My favorite comedian Ellen DeGeneres once joked, that she doesn’t need “Buns of Steel”, she would settle for Cinnabons!

Funny thing, but sweet treats like Cinnabons are usually in the way of a perky bottom. Since, you’re reading this blog you probably know better, right?

Whether you are just a beginner, intermediate or advanced athlete, you can benefit from the following moves. Combine them together for a nice workout or incorporate some of them into your already existing training routine!

Personally I like to work out as little as possible and have as much results as I can! Who doesn’t, right?

That’s why I came up with a collection of my favorite butt exercises, which really make me sweat in no time!

Well, the best way to work your muscles and to have consistently great results, is to keep them guessing. I change my routines very often by varying weight and intensity of the exercises.

Glutes are one of the biggest muscles in our body, so training it hard benefits   both the “booty” look and weight-loss. You burn more calories and speed up the metabolism by training large muscle groups.

As a personal trainer and fitness competitor, I’ve researched and tried a lot of exercises. It is so important to have well sculpted and firm glutes for a complete and sexy look. Firm and lifted butt quickly separates you from the crowd

So, here are the most effective buttocks exercises:

Perform 4 set of 15 repetitions

1.     Kung Fu Horse Stance

Kung Fu is the oldest Martial Art. Most of the fitness exercises are based on its fundamentals. Kung Fu stances are the basic blocks or modern routines. I would like to introduce to you my favorite move that works not just your glutes, but legs, abs and arms. One very powerful move!

Alignment:

Lower Body
The Knees should be slightly bent to lower the centre of gravity and also to enable more rapid movement and flow into other positions. The feet should be shoulder width apart and slightly turned inward. They should not be turned in to far as to inhibit movement.

Upper body
The shoulders should be square and relaxed, the back should be straight. The hands should be in an upturned fist (inverted Ram) resting just above the sash with the elbows well back to allow forward movement or in front of you

Your goal is to stay in this position for up to 3 minutes. If you can do just 30 seconds, that’s fine. Practice it and move towards the goal of sustaining The Horse Stance for 3 minutes. Trust me, although, it’s low impact exercise, you’ll break some serious sweat doing it!

2. Sumo Dumbbell Squat

This move really targets glutes. You can do it with or without weight.

Alignment:

Start by holding a dumbbell in each hand between your legs. You may also hold just one dumbbell with two hands as well. Your feet should be wider than shoulder width and your toes pointed slightly outward at a 45 degree angle.

Breathing: Breathe out as you lower the weights down to the floor and breath back in as you move back to the starting position.

Execution: Proceed to squat down until the dumbbells almost touch the floor. Your hips should drop back and down while your knees stay directly above your feet.

3.     Tuck Jumps

The tuck jump is a great plyometric exercise for building base power and strength in the legs. This is a very anaerobic exercise and requires a certain amount of base fitness. To make it slightly easier, pause on landing between each jump until you can manage to continue the full amount of repetitions without stopping. 

Alignment and Execution:

Stand upright with knees and feet hip width apart.

Drop down into a half squat by bending at the knees and hips.

From that position power up as fast as you can at the same time swinging your arms through and up in front of you.

As you jump up bring the knees up towards the chest as high as you can 

Land back on both feet and as soon as you touch down repeat again.

Jump for 30 seconds as fast as you can, rest to catch your breath and then repeat

5.     Butt  Bridge

Alignment:

Lie flat on your back on a mat with your knees bent pointing up to the ceiling and your arms at your sides. Another version, more advanced version, of this exercise is to place your feet on a fitness ball.

Execution:

Simply raise your pelvis up toward the ceiling to a point where your body will be at a about a 45 degree angle relative to the floor. At the top of the movement, be sure to really flex your butt for a one-count. Return to the start position and repeat.

6.     Walking Lunges

Lunges are a great exercise for strengthening and toning the thighs and buttocks. The walking lunge increases the intensity by adding a CV element into the exercises.                                 

It helps to promote good balance and coordination and can be performed without the need for specialist equipment

Alignment:

Make sure you have sufficient space in front of you to perform at least 10 steps.

Stand upright, hands by your side or on hips, feet slightly wider than shoulder width and toes pointing forwards.

Keep the chest lifted, back straight and head looking forwards right the way through the movement

Execution:

Step forward and drop down so that the leading knee is roughly at 90 degrees.

The trailing knee should avoid contact with the floor.

At the bottom of the move push back up and step forwards bringing the trailing leg to the front.

Repeat the movement while travelling forward for 15 times.

 Enjoy it!

Natalia