Do a quick Google search on the best butt workout. Actually, don’t do it. Stay here and read this first. I will tell you what you will find instead.
In the google results you will found thousands of website showing the best booty exercises out there. Some of probably pretty effective and some are just funny looking. You can go through all of them and maybe see some results. But these websites are missing an incredibly important ingredient in the recipe for the perfect backside.
First, we have to see if your glutes (butt muscles) can actually do what they are suppose to do. In my experience, most people can’t even use their glutes effectively, so trying all of these great exercises will lead to minimal or even no results. Some might actually leave you will some nice back pain.
With many of the clients we see, there is a big mobility problem with their hips. Due to sitting most of the day many have very tight hip flexors and quad muscles. When these muscles are tight they make it very hard for your to fulling extend your hips. This is one of the big jobs of the glutes. If you can’t fully extend your hips, your glutes can function the right way and you will probably use different muscles instead, like your lower back extensors.
How can you be sure? At the studio we use things like the Functional Movement Screen, in particular the Active Straight Leg Raise or the Thomas test to determine if this might be an issue with a client.
At home you can try a few things out to see as well. For example, try a bridge exercise. Lie on your back with your knees bent and lift your hips as high as you can. You should see a straight line from your knee, hips, and shoulder. This would be full hip extension.
But even if you can do this you may be cheating by extending your back. To see if this is the case you can try a single leg bridge. It is the same exercise, but you will hug one knee to your chest. Hold that leg in you will bridge up and see if you can still get that straight line. Repeat on the other side.
Many clients we work with have an issue here. So when we are asked what are some of our favorite butt toning exercises, it is hard to answer. I’m not sure what you should be doing until we check these out.
If you do have an issue with this we can work on it with 3 steps. Don’t expect results over night, but if you are consistent with these you will start to see much better results.
Step #1 – Rolling Or Soft Tissue Work
If there is a restriction we need to work on the front side of the hip. Foam rolling is a great way to attack this. Yes it can be uncomfortable and even painful sometimes, but it is totally worth it.
Start with some light rolling of the front of the thigh and hip flexors to start creating a little better movement in the hips. Spend about 2 minutes per area.
Step #2 – Stretching The Hip
Rolling is a great start, but it will only get you so far. Rolling opens the window of opportunity for better movement. Now you have to take advantage of it. Once you rolled a few minutes, you want to start stretching.
Most hip flexor stretches work great here. The main concern is you are really stretching your hip and not just arching your back. Try the stretch below, but make sure you tuck your hips under in the back, so you keep your lower back in a good position.
When you drive your hips forward into the stretch you shouldn’t have to move very much before you feel it. If you can get more than just a few degrees you probably are using more of your back, so drop back and reset.
Step #3 – Retrain The Movement
Now that your hip is moving better your glutes have a chance to do what they are suppose to. The problem is, since you were so tight and not fulling using your glutes, your brain isn’t quite sure how to do the movements properly.
So while you might want to jump right in and google more butt exercises, you need to remember that you have to retrain them. Otherwise you will still use the same compensations you used in the past to create the movement.
A great place to start with this is assisting the movement. If we go back to our single leg bridge, you can use a band to help lift yourself into that end range. If you were locked up with tight hips and using your back you will really struggle to hit the end range. So give yourself a little help getting there. After a few sessions with assistance you can remove the band and perform it on your own.
Yes I know this seems like a lot of work and it is. But, taking the proper steps to strengthen your hips will go along way. Not only will you like what you see in the mirror but your back will be thanking you for TLC.
Mike Deibler MS, CSCS, SGX
San Diego Premier Training
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