Do you dread the summer months knowing that you are going to have to, sooner or later, start on your butt exercises regime, so you can bare your butt in those new shorts or the new swimwear you’ve just purchased? Don’t forget winter – when a toned butt always looks great in jeans.

Well if your rear needs some lifting, toning and re-shaping then the following butt exercises may be just the answer you’re looking for…

Butt Exercises

a. Walking Lunge

Stand with your feet together. Keep your chest out and your midsection firm, do not arch your back. Place your hands on your hips or by your sides. Step forward with a large stride. Bend both your knees. Your front leg should be at a 90 degree angle (your knee and shin should be in a straight line with your ankle). Your back knee should be nearly touching the floor and extended behind you. As you are pushing up, and at the top of your lunge movement, lunge forward with the other leg repeating the same movement. Continue with this sequence, alternating from one leg to the other until you have finished the required amount of reps.

b. Plie` Squat

Stand with your legs wide apart – (wider than shoulder width apart). Have your toes pointed outwards. Keep your chest out, your midsection firm and head facing frontwards. Hold a dumbbell at arms length in front of you (dumbbell should be in front of your pelvis) the other end of the dumbbell should be facing the floor. Ensure your back is straight and don’t lean too far forward. (Keep the weights light to start with) Now bending your knees squat leaning into your heels then push yourself back up again squeezing your butt and inner thighs. Make sure you don’t lift your toes up off the floor.

c. Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift

Beginners start with a light weight (or no weights) until you can perform this exercise with correct form.

Stand with your feet only slightly apart. With a dumbbell in each hand at arms length, bend over from your hips so that your dumbbells are in front of your ankles, beginners – have your dumbbells at your shins.

Your palms should now be facing your lower legs. Keep your body stable with your chest out, midsection firm, knees slightly bent for beginners and legs straight for advanced.

Squeezing your butt and hamstrings raise your body back up to standing position, while also keeping your chest out, midsection firm and shoulders back. Keep the dumbbells at arms length so when returning to starting position the dumbbells should be in front of your thighs.

More awesome butt exercises…

d. Reverse Lunges

Stand with your feet together. Keep your chest out and your midsection firm, do not arch your back. Place your hands on your hips or by your sides.
Step backward with your left leg. Bend both your knees. Your front leg should be at a 90 degree angle (your knee and shin should be in a straight line with your ankle). Your left leg should be extended behind you and your knee should be nearly touching the floor. Now with your left foot push up carefully until you are back to starting position. Then swap legs and perform the exercise again this time stepping back with your right leg. Take your time and keep yourself sturdy. Alternate from one leg to the other.

e. Machine Leg Press

Beginners keep your weights very light to none at all. Sit in the Leg Press machine. Place your feet high on the plate and wider than shoulder width apart. Have your toes pointing slightly outwards. Keep your chest out, back snug into the back pad and your midsection firm.

There should be a lever either side of your seat which you will need to unlatch to lower the plate down. Keeping your feet stable, lowering the plate down towards you controlling it slowly. Depending on your flexibility, lower it gradually until you feel the pull / stretch in the back of your thigh.

If your heels lift off the plate when lowering the plate down then your feet are positioned way too low on the plate. Push, don’t bounce, the plate back up to starting position. And repeat the exercise.

f. Butt Tightener – using the fit ball or exercise ball.

Just one of a few great butt exercises that can be performed on the fit ball.

Lie face down on the exercise ball with your abs and hips resting on the top of the ball.
With your arms reaching out directly in front of you, hold onto a machine frame or a nearby bench with both hands to keep you sturdy.

Now with your legs and feet together raise them off the floor while also squeezing your butt holding, if you can, for a count of 2. Your legs shouldn’t raise any higher than your hips and abs.

Lower your legs back down until your feet are nearly touching the floor then raise your legs again, continue this movement – not touching the ground with your feet – until you’ve completed the required amount of reps. Note: If you’re a beginner to this exercise you can touch your feet on the floor between each rep.

g. Step Ups off a Bench or Step

Standing in front of your step or bench, start with your right foot first stepping up onto the step or bench, bringing your left foot up behind you, making sure that both of your feet are securely on the bench at the top of the movement.

Now lower your right foot down again, followed by your left foot. Now swap feet starting with your left foot up first, followed by your right foot and so on. Alternating from one leg to the other.

Don’t stomp your feet when stepping up and down. Keep it soft and control your movement up and down, don’t just let yourself drop back down to the floor.

What’d you think of the Step Up? Don’t butt exercises rock?

h. Smith Machine Squat

Position yourself in the Smith machine, resting the bar across your traps and upper shoulders.

Place your feet about 8-12 inches in front of your body, just wider than shoulder width apart. Have your toes pointing slightly outwards.

Now lower yourself downwards keeping your midsection firm, inhaling on the way down, keeping your feet and heels pushed into the floor. When your thighs are approximately parallel to the floor squeeze your glutes and hamstrings to push yourself back up again. Exhale on the way up.

Do not bounce the squat when pushing yourself back up. Keep the movement controlled throughout the exercise.

NOTE: To emphasize your glutes in the exercise keep the weights lighter and squat slightly lower than the 90 degree angle.

Quality over quantity. If you can only get 3 good reps out that’s fine.

i. Cable Hip Extension

Place the ankle cuff around your right ankle on the low pulley on the cable crossovers (or the cable machine).

Facing the weight stack and holding onto the bar provided (you will need something stable to hang onto directly in front of you to keep you sturdy) lean forwards slightly, turning your right foot outwards slightly. Now push your foot up and back behind you, squeezing your butt. Have your left knee (your supporting leg) slightly bent so it can support your weight sufficiently.

Now lower your leg down to starting position. Complete your reps and then swap legs.

j. Glute Extension – killer butt exercise..

This looks totally weird but works.

Lie flat on a bench with your legs bent and hanging off the edge. (Your abs and hips should be resting on the end of the bench). Adjust the bench so that your bent knees can touch the floor. If not they can hang there.

You have two options for this exercise:
You can use ankle weights with the soles of your feet facing upwards or you can hold a dumbbell between the soles of your feet with the soles of your feet facing upwards.

Hold onto the bench with your arms. Now with your knees pointing downwards but slightly outwards and your heels facing the ceiling push your feet upwards squeezing your butt. Do not raise your thighs higher than your hips and abs.

If you have lower back problems this exercise can also be performed on the fitball without using any weights. Beginners should not use any weights until they have got used to performing this exercise.

k. Lunges

Stand with your feet together. Keep your chest out and midsection firm, do not arch your back. With your hands on your hips or by your sides, step forward with a large stride. Bend both your knees. Your front leg should be at a 90 degree angle (your knee and shin should be in a straight line with your ankle). Your back leg should be extended behind you and your knee should be nearly touching the floor. Now with your front foot push up carefully to starting position. Keep yourself steady throughout the exercise. After you have performed the required amount of reps on that leg, swap to the other leg.

l. Squats

Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart. Have your hands either out in front or folded in front of your chest. Have your toes pointed slightly outwards. Keep your chest out, your midsection firm and head facing frontwards. Now squat as if you were going to sit down, leaning into your heels, until your backside is inline or parallel to the floor. Then using your thighs and butt push yourself back up again. Do not lock your knees out when returning to standing position. Keep your knees soft and the movement flowing. Continue with the second squat, then third etc until you have completed the set.

Butt Exercises for BEGINNERS – No weights

Choose one of the following mini-leg butt exercises workouts  performing 1 set of 12 – 15 reps for each, then repeat each exercise again in the same manner. As you become more familiar with the techniques of these exercises then repeat again for a third round.  You can alternate between these two workouts.

Squat, Lunge, Butt Tightener – Exercise Ball

or

Bench Step Ups, Machine Leg Press , Glute Extensions

Butt Exercises for INTERMEDIATES – Light to Medium weights

Choose one of the following leg workouts performing 1 set of 12 – 15 reps for each exercise, then repeat each exercise again in the same manner. As you become more familiar with the techniques of these leg and butt exercises then repeat again for a third and fourth round.  You can alternate between these two workouts. If they become to easy then add resistance – eg. dumbbells.  If your hips, butt and thighs are your trouble-spots (A-shaped body) then skip the weights and increase the reps to 25+.

Walking Lunge, Plie` Squat, Machine Leg Press , Cable Hip Extension

or

Step Ups off a Bench or Step, Reverse Lunges, Smith Machine Squat, Butt Tightener – Exercise Ball

Butt Exercises for ADVANCED – Medium to Heavier Weights

Choose one of the following leg workouts performing 1 set of 12-15 reps for each exercise, then repeat each exercise again in the same manner. As you become more familiar with the techniques of these leg and butt exercises then repeat again with your aim being to work towards completing 4 rounds with added resistance / weights.  You can alternate between these two workouts. If your hips, butt and thighs are your trouble-spots (A-shaped body) then skip the weights and increase the reps to 25+.

Walking Lunge, Squats, Machine Leg Press, Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift , Reverse Lunges, Glute Extension

or

Step Ups off a Bench or Step, Machine Leg Press, Smith Machine Squat , Lunges, Plie` Squat, Cable Hip Extension

© Mandy Gibbons
Virtual Fitness Trainer

IMPORTANT: The above workout is an excerpt from my newsletter. It is provided free on this site but does not include support or customization.

Persons who are of good health, suspect of their health or are aware of any conditions, physical deficiencies or diseases should always consult a physician before undertaking any eating or exercise program. Mandy Gibbons, Virtual Fitness Trainer, http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com and http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com.au disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the above content, programs, links or advice given in this newsletter or in this document.

Do you have a hard time feeling your hamstrings working when you do stiff-legged deadlifts? You will never, EVER have that problem again after you read this tip.

The stiff-legged deadlift is one of the best exercises you can do for your hamstrings. The only problem is, it can also be one the hardest exercises to perform properly.

For years, I tried to feel my hamstrings working when I did the stiff-legged deadlift. I knew it was the best exercise to work the hip extension function of the hamstrings but I never succeeded in feeling my hams work until I came up with this simple technique.

Let me tell you, the very rep of the very first set I used this technique on, I could feel my hamstrings like never before! It was like a revelation. It was also extraordinarily simple. I guarantee if you’ve never had success with stiff-legged deadlifts, you will definitely have it after applying this technique.

The trick? Elevate your toes on weight plates while you do the exercise. That’s it! It’s very simple but very elegant in the way it addresses the kinesiology and anatomy of the hamstrings. I will explain exactly how to set it up and the mechanisms of why it works so incredibly well.

How To Do It:

Set two 25-pound weight plates on the ground butted up against each other (one for each foot). They should be right beneath the barbell you will be using for the exercise and placed side-by-side so you can set your feet on both of them.

Stand in front of the barbell with your feet half on the plates and half off. The front parts of your feet will be on the plates and your heels will be on the ground. Use the weight plates to brace your feet up so that your toes are up in the air and your feet are flexed up (known as dorsiflexion). At the end of this article you will find a link to a picture of how to set up this exercise.

Bend over and grasp the bar at about shoulder width with an overhand grip. Keep your knees locked but slightly bent while doing this exercise and keep a tight arch in your lower back.

Look directly forward while you are coming up and going back down. This will help you to keep an arch in your lower back.

Squeeze the bar off the ground slowly and deliberately, coming up only until your upper body is slightly above parallel. Any higher and you’ll start to lose tension in the hamstrings and throw it on your lower back. The real value of this exercise lies in the stretch at the bottom anyways.

Come down slowly, being absolutely sure to keep the arch in your lower back. As you near the bottom, stick your butt out and try to raise your toes as high up as possible. This dramatically intensifies the stretch you put on your hamstrings. Hold that stretch for a moment or two then reverse the direction without bouncing.

Repeat this for 5 to 7 reps. At the end of the set, place the barbell down gently then get ready to grab onto something for support. If you’ve done this technique correctly and intensely, your hamstrings will probably feel like jelly and you might find yourself prone to falling down suddenly (this is not a joke – I can’t tell you how many things I’ve had grab onto to catch myself on after doing a hard set of these)!

Why Is This Technique So Effective?

The reason this toe-raising technique is so effective for the stiff-legged deadlift comes straight from biomechanics and anatomy.

The stiff-legged deadlift exercise places the most tension on the hamstrings at the bottom, stretched position. Therefore, in order to maximize tension on the hamstrings, we must maximize the stretch on the hamstrings at that point.

In the standard stiff-legged deadlift, this is normally accomplished by simply bending at the hips. But this is not the greatest anatomical stretch that can be put on the hamstring muscles.

As you may or may not know, the muscles of the calves are tied in with the hamstrings. Therefore, placing a stretch on the calves also places more stretch on the hamstrings. This is what the weight plates accomplish – they raise your toes, putting a stretch on the calves, which then puts a greater stretch on your hamstrings.

By stretching the hamstrings at both the hip joint and the knee joint (from stretching the calves), you literally force your hamstrings to activate strongly during the stiff-legged deadlift movement.

The difference is quite amazing! Try it for just one set and I promise you’ll never go back to doing it the standard way ever again!

This picture demonstrates the proper placement of the weight plates and your feet for the trick that will dramatically improve your stiff-legged deadlift.

As explained in the article, the key to really feeling the hamstrings working is to put a stretch on them from both ends, e.g. the hips and the calves.

By raising your toes, you put a stretch on the calves, drastically increasing the effect of the stiff-legged deadlift on your hamstrings.

By BetterU, Inc. and Powerful Training Secrets