(Lainey: This comes courtesy of a friend of mine who does not wish to be named.)
I need to know what the best butt lifting/toning exercise is.
*cough*askhayley*cough*
(and preferably not that crazy “just hop on to the treadmill WHILE IT’S MOVING” suggestion…WTF. I like my teeth where they are.)
I just want one move. The BEST one.
The kind that makes your butt tremble when you’re doing it and you feel like someone literally kicked you in the ass the next day.
Pls advise.
Unfortunately I cannot tell you the one best exercise for your butt because I have two favourites and if you do them both you will have the booty you desire in no time.
The first “must do” exercise for your butt is the squat. There is a front squat, a back squat, a split squat, a jumping squat (to name a few) and my favourite of them all would be the front squat. I like this version the best because not only does it target your gluteus maximus (along with many other muscles of the lower body) it will also work your core. When you do a front squat you will need to lighten the weight that you lift to make sure that you do it properly.
1 – Hold a dumbbell, grabbing it at either end above your chest
2 – Place your feet shoulder width apart, making sure both of your feet point forward, and you keep your arches high (don’t allow your ankles to roll in)
3 – Maintain a neutral spine, position your weight behind you and lower your butt down as if you were sitting into a chair. Your heels should NOT lift off of the floor, your knees must stay in line with your second toe (they should not cave towards the midline of your body as you sit back) and if you are doing it correctly your knees will not extend over your toes
4 – Lower your butt down so that there is a 90 degree bend in your knees. In order to do this you MUST activate your core or you will fall backwards (if this is a challenge for you place an exercise ball up against a wall and use it for support). Once you have reached 90 degrees, squeeze your butt and use it to push yourself back up to standing position.
5 – do as many as you can and then keep going!
My second “must do” butt exercise is the step up. You can do these with or without dumbbells in your hands but I like to hold 15 lbs in each hand to ensure that I am fatiguing my glutes to their max. I always choose a step that is high enough so when I place my foot on top of it my knee is bent to 90 degrees or less.
1 – Place 1 foot on top of a box and the other foot on the floor (keeping it positioned close to the box)
2 – Putting most of your body’s weight into the foot that is on the box, slowly step up limiting the amount of push that is coming from the foot that is on the floor. (You should almost be standing straight up)
3 – As you lift your body up you MUST make sure your knee stays inline with your second toe and your knee does not extend past your toes, driving your other knee up as you stand and keeping your hips positioned underneath your shoulders.
4 – Once you have come all the way up, slowly lower yourself down, again ensuring that you are maintaining proper knee and hip alignment, and place your foot back onto the floor.
5 – Just like the squats do as many as you can, do a few more then switch legs.
Also attached - Goldie Hawn leaving the gym.
