The gluteus maximus or "glutes" as they are sometimes known as are actually the largest and strongest muscles in your entire body! Nice shapely buns are an exceptionally attractive feature for females and males alike. There are many different slang terms also used to describe this muscle group such as: buttocks, bum, backside, booty, bottom or ass.
You will need to have a proper training regime and a disciplined nutritional plan in place to attain great glutes. It will take some time to achieve a nice firm butt; however it is possible with focus and persistence.
Here are 10 tips to guide you in developing that firm sexy butt!
1. Participate in sports that keep you on your toes: Any form of exercise or activity that keeps us on our feet and moving or which otherwise generally works the legs will help us tone our glutes. This is especially true for any competitive sports because it causes the associated muscles intensely working to contract frequently, including the gluteus maximus. Sports that are amazing for glute development are Running, Walking, Cycling, Tennis, Racquetball, and Swimming as well as any team sports played on ice or a field.
2. Use weights instead of just body weight: To be much more effective and efficient in increasing your lean muscle mass and strength in your glutes, it is a good idea to add weight when you are doing your butt exercises. This will make them work harder and burn many more calories, plus save you time on your way to getting the results you seek. Use dumbbells or barbells for exercises such as squats, lunges, step-ups or wall sits.
3. Do really slow moving exercises: By eliminating momentum and fast moving exercises, which cheat you out of great results, will increase your effectiveness. By utilizing proper form and timing, your muscles will maximize the exercise potential and give them time to fully contract. Take for example doing a squat. I would suggest doing a count of 4 on the way down, pause for a split second and a count of 2-3 on the way back up.
4. Do isometric glute training: Isometrics are a form of exercising involving the static contraction of a muscle without any movement at a specific angle of a joint. This is excellent for building strength and much more effective for increasing power than dynamic exercises. Basically you would hold a specific position for a period of time until muscle fatigue or a set time. Personally, I love the Wall Ball Sit. Take a Swiss Ball and place it up against a wall and then with your legs at a 90 degree angle lean against the ball with your back and hold for as long as you can until your legs give out. To make it more challenging, time yourself, add some dumbbells and then continuously try to break your own record!!!
5. Gluteal Flexing: This can be virtually anywhere and at anytime. Of course you might not want to participate in public; however I will leave that up to you. Simply tighten the muscles of you gluteus maximus and hold the contraction. You can do short repetitions of 1-2 seconds or longer ones of 5-6 seconds then release and repeat. This is a great exercise when you are sitting at your desk, watching TV or working on your computer.
6. Cardio, cardio and more cardio: By focusing your energies on a substantial amount of cardiovascular training will exponentially help shape tight firm glutes! Spice it up and continuously do a variety of different machines. Concentrate on those that directly work the bottom such as the cross-trainer (in both directions), the stepper, stair climber and the rower. Personally I like to do about a half hour first thing when I get up and then another half hour after my one hour resistance training work out in the late afternoon, five days per week.
7. Exercises that target the glutes: It is essential to include some form of resistance exercise when developing nice shapely and strong buns! For the gluteus maximus I would suggest: Barbell and dumbbell squats, dead lifts, lunges, leg press, single leg kick backs and the butt blaster machine. For the gluteus medius you can include seated or cable adduction and abduction. A few other great exercises are the bridge, lying straight leg side raises and kneeling donkey kicks which can also be done with ankle weights for added resistance.
8. When targeting the glutes make sure you can see them: By having your butt in plain view is a great way to motivate you to work on it! Many people who don't favour their rear end tend to hide it under long t-shirts or tie a long sleeve shirt around it. Everyone in the gym is there for the same reason and believe me by hiding it doesn't make it magically disappear or go away. Remind yourself in the mirror by keeping it visible and get inspired to do something about it!!!
9. Sneak in some mini work outs throughout the day: A great way to get some bonus miles on your buns is to do exercises while you go through your day. In your office you can keep a set of ankle weights or light dumbbells to periodically take a break. On walks with your dog you can focus on lunging or doing a 90 degree wall sit against a tree. Standing in line at the bank or grocery store you can do calf raises or gluteal flexing. Get creative! It all adds up to a better bum!
10. Relax with a gluteal massage: I absolutely love having my buns participate in a therapeutic massage by a trained professional roughly once a month. By receiving deep muscle massage on your glutes, you will enhance the entire muscle group's shape, tension and overall health. This is an excellent way to prevent muscle atrophy and restore the muscle group. Plus, it feels really, really good!
So here is a call to action, get up and off of your rear end and attain and maintain that firm sexy butt!!!
James Erdt
Joyzone Inc.
Founder / President
joyzone.com
