My Round, Firm Glute Series: Part 2

Alright folks, are we ready for round 2 of my butt blasting series?!?! The first post was a huge hit so I’m hoping this one will be too. Now, just because this is my second entry DOES NOT mean that these workouts are secondary to the previous workouts I mentioned. In fact, these are some of the best moves for complete isolation of the glutes! So without further ado, let’s get to it:

•             Leg press (narrow stance): This is one of my favorite exercises!!! And arguably the one that I’m the saddest about not being able to do while pregnant. The leg press is an excellent weighted machine for lower body work. With a traditional leg press movement, the legs are about shoulder width apart and the focus is on the quads. However, with a narrow stance, the focus shifts to the glutes and hamstrings. I prefer to place my feet right next to each other and put my feet high enough up that my heels are in the very center of the platform. That way, when you press up, you’re pushing with your heels and activating the glutes. For me, this stance feels more stable and sturdy (as the knees are more secure). With this foot placement I am able to lift significantly more weight than with a wider stance, almost double actually. For this exercise, I recommend to use heavy weight once you get the feel of the machine. For myself, I would start out with 2-3, 45 lb plates on each side of the machine (or 180-270 lbs) to warm up and then climb up to 8-9 plates on each side (720 -810 lbs).

My max is 18 plates, 9 on each side, weighing in at 810 lbs + the starting weight of the machine of 100 lbs

•             Cardio in the form of a step mill or incline trainer: This is a slightly different approach to glute training. Cardio machines can also be utilized in muscle growth… but only if you do it the right way! For the most part, the trick with using these machines to aid in glute growth is to sloooowww the machine down, and really focus on contracting the muscle.

                For the step mill, there are a few different variations that work well. My all-time favorite is skipping steps! For this, you will have to have the machine going slow enough that you are able to step on every other step without losing your balance. You can even add in a kick back with the foot that’s resting. For example, step with your right foot and swing your left foot back in a kick back motion. You’ll also want to step with a flat foot, and if you have a small foot that will fit on the whole step, then step with your heels. Over and over I see people walking on the step mill on their toes. This an excellent calf and quad workout, but to activate different muscles, that tippy toe workout ain’t gonna cut it! Another alternative for the step mill is to step sideways. Now with this stance, you can definitely step with your heels! I like to really slow the machine down and focus on digging in with my heels and squeeezzzing and contracting the glutes! Now, as a side note, the hand rails are to be used MINIMALLY for balance purposes ONLY!!!! When you put all of your weight onto the hand rails, you are taking of the weight OFF of your lower body. And guess what, this makes it harder… but significantly more efficient.

                Incline trainers can also be used for slow, muscle building cardio. I like to put it around 15% incline and 3 mph to start. Then, every 3-5 minutes, increase the incline and slow down the speed. Once I hit the maximum incline (30%), then I reverse it and go back down the hill. This will not work well with traditional treadmills unless it has a pretty significant incline. Again, with this movement, you will want to step with your heels and get a good contraction on the glutes.

Ashley Horner doing smith machine squats on
Bodybuilding.com

•             Smith machine squats, 1 legged and 2 legged: Normally, I steer clear from the smith machine and opt for the squat rack instead. When using a smith machine, much of the weight is supported by the equipment versus using your body to lift the weight. Also, a free standing squat is a more natural motion for your body than a fixed position squat. However, there is one kind of squat that I like to use the smith machine for, as it would be physically impossible to do in a squat rack. I call this a “Chair squat”, as you look like you are sitting in an invisible chair at the bottom of the movement (as pictured above). Your foot placement is out in front of you and your weight will be kept fairly light, to allow for a deep squat at the bottom of the movement. To make it even more challenging, only use one foot to press up and lift the other foot up in the air. Now, this modification is NOT for beginners and I recommend doing light weight on this exercise until you get the hang of it.

•             Abductor machine: This is a machine that many women steer clear from! I jokingly refer to it as “Yes No’s”…as in yes, no, yes, no, yes, no J Now make sure you find the machine that has the weight on the OUTSIDE on the leg (as pictured below) and not the machine with the weight on the inside of your leg (that’s the Adductor machine and it works the opposing muscle groups). For this machine I like to start heavy and perform one big drop set. However, some people prefer to start light and gradually go heavier. What I do is start at about 210 lbs and do 8-10 reps, then drop it down to 170-190 lbs and do 8-10 reps, and so on. I shoot for 100 reps with minimal rest in between, as if it’s one big set. Once I get down to 60 lbs, I increase my reps to 15, then I’ll do a burn out at 30 lbs and do 25 reps. Now, normally 30 lbs is nothing! But at the end of a 100 rep drop set…. You’ll barely be able to walk after! Another modification I do with this machine is that I sometimes will come up off the seat slightly and hold on the weight rack for stability and do the exercise this way. I feel that this slight change focuses the weight more in the glutes than in the outer quad muscles.

Jamie Eason as featured on Bodybuilding.com

•             Walking lunges: These are an excellent lower body exercise! One way that I modify them to really hit the glutes over the quads is to add short pulses at the bottom of each step. For example, when you take a step, before stepping with the next foot, do 3-5 short, stationary lunges, staying low to the ground, and then lift off to take the next step. When you are coming off of the ground is when your glutes get activated, so if you simply add more of these movements, then you will be using more glute muscles than in a traditional walking lunge. I like to keep my weight fairly light with this and really focus on going low on the slow pulses. You can either use a barbell, dumbbells or weighted plates. (I usually use around 40-50 lbs.) Another way to hit different muscles would be to do a slight crossover when you step (or a curtsy lunge).

*As a side note, walking lunges are easy to do at home with dumbbells or even with no weight for beginners.

Weighted Glute Bridges
image from Bodybuilding.com

•             Glute bridges –OR-- hip thrusters: I mentioned before that leg presses are the exercise I miss the most…. These are a close second! I absolutely LOVE this exercise for tightening the undercarriage… ya know, the part of your leg where butt and hamstrings meet? Also known as, the arguably the most annoying area on most womens’ bodies! Well heres your solution gals. I often see these shown in fitness magazines using only body weight. Well… that’s adorable and all, but given how strong women’s lower bodies are, I see NO REASON why women can’t do these weighted!!! Granted the picture I’ve shown above is a man…. But he’s only doing 125 lbs. That’s nothing ladies. When I did them pre-pregnancy I started at around 115 lbs and went up in weight to 155 lbs. I would warm up with the bar and then increase my weight gradually, until I got up to 155 lbs. Then, I would drop all the weight off the bar and do a burn out set of 25 reps using only the bar (45 lbs) and really squeeze at the top of the movement and get a good contraction in the glutes. To make it even more challenging, hold your rep for 3 seconds at the top of the movement, when your body is parallel to the ground. Also, a good trick for doing these more comfortably is to use bar padding when placing the weight on your lap.

1 Legged, weighted squat
image from Bodybuilding.com

•             One legged squat: This exercise requires zero weight and is perfect to do at home or in the gym. As a more advanced move, this squat can also be done with weight.  It is pretty self-explanatory (as seen in the photo above) . I prefer to do this un-weighted in a superset with a weighted exercise, like a leg press. There are also a few modifications that can be made in case you have trouble getting this movement down at first. One change is to either hold onto something like a chair (this is ONLY for stability… you’re not holding on for dear life) or you can do the squat with an exercise ball behind your back and pressed up against a wall. You can also do this squat with a chair or bench behind you for added security in case you do lose your balance and fall.

•             Weighted step ups: This is an AMAZING move to both build muscle AND destroy calories!!! I love doing these as a warm up for leg day as it both warms up the muscles and gets the heart rate going like crazy! I prefer to do these on a box or step as opposed to a bench. Benches are often soft and give a little when you step on them, creating an unstable surface. I like to do these on a firm, hard surface.  I also prefer to do them weighted (roughly a 20 lb dumbbell in each hand) but they can be done with lighter weight or even no weight. This is another move where you will not want to step with your toes. You will want to step with a flat foot and push up with your heels to activate the glutes. So, you will simply get a box or step, get your dumbbells or barbell and step up onto the surface, one leg at a time. You can even do a kick back with the alternate foot. For example, step up with your right foot and do a kick back with your left foot. Then, alternate legs and do 10-15 reps per leg. Sounds easy right??? Well… go do a few of these and get back to me on that one ;-)

 *An at home modification for this would be to use a chair, a fireplace, stairs, an outdoor bench… just about anything that is roughly 12 inches off the ground and sturdy! You can either use dumbbells or do them un-weighted and do higher reps (20-25 each leg).

Leg Raises
Image from WomensHealthMag.com

•             Reverse leg raises: This is another un-weighted exercise that can be done both at home and in the gym. You could also add weight to this exercise using ankle weights if desired. This movement can be done using an exercise ball (as pictured above), a flat bench, or an incline bench (or at home I’ve even used an ottoman or coffee table). The reason I prefer an incline bench on about a 45 degree incline is because you get a bigger range of motion with this exercise. I also like to do these as a lighter move in between a heavier squat and will super set them. I like to keep a higher rep range (15-20) and make sure to get a good squeeze at the top of the leg raise. With this exercise, make sure and do it slow and controlled. Do not use momentum to swing your legs up and down! Keep your core and back tight.

•             Reverse hack squat and narrow hack squat: It makes me very sad that my gym does not have a standing hack squat as these are some of my favorite, go-to moves for doing weighted, glute exercises! The first is the narrow hack squat. In this squat, you are facing forward and it is a similar stance to the previously discussed smith machine squat mentioned above, where at the bottom of the movement, it looks as though you are sitting in a chair. I like to warm up with about 50 lbs (25 lb plate on each side) and then work my way up to around 270 lbs, (or two, 45 lb plates on each side). Make sure you’re going down low and squeeeeezing your hiney on the way up! If you can’t go down very low, then lighten your weight. It is ALWAYS better to do the exercise properly and get a good contraction, than to pull a, “dude bro’, putting every weight in the gym on the machine and performing the exercise with a 3” range of motion!!! In fact, at the end of my heavy set I’ll drop back down to 50 lbs and do a burn-out set where I do static holds. To do this, simply go down as far as you can and squat, hold it for 3-5 seconds and then come up very slowly. Do this for about 5-8 reps and you won’t be able to walk out of the gym!

*(In case you haven’t noticed, at the end of my heavy sets, I almost always do some kind of lighter weight burnout set, or static hold set. This fully fatigues the muscle and TRAINS them in a whole new way, other than just doing 3 sets of 12 reps for every single exercise. THESE ARE THE SETS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR BODY!!! It’s adding the extra reps when you’re tired. It’s changing up the reps, set, and momentum of your workouts. These are the things that will trick your muscles and keep them guessing and GROWING. My theory on how many reps to do for any given exercise is this… “Go until you can’t go anymore. Now do 3 more reps!”)

Reverse Hack Squat as shown by Nicole Wilkins
Image from FitnessRX.com

                My second favorite move to do on a hack squat is to do a reverse squat (as pictured above). This one feels a little awkward at first, mostly for your face and neck, but once you get the hang of it, it is an amazing exercise! I will put a towel or my jacket (or whatever I have with me at the gym) on the back of the machine… seeing as how this is where most people’s sweaty heads go and this is currently where you are putting your face! Then, I do about the same weight as I did on the previous hack squat exercise. Oh, and make sure you’re wearing pants with this one ladies! Because if you’re in shorts, then the WHOLE gym will be seeing your booty sticking out! So consider yourself warned...

 

Okay gals, that pretty much sums up my favorite booty-toning workouts! I know this is a lot of information to take in so what I would suggest to do is to print out these workout blogs and pick 2-3 exercises to try next time you workout. If you have it in writing, then you can even take it with you to the gym to use as a guide! Then next time, try another 2-3 moves. It's all about trying new things and challenging your body to see what works best for you!

And as always, I can be reached on FB at House of Glutes