The glutes are one of the biggest muscles in our body. They contribute to your overall strength, and they help us to sit, stand, run, walk, jump, and hike. Our butt plays a pivotal role in hip and lower back stability, and they are also our biggest hip extensors. Building a strong butt isn’t just for aesthetics, it’s important for our health, too. Along with a healthy diet, incorporating butt exercises into your workout regimen can help reduce lower back and knee pain, improve your posture, and hence help you to perform daily tasks with ease. While there are many exercises for butt strengthening, therefore, with the help of this article, we will guide you with the relevant exercises that will help you to grow a strong and strengthened butt.
Strong, healthy glutes are essential for strong, healthy bodies. Your glutes are important for more than just filling out your favourite pair of jeans. Its massive muscles are essential for explosive, athletic movements that you will depend on for success in sports. Your glutes are also important for maintaining proper posture.
Anatomy of Glute Muscles
Our glutes include three distinct muscles; gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. The gluteus maximus is the largest and provides most of the shape of the buttocks. It also keeps you upright when sitting and standing, and acts as the lower-body power generator allowing you to run, jump, squat and extend or rotate your leg outward and backwards.
Whereas the gluteus medius, sits between the gluteus maximus and gluteus minimus, and its main job is to stabilize the pelvis. It also promotes movement of the hip and upper leg including hip abduction, hip external rotation, and hip internal rotation.
Finally, the gluteus minimus is the smallest and is located right below the gluteus medius. This muscle helps to produce several movements of the hips and legs including hip extension, hip internal rotation, and hip abduction.
Benefits of Butt Exercises
- Protect Your Lower Back – Having a great butt can protect your lower back. When your glute muscles are weak, other smaller muscles need to kick in and help propel your legs to walk. This leads to strain in your back, hips, knees, and other places of the body. Having strong glutes can avoid excessive use of muscles.
- Effective for Weight Loss – Butt and thigh exercise tones and shape your lower body. They also contribute to your overall fitness, by supporting your body for movements like lifting, squatting, bending, and twisting. The easier you can move, the more efficient your workouts will be.
- Strengthens Your Pelvis – Childbirth and obesity are common causes of weakened pelvic muscles. A weak pelvis is a sign that your internal organs aren’t fully supported. This can lead to embarrassing situations with wind and other digestive issues. Creating a great booty can strengthen your pelvis, giving you better control over the bladder and bowels.
- Convenient to Handle Daily Activities – A powerful set of glutes means you can handle daily activities better. Walking upstairs, running, climbing, squatting, and standing all become much easier. This is especially helpful when you have a toddler to look after. The less resistance your body feels, the more daily activity you are likely to take on.
- Improves Balance – A great booty can improve your balance by supporting your legs and core. By improving balance, you reduce your risk of falling and injury. When we get older, osteoporosis can make our bones more fragile. A simple fall can lead to hip fractures, broken bones, and head trauma.
Top 10 Butt Exercises for Your Daily Workout Regime
1.) Single-leg glute bridges – Single-leg glute bridges are one of the best butt exercises. Perform single-leg glute bridges by lying on your back with your palms face-down by your sides. Extend one leg, squeeze your glutes, and push into your other leg. While keeping your upper back in contact with the floor, lift your hips until your extended leg forms a straight line with your back.
2.) Single-leg deadlifts – Single-leg deadlifts are one of the best butt exercises. This exercise is characterized by a forward hip-hinge movement while lifting one leg off the ground and extending it backwards. Single-leg deadlifts work muscle groups in your posterior chain, including your calf muscles, lower back muscles, hamstrings, and glutes.
3.) Bulgarian split squats – Bulgarian split squats are one of the best butt exercises. Perform Bulgarian split squats by placing your back foot onto an elevated surface. Keep your torso upright with a slight forward lean. Hinge your front knee and ankle, activating your front leg as you lower your body. Pause once your back leg is a couple of inches off the floor. Stand again and repeat this movement for your desired number of repetitions.
4.) Single-arm suitcase deadlifts – Single-arm suitcase deadlifts are one of the best butt exercises. Perform suitcase deadlifts by standing with your feet hip-width apart and resting a free weight next to your body. While keeping your core engaged and your chest up, use a lateral hip hinge movement to lift the weight off the floor. Stand tall and squeeze your glutes before lowering the free weight next to your body again. Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.
5.) Single-leg hip thrusts – Single-leg hip thrusts are one of the best butt exercises. The single-leg hip thrust is a lower-body exercise that activates your gluteal muscles. With proper form, single-leg hip thrusts can also work for muscle groups in your lower back and legs like the hamstrings, adductors, and quadriceps. Perform the hip thrust by placing your shoulders against a bench or elevated surface and lifting your hips off the floor with one leg.
6.) Kickbacks – Kickbacks are one of the best butt exercises. Perform kickbacks by getting on all fours or in a kneeling push-up position. Keep your back straight and your core engaged as you lift one leg up behind you. Other variations of the kickback exercise include banded kickbacks using a resistance band and cable kickbacks using a cable machine.
7.) Lateral lunges – Lateral lunges are one of the best butt exercises. Practice lateral lunges by moving your left foot out to your side, and extending your left leg as you hinge your right knee. Keep your upper body aligned and your back straight as you lower yourself with your right leg. Once at the bottom of the movement, press into your right foot and raise to a standing position once again. For an extra challenge, try placing a resistance band just below your knees to increase the activation of your glute muscles.
8.) Walking lunges – Walking lunges are one of the best butt exercises. To practice walking lunges, get into the starting position by placing your feet shoulder-width apart, keeping a slight bend in your knee. Take a big step forward with your right foot and lower your left knee to the ground. At the bottom of the lunge, both of your legs should be roughly at a 90-degree angle. Drive through your right heel to return to the starting position. Repeat with the opposite side. When practised in rapid succession, walking lunges can also provide great cardio exercise.
9.) Single-leg box squats – Single-leg box squats are one of the best butt exercises. Single-leg box squats are a bodyweight exercise designed to deliver a powerful core and lower-body workout. A single-leg box squat is a great leg exercise for runners or anyone looking to build leg strength, particularly in the hamstrings and quadriceps. The range of motion involves standing on one leg and dropping your hips down into a squat position until your glutes rest on top of a plyometric box.
10.) Sumo squats – Sumo squats are one of the best butt exercises. Perform the sumo squat exercise using a wider stance than the hip-width stance associated with the standard squat. While keeping your back straight, lower yourself from a standing position into a squatting position. Squeeze your glutes and straighten your legs to stand again. Repeat this movement for the desired number of repetitions.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a health advice. We would ask you to consult a qualified professional or medical expert to gain additional knowledge before you choose to consume any product or perform any exercise.
