November 18, 2011
This article is Part 2 of 7 of the new “Getting A Better Body” series that I'm writing for the upcoming launch of Tri-Ripped, which you can read more about by clicking here (which will also give you access to the other 6 articles in this series)
Maybe you have super skinny legs and don’t like your flat backside. Maybe you want your butt to look better in jeans or a swimsuit. Or perhaps you simply can’t seem to generate the muscular force you want while lifting weights, running or riding a bike.
Whether you’re pursuing performance or power, you’re about to learn how to get a better butt, what your butt muscles actually do, good butt muscle exercises, and a simple 4-step solution to get your glutes firing.
Why You Need A Better Butt
A common imbalance (even among athletes) is a weak butt. This is a result of a combination of a “sitting” profession that keeps the butt muscles turned off all day long, followed by hitting the gym, running, cycling or doing any other form of exercise with those inactivated butt muscles.
When this happens, it creates three problems: 1) you lose the aesthetic appeal of having nice glutes; 2) you get low back pain as your pelvic joint overcompensates for a weak butt and 3) you can’t generate as much power as you should be able to generate with your hips and legs.
What Are The Butt Muscles?
Your butt is comprised of several muscles. The first is your “gluteus maximus”, which is one of the largest and strongest muscles in your body – starting at your hip and ending on your upper leg bone. The gluteus maximus extends and externally rotates your leg, also extends your trunk, and is mostly responsible for the “round” look you can get in your butt when you do exercises that trigger these motions.
The other two smaller butt muscles are the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. These muscles, which can become just as notoriously weak as the gluteus maximus, primarily work when you’re supporting your body on one leg, as you might do when you’re walking, running, climbing stairs or changing directions.
What Are Good Butt Muscle Exercises?
If you’ve ever been out on a tough, hilly hike, you’ve realized from your sore butt the next day just how much you utilize your glutes when you step, climb and change direction. By simulating these type of hiking movements when you train your butt in the gym, you can significantly improve your leg power, and also get a better butt. Here are three good butt exercises to get those mountain-goat glutes:
Choose a bench or platform that is preferably at knee height or above. Place on leg up on the elevated surface and step-up, driving your opposite knee to your chest as you step. For added difficulty, place a barbell on your back or clutch a dumbbell to your chest. Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps for each leg.
2) Stair-Climber Strides.
Get on a stair climber at the gym and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Put the machine on a relatively slow climb rate and climb 2-3 stairs at a time, focusing on pushing through the entire stepping motion. Perform 3-5 sets of 2-4 minutes, and recover between reps by working a different non-leg exercise (such as core, arms, etc.).
There are several variations of the kick-out motion, but each involves you bending at the waist and kicking out behind you, preferably with your heel going higher than your low back. You can get in a crawl position and kick-out (easy version), use a kick-out machine at the gym, or attach a cable or elastic band to your leg and kick-out. Perform 3-5 sets of 10-20 kick-outs per leg.
4 Steps To Getting A Better Butt
So today, I show you a 4 step process to getting a stronger butt in 8 weeks:
Step 1: 4 sets of 25 bridges (shown below) every 2 days for 2 weeks…
Step 2: 4 sets of 25 ball bridges (shown below) every 2 days for 2 weeks…
Step 3: 2 sets of 25 ball bridges and 2 sets of 25 single leg bridges (shown below) for 2 weeks…
Step 4: 2 sets of 25 single leg bridges and 2 sets of 25 single leg ball bridges (shown below) for 2 weeks…
Once you've finished, move into maintenance mode: 2x/week do 2 sets of 25 single leg bridges and 2 sets of 25 single leg ball bridges.
And that’s it.
This will take about 10-15 minutes of your time, two times a week. You will be able to literally watch your butt transform, and feel significantly greater stability when you’re standing on one leg, stepping, changing direction, jumping, running or bicycling.
If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to http://www.Tri-Ripped.com for a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.
Wow, and just in time for xmas. Thanks you Ben, this is going on my Facebook for sure, er..the exercises not the rusults :) Avril
Yeah, that could get you kicked off Facebook!
Higher, harder, bigger, smarter! This is what most of us need from our butts. This dysfunctional region of musculature ranks right up there with head/neck/shoulder posture as the most disused, misused, abused areas in all individuals, athletic or not. I could go on for pages as to why this is, so I adamantly agree with you. All I'll add now is one exercise, the double arm kettle bell swing. Why this exercise is so valuable is that it teaches the gluteals+ (when performed correctly) to fire quickly through the stance phase range of motion. This is important because these muscles are very efficient in this range and help to accelerate the leg through the stance phase optimizing ground release, reducing stress to the hamstrings/calf/achilles/plantar fascia, which should increase speed and lower ground reaction forces into the body. It's the speed and force combined with weight bearing and the specific ROM that makes the kettle bell swing so valuable, especially for runners. Just make sure that swing is done very well. Thanks for pointing out the importance of the gluteus, Ben. I guess its not so bad to be a smart ass.