Your Best Butt - Working the Glutes, Hips and Thighs - About.com

Your Best Butt - Working the Glutes, Hips and Thighs

 

By Paige Waehner, About.com Guide

Updated March 26, 2010

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

 Working Your Butt 

The lower body is made up of a variety of muscles, including the largest or the gluteus maximus. The gluteus maximus is the most visible gluteal muscle, but there are two smaller muscles underneath it: the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. The glutes are responsible for hip movements, such as extension, rotation and abduction (moving the thigh away from the body). It's also heavily involved in that dance many of us have tried - shaking your booty.

Below the glutes and on the back of the thighs are the hamstrings, which include three different muscles: The biceps femoris, the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus. The hamstrings work to bring the heel toward the butt (knee flexion) and to move the leg backward (hip extensions).

The quadriceps make up the front of the thighs and include the rectus femoris, which is a larger muscle in the middle of the thigh, and the vastus lateralis, intermedius and medialis, which lie under the rectus femoris. These powerful muscles are involved in a variety of activities (walking, running, jumping, squatting, etc.) and work to extend the knee as well as flex the hip.

Why Should You Work Your Butt, Hips and Thighs?

The lower body includes some of the largest muscles in the body, muscles that are involved in almost every movement we make, from standing and walking to running and squatting. Working these muscles means you'll not only build strength and lean-muscle tissue, but you'll also burn more calories. Strong legs will also make daily activities easier and help protect you from injury.

How Often Should You Train Your Lower Body?

Like all muscles in your body, you can perform lower-body exercises up to three nonconsecutive days a week. If you're lifting heavy weights (enough that you can only complete six to eight repetitions), you'll need two or more days of rest before you perform the exercise again. For this reason, you might only work your lower body once or twice a week. If your goal is endurance and strength, stick with 1 to 3 sets of 12 to 16 repetitions and at least one day of rest before you perform the exercises again.

What Exercises Should You Do?

The most common exercises for the butt, hips and thighs are squats, lunges and deadlifts. Try to include a variety of exercises that target all the lower-body muscles for a well-rounded routine. These lower-body exercises offer a variety of options for working your butt, hips and thighs.

Your butt. You look at it, study it, poke it and even yell at it. You lament the effects of gravity, the donut you ate yesterday (the one that apparently bypassed every part of your body in favor of your butt) and even your parents for so thoughtfully passing on such a blubbery body part. There are some things, though, you can do to target your backside.

The Best Cardio for Your Butt

• Walking

Walking activates your glutes and hamstrings, particularly as you walk up an incline (mountain, hill or treadmill). The plan: If you're on a treadmill, shake things up by increasing your incline periodically throughout your workout (i.e., increase your incline 1% every minute for five minutes, then reduce your incline in the same manner, repeating six or more times). If outdoors, find a long, medium-grade hill in your neighborhood and walk up it as fast as you can, then slowly walk back down and repeat 5 to 10 times. Add this type of workout to your weekly routine to burn more calories and work your butt and legs.

• Sprints/Intervals

Have you ever noticed that sprinters have great butts? That's because sprinting is a powerful activity that requires incredible strength. You don't have to train like an Olympian to get a great butt, but you can introduce sprinting (also called "fartlek training") into your routine. The plan: On your next walk/run, choose an object in the distance and sprint to it as fast as you can. Slow to a walk until you're fully recovered and repeat about 5 to 6 times or try this interval workout.

• Cycling

Riding a bike is an incredible exercise for your hips, thighs and glutes, whether you ride outside or indoors at a spin class or on a stationary bike. The plan: On your next cycling workout, pay attention to your technique; get your glutes involved by leading with your heel when you push down on the pedals. On the upswing, pull up on the pedal (if you've got foot straps) to make sure you're using every part of your legs during your workout. Isolations are another option: Increase your resistance, lift your butt off the seat and slowly pedal using ONLY your legs (your body shouldn't move or bounce).

• Other Ideas

Other great cardio exercises that target your fanny include kickboxing and stair climbing. In kickboxing, all those kicks (side, roundhouse, back and fronts kicks) will target your butt, quadriceps and hamstrings. They will also help you with your balance and flexibility. Using the Stairmaster or Step Mill will also make maximum use of the glutes, hamstrings and quads.While cardio is great for involving the legs, to really see results, you'll need some strength-training exercises. For ideas, check out these examples of exercises for the butt, hips and thighs.



http://exercise.about.com/cs/butthipsthighs/a/bestbodybutt.htm