic glute bridge, try it with only one foot on the ground. I thought I had pretty good glute strength until I tried this. Wow, talk about an eye opener! The video below provides a demonstration:
Barbell Glute Bridge Video
Bulgarian Split Squats: I did these just yesterday and my glutes feel the effects today! I'm a big fan of single leg training and this is probably my favorite single leg exercise. To perform this exercise, you simply elevate your back foot on a box or bench; about 18'' off the ground, hold dumbbells or kettlebells in each had and squat down. Make sure you come out far enough with your front foot in order to prevent putting strain on your front knee. Exercise bonus: try elevating your front foot a few inches off the floor to get more depth and extra burn!
Bulgarian Split Squat Video
Good Mornings: This exercise is great for basically the whole posterior chain. If done correctly, they will leave your hammies, low back, and glutes feeling the burn. Keep in mind good form is essential on this exercise in order to keep your back safe! You can perform these with a wide stance or with a conventional deadlift stance. Rest the bar on your upper back as if you were doing a squat, make sure your knees are soft; not locked! Next, push your hips back as far as possible. Make sure you keep the glutes squeezed and lower until you are about parallel to the ground. Then slowly return to starting position. Feel it in your backside? You're welcome.
Good Mornings
High Step Up: This is a simple, often overlooked exercise that probably leaves me huffing and puffing more than any other exercise on this list. Whether you use dumbbells or a barbell on your back, or no weight at all if you're new to the game, it is a great exercise to build your glutes and it has a great amount of carryover to things such as squatting, sprinting, and jumping. (And this is another great single leg exercise that I'm such a fan of)
Step Up
Prowler Pushes/Sprinting: If you are like my client we talked about in the beginning of the article and really want to incorporate cardio into your routine (which I think is great, don't get me wrong), then you should set aside the steady state jogging and try things such as prowler pusher and sprinting. Not only will these hit your backside harder, they'll also do wonders to cut body fat and boost metabolism.
Whether I'm deadlifting or squatting, lower body training day is hands down my favorite. Since I've been doing the above exercises for my glutes and posterior chain, I've seen my numbers for squat and deadlift grow by leaps and bounds (deadlift especially). Not only have I seen increased strength, I can also say that I certainly look better in my shorts as opposed to when I had my pancake butt in my days of running. Try them out and see what you think; I guarantee your glutes will love you for it!
No comments:
Post a Comment