Sculpt A Better Bottom Today With These Exercises

We’re always complaining about how backsides, but how much are we really doing to improve them? Nowhere near enough. Almost every time you’re standing on your feet, you’re working your glutes and hamstrings, but most people spend too much time sitting down to really see any sort of benefit from this easy and necessary action. Your glutes are the most powerful and largest muscle group in the body, as well as being responsible for burning calories and boosting your metabolism, so it’s a shame that so many people aren’t putting them to good use. If you neglect them for too long, your bum becomes slack and difficult to tone up.  There are loads of ways to tone up this area of your body and with some easy move too; here are some of the best ways to tone up and really see results soon.

Facedown Hip External Rotation

This move may look easy but it’s actually one of the most challenging and effective moves for targeting your external hip muscles which have a major impact on your glutes. You begin by lying facedown on the floor with your arms folded under your head and your legs extended straight behind you. Bend your right leg, knee pointed out, and place your foot on the back of your left knee. Keep both of your hips on the floor and contract your right bum cheek and lift your right knee a few inches off the floor, without raising your hip. Pause and then return slowly to the starting position. Complete 10 to 12 reps on each side.

Dumbbell Straight-Leg Deadlift

Focus on your form here and this will be your new BFF when it comes to glute-boosting workouts. Grab a pair of five to eight-pound dumbbells and hold them in front of your thighs keeping your feet hip-width apart. Bend at your hips to lower your torso until it’s almost parallel to the floor, keeping your weights close to your body. Return to standing and keep the weights close to your body at all times. This is one rep – complete 10 to 12 of these.

Dumbbell Bent-Knee Deadlift

This is a real challenge for your glutes, so try increasing the weight when you’ve practiced this for a while so as to boost your metabolism. Begin with a pair of 10 to 15-pound dumbbells on the floor in front of you. Squat, keeping your chest up, and grab the dumbbells with an overhand grip. Your arms should be straight and your lower back slightly arched, but not rounded. Tighten your glutes and stand up with the dumbbells, straightening your legs and thrusting your hips forward, whilst pulling your torso back and up. Slowly lower the dumbbells to the floor. That’s one rep – complete 10 to 12 reps for a set.

Sideways Band Shuffle

This is great for toning up your saddlebags, by enlisting your smaller glute muscles and tightening them up. Place a resistance band loop around your ankles and stand with your feet hip-width apart, keeping your hands on your hips. Step your left foot to the left and place as much tension on the band as possible, then bring your right leg to the left. Do all reps to the left, then repeat on your right side.

 

Single Leg Hip Extension

Lie face up with your arms to your sides and your right knee bent, with your left leg straight and raised a few inches off the floor. Lift your left until it’s in line with your right thigh and push your hips upwards, forming a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Pause and lower to your starting position. Do all reps then switch legs.

Categories: dumbbells, exercise, feet hip, fitness, floor, glutes, hip width, left, pound dumbbells, rep complete, starting position, weights close

Tone That Tushie with Our Butt-Sculpting Workout!

You’ve got crunches for your abs, tricep and bicep curls for your arms, but what about your butt? A flabby bum isn’t good for anyone’s sense of wellbeing, but how do you get your butt wellness – yes, that’s a thing – into shape? Luckily, we’ve recruited fitness expert and certified personal trainer Nicole Nichols, who has designed an equipment-free workout to help you use your own body weight to target and tone your butt from every angle in just a few minutes per day. Try to limit how much you rest between exercises and do the full circuit at least once, but up to three more times.

 

1. Donkey Kicks: Nichols instructs, ‘Begin on hands and knees, wrists directly under shoulders, arms straight but not locked, knees directly under hips, and spine neutral. Engage your abs by pulling your belly button toward the spine (but without moving your back). Keeping hips level with one another, and both knees bent at 90 degrees, lift your left thigh up until parallel to the floor (or as close to parallel as you can), ankle flexed and foot flat and parallel to the ceiling (pictured). Slowly return to starting position without resting knee down. Repeat on same leg for one full minute. Switch sides.’ Make sure you keep your hips level with one another and your weight is as balanced as possible in both arms. Also, don’t let your back arch or round at all.

 

2. Single-Leg Bridges: ‘Begin lying on your back with feet flat, knees and ankles hip-distance apart, knees bent, back straight and arms lengthened at your sides,’ Nichols states. ‘Extend right leg as straight as possible toward the ceiling, keeping thigh in line with your hip. Squeeze the muscles in the back of the legs and butt to lift hips off the ground while keeping right leg extended toward ceiling (pictured). Slowly return to the start position, keeping right leg lengthened. Repeat on same leg for one full minute. Switch sides.’ Remember to activate your glutes in order to keep both hips as level as possible, pull your abs in tight to protect your back, and use your foot, shoulder blades and arms – not your head or neck – for support.

 

3. Reverse Lunges: For this one, you can hold onto a wall or chair for balance. Nichols details, ‘Begin standing with feet hip-width apart, toes pointing forward, back straight and arms extended in front of shoulders (or on hips). Relax shoulders away from the ears. Engage the core, pulling belly button toward the spine. Starting on right leg, take a large step back to create a wide stance between the feet, making sure both feet still point directly forward. Slowly bend both knees, working toward a 90-degree bend, lowering the body toward the floor (pictured). Straighten legs and step forward to starting position to complete one rep.  Repeat on same leg for one full minute. Switch sides.’

 

4. Sumo Squat: Nichols comments, ‘Begin standing with legs and toes turned out from the hips, feet in a wide stance (wider than hips), back straight and hands on hips. Keeping back straight, bend both knees (making sure they’re pointing in same direction as the toes) and squat down, aiming for thighs to be parallel to the floor (pictured). Straighten legs to complete one rep. Repeat for one full minute.’ With this move, don’t bend at your hips but from your knees, and keep your back upright and straight. In order to achieve a wide-leg squat and full range of motion, you need to take your feet as wide as you can.

Categories: belly button, floor pictured, glutes, hips level, minute switch, pictured slowly, reverse lunges, starting position, straighten legs, switch sides, toning, wide stance

How to Tighten up Your Glutes With These Simple Exercises

Have you been concentrating hard on your weight and fitness, but still found that you have somewhat of a large rear end? You may have started working out just to improve your wellness and wellbeing, but after putting in the hard graft down at the gym you probably want to see some serious results in your physique, and that includes reducing the size of your glutes.

 

Many people – women in particular – store weight on their glutes, and want to find a way to reduce the size of their bottom’s whilst also making them perkier and more toned. Gluteal muscles are also important as they help to reduce the stress that is placed on your knees.

 

If a toned backside is your aim, there are a few simple manoeuvres that you can incorporate into your workout, to help target this specific area.

 

Start with a wide squat. Push off from the ball of your right foot and then squeeze and contract your whole leg and bottom region. Hold this for around four second, then repeat it again on the other side.

 

Next, try a glute squeeze. For this very simple move, you need to stand with your legs shoulder width apart and simply squeeze both of your glutes in together at the same time, and hold this for four seconds. You can even do this move when you are waiting in a queue at the bank or the supermarket – just try not to make a strange face at the same time!

 

Next, incorporate a hamstring curl into your workout. To do this, you can stand next to a chair or the wall, and rest one hand on it to support you if you need it. Lift your foot towards your bottom to curl your hamstring. Hold it for four seconds and then repeat the move again on the other side.

Categories: bottom, glutes, hold, nbsp, simple, squeeze, toned