Blast Your Glutes With This At-Home Workout
Everyone wants nice glutes – even men! This incredible workout that Lisa Reed sent over will definitely help you blast calories all while building up your glutes – aka your behind! Give this at-home, DIY workout a try, and let us know how it goes!
5 exercises to get your booty REEDiculously fit
Girls just want to have buns, but many of us sit down all day at work, which actually deactivates our glutes and creates more tension in the front of our hips.
Not to worry! Performing specific glute activation exercises before your workout will allow the glutes to fire first to help you get gorgeous glutes!
As you work your glutes, you can’t forget about the hamstrings. Both the glutes and the hamstrings are powerful hip extensors. Therefore, healthier hamstrings mean better activation of your glutes.
When you perform a glute focused workout, you want to incorporate exercises with the knee fixed and the knee extended.
With this LRF Gorgeous Glutes workout, you’ll be looking bootylicious in no time!
Equipment needed: Barbell or Body bar, Dumbbell, tennis ball
Here’s a full breakdown of the exercises below:
Warm-up Exercises:
Cooks Single Leg Glute Hip Bridge
Holding your knee up to your chest will allow you to take the lower back out of the movement which will isolate your glutes and hamstrings. You will not be able to lift your hips up as high with this variation.
With Cooks Glute Hip Bridge and the tennis ball, you can relax your psoas muscle, in turn allowing your glutes and hamstrings to contract.
Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Place a tennis ball on your ribs and bring your left knee up to your chest to hold the tennis ball in place.
The focus of your right foot should be on the heel, with your toes raised. While keeping the tennis ball tight against the ribs, extend the hip. Perform 2 sets of 12 repetitions on each leg.
Single-Leg Squat and Touch
This is a great exercise to work your glutes in a functional way by isolating each glute individually.
Stand on your left foot with a dumbbell in your right hand. Flex the hip back as if you were sitting, as your torso stays upright. Touch the right dumbbell to the left foot. Perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions on each leg.
Now that your glutes are warm, let’s work them out!
Squat Jumps
Squats are the number one exercise for burning fat, increasing lean muscle, shaping your glutes, and improving your mobility, balance, and strength.
Adding in the jump/power element to the traditional squat will improve total body strength as they fire up your nervous system to allow hip extension of your hamstrings and glutes.
Begin with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart and flex your hips back (when performing bodyweight squats: swing your arms back as your hips go back into a squat). Immediately shift to hip extension and explode up. (for bodyweight version: arms swing forward as you extend hips to jump).
With a soft landing on toes then heels to repeat jump for the desired number of reps before resting. For the advanced, add a dumbbell in each hand. Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
Split Squat
This is also a great, simple exercise for developing single-leg strength. It is excellent for your glutes and hamstrings and allows for flexibility in your hip flexors, allowing your glutes to adapt more efficiently.
The LRF method (slightly different than the above video) of performing the split squats focuses on the front leg glute muscles, and the back leg should feel a slight hip flexor stretch, but should not be taking the load. The specialization and unilateral position force one glute to work more than the other.
Because of the balance factor (which also stimulates your abs), split squats are amazing for shaping, defining, and conditioning your glutes!
Find a step that is 4 inches off the ground and place the ball of your right foot on the 4-inch step placed behind you. The left leg should be placed several steps in front of the right foot as if you were performing a lunge.
At the descent, bend from your hips, and bend your knee and ankle as you lower your body until your front thigh is parallel to the floor. Your right foot should be supported on its toes (ball of the foot) with your right leg slightly bent and your torso at a forward lean over your left leg.
Once your front thigh is parallel to the floor, push upward (but still leaning forward from the hips) until your left knee is almost extended.
You can use a barbell or hold a dumbbell in each hand to maximize your glute strength & shape. Perform 3 sets of 12 repetitions per leg.
Single-Leg Romanian Dead Lift (S.L. RDL) with Snatch Grip (use the Body Bar or a Barbell)
In addition to working your glutes, the S.L.RDL works your hamstrings and enhances balance, working your proprioception muscles of the feet, calves, lower back, hip adductors, and abs!
The S.L.RDL will also improve your hamstring flexibility and strength, and work your hip rotators to help prevent injury. The S.L.RDL does not require you to add high loads of weight. Proper form is crucial, so make sure you watch the video!
This exercise is one of my favorites that works the glute to hamstring insertion (the bottom part of your bum!).
Place your hands in the snatch grip position with arms straight (as wide as you can hold onto the bar with your pinky fingers still on the bar). Your chest should be slightly over the bar, but you should still be in the neutral spine position. Lift your left leg off the floor, standing on only the right foot.
With a slight knee bend, shift your hips back as you slowly lean forward at your waist.
You will feel the tension in your hamstrings. The goal is to have the bar as close to your body as possible and without losing neutral spine position. Perform 3 sets of 8 repetitions on each leg.
Wrap-Up
Get those glutes in shape & you’ll never have to look behind you again!
- 7 Expert Nutrition and Health Tips to Get Re-Energized - September 1, 2015
- The Best Glute Exercises at Home - June 5, 2015
