Long story short: butts are all the rage right now. And although looking killer and feeling confident in your jeans or shorts is nice (OK… let’s be honest: yoga pants 24/7), these aren’t the only perks of a toned derriere. They go far beyond that.
Don’t get me wrong, I usually preach about noble reasons to workout, but sometimes you just want a great butt. And that’s enough reason in itself to focus your workouts on your glutes. I married a butt guy, so I deadlift for our marriage. And feeling more confident doesn’t hurt, either. I want to be clear I’m not knocking the vanity reasons… you go for it girl. But let’s address those noble reasons while we’re here…
Quick Anatomy Lesson: Your Booty
The gluteal muscles are the biggest muscle group in your body! They include: the gluteus maximus, minimus, and medius. They aren’t just for being smackable, friends, they are so important. Your gluteus maximis helps you stand up from sitting, climb stairs, and oh I don’t know… stay upright!? That’s a big deal. It’s also our most powerful hip extensor, external rotator, and stabilizer, and helps bring our legs out to the side and back in (abduction and adduction).
The gluteus medius and minimus aren’t quite as big but are still crucial. They keep your hips in place while walking (thanks, guys), they prevent our knees from caving in, and they help with hip extension, abduction, and rotation.
So if you can put two plus two together, it’s easy to see the importance of working these muscles, but let’s talk more specifics about why you want to work your butt…
Your Butt is a Metabolic Powerhouse
If you want to lose weight and tone up, hands down you should be working your butt. No question. We mentioned that this is the biggest muscle group in your body, and muscle means higher metabolism. Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat, so the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism. And we’re Americans so we obviously want the biggest bang for our buck, so it makes sense to work our biggest muscle group. Bonus: a lot of glute exercises also work your quads and hamstrings, which means bonus strength in other big muscles. Win!
By training your glutes you increase your lean mass, which helps accelerate fat loss and keep it off. And let’s be clear… lifting weights will not make you bulk up. Women who bulk up word hard to do it. It’s probably not going to happen by accident for you, so don’t stress about it.
Use It or Lose It?
What the what, you say? Indeed. Most Americans sit at a desk all day, for at least five days a week. They then come home (sitting whilst commuting) and usually sit for a few more hours, and aren’t extremely active on the weekends. That not only explains why 1 in 3 Americans have Pre-Diabetes (*cough* Stage 1 Diabetes), it also explains why so many people have either flat or fat hind quarters. Friends, if you sit all day your glutes will forget how to work. This is a big deal.
You’ve probably heard the term muscle memory before. Well, when we aren’t using a muscle, we’re giving it nothing to remember. After hours upon hours of sitting year after year, our glutes forget how to fire effectively, and often times their roles are taken over by the hamstrings or hip flexors. So we’re not just missing out on the metabolic wonders the gluteal muscles have to offer, now we are completely offsetting our posture, overusing other muscles, and worsening imbalances.
What I’m going to say next probably isn’t surprising: these imbalances lead to injury. Tight or weak muscles can drastically affect your posture, which can lead to back, knee, and hip pain, as well as disc herniation, IT band syndrome, among other things.
Unfortunately being a weekend warrior or cardio junkie during the week doesn’t make you immune to “gluteal amnesia,” as it’s called. You need to specifically train your glutes to strengthen and wake them up. I’m pretty sure there’s no better time than now.
How to Workout Your Butt
Working your behind is more than just squatting. It’s important to work the whole gluteal region and to make sure they are active and firing. You want to train with a mixture of weight and bodyweight, vary the number of reps and sets, and choose exercises that have the glutes as main movers and ones that have them assisting.
Some of you aren’t sure how to do that, and that’s OK! I’ve created a butt workout to help you effectively train your glutes so you don’t have to worry about all these details! It is affectionately named the Booteus Maximus Program— because no one is too old or mature for butt humor.
It trains, strengthens, exhausts, etc your gluteal muscles and boosts your metabolism. It’s also a great confidence booster and will get you lean and toned. Although it focuses on your glutes and thighs for a rockin’ lower body, it’s a full body workout- because it’s silly to only work your butt. You’ll get stronger from head to toe! There are modifications for every level, and reps and sets for every schedule. No more excuses.
You’ll need a pair of dumbbells, and your membership comes with accountability, encouragement, and someone to answer questions if needed. It won’t take you long to see results and fall in love with this program, and it’s only $11.99/mo. You get expert instruction and programming for a fraction of the price of a trainer. A membership includes other workout programs, nutrition coaching, new weekly workouts, community, and accountability. Ladies, it’s time to go brag about your great deal. This is much better than those jeans your friend scored at Kohl’s.
I encourage you to give The Fit Tutor a try. Even if for no other reason than I wrote an article about glutes which included no half-naked women or thongs. Isn’t that something to get on board with?
See what women are already saying about it!
Can’t wait to work with you!
Allison
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Super article !
Thanks!! :)
Love it!! Nicely done.
Thank you!!
I love this! ?