Good Glutes! Five Moves for a Bigger Booty, Judy 🍑

Everyone wants a better backside. A bubble butt. A divine derriere. A terrific tush. A fabulous fanny. A ripe rump. A honkeytonk badonkadonk.

How many "Grow Your Booty" programs have you come across lately? Bigger butts are all the rage, and for good reason! Besides looking "booty"ful, strong glutes are an important "ass"et! Ok, enough of the bad puns! Let's break it down: the gluteus maximus muscle is one of the largest and strongest muscles in the entire body. The glutes are made up of 3 muscles: gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. It's the gluteus maximus that gives shape to our booty.

The gluteus maximus muscle has many roles:

1. helps stabilize the pelvis

2. supports the hips

3. protects the lower back

4. responsible for movement of the hip and thigh

How do you know if you have a weak gluteus maximus? You may experience low back pain, have hip pain, experience a reduced range of motion in every day activities. You may also have knee pain and/or trouble walking or running. As an athlete, other indicators of weak glute muscles are:

1. During movements such as squats and lunges, your knees collapse in.

2. If after big compound movements, such as squats or deadlifts your glutes aren't sore the next day, that could be an indicator of poorly engaged and weak glutes.

3. Tight hip flexors along with back pain

4. Lack of balance and stability

5. Pronated feet, along with chronic foot pain and even blisters

6. Weak ankles

Let's talk about how to GROW those glutes and fix these weaknesses! There are literally hundreds of ways to grow your glutes: bodyweight exercises, banded exercises, weighted exercises. For quick blog reading, I'm narrowing them down to FIVE of my favorite glute builders. All of these can be done at the gym or at home, banded, bodyweight, or with weights. Each one is super effective. And remember, that when performing these or any exercise, you make a mind-muscle connection, really focusing on the muscle group you're training. So get that booty on your brain, and try these five booty builders to fire up and grow those glutes:

SQUATS: Stand with your feet slightly wider than your hips, toes pointed slightly outward. Look straight ahead (find a spot to focus on so you aren't looking up at the ceiling or down at the floor). Push the hips back and push the floor with the balls of your feet and heels (pretend your feet are glued to the floor). Brace your core and keep your back flat. Watch your knees, that they aren't too far forward - they should be in line with your feet. Take a deep breath and a deep squat! You should go deep enough that your hip joint is lower than your knees. Take a deep breath, keep everything tight, and push through your heels to drive back up, keeping your knees outward and squeeze your glutes at the top.

HIP THRUSTS: (shown here on a leg extension machine. These are often done with a cushioned barbell or a DB). Set up with your back on an elevated surface, just below your shoulder blades. Bend your knees and keep your feet shoulder-width apart and flat to the floor. Push through your heels and squeeze your glutes at the top (legs should form a 90 degree angle).

REVERSE LUNGES: Stand with legs hip width apart with either a barbell across your upper back or hold DBs or KBs in each hand. Step back into your reverse lunge, bending your knees at 90 degree angles. Keep your chest and chin lifted, core tight, and shoulders over hips. Be sure your front knee is above front ankle. Do not lock your knees. Push through the movement to come back to standing and perform 8-12 reps per leg for 3 sets. Reverse lunges work the stationary leg, which controls the movement.

STIFF LEG DEADLIFT: Using an overhead grip on a barbell positioned over your feet, or using dumbbells, stand with your feet hip-width apart, arms straight. Brace your core and keep a very slight bend in the knees so they aren't locked out. Lift your chest, pull your shoulders down and back, looking straight ahead. Hinge forward from your hips, without bending your knees (remember this is stiff leg) and lean forward, lowering the bar towards the floor without rounding your back. Stand back up, squeezing your glutes. Be sure to keep a straight a posture, not leaning back.

ABDUCTION (SEATED OR STANDING): Seated, machine - adjust machine so legs are bent at 90 degrees, adjust back if necessary. A more vertical backrest isolates the gluteus maximus better. Adjust the weight, hold the handles, and use a slow, controlled motion to move the pads out and back without letting the weights touch between reps.

Standing, cable - Using the lower pulley, stand sideways to the machine, hook the foot farthest from the machine into the ankle strap and pull your leg away from the machine.

There are so many options for training glutes! Ideally, your training plan should have at least one session per week dedicated to solely glutes, or two leg days per week incorporating glute training. This is one muscle group that should never be neglected. Strong glutes give you better posture, pain reduction and injury prevention, increased bone density, improved athletic performance, and due to the large gluteal muscle group, also increased fat loss. You aren't going to get the butt you want by sitting on the one you have, so get up and kick some gluteus maximus! 💪