When you, as a woman, want to work on tight, round buttocks, there is a chance that you will fall for the temptation called Bodypump or running. If you are very active on social media, you may be familiar with the image that is often used to promote the ’30 day squat challenge’. To get a nice set of buttocks, you need to squat every day, you may tell others. Unfortunately, none of this will give you the optimal training stimulus you need.
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More is needed for developing a good set of buttocks. The right relative intensity, variation in buttocks exercises and repetitions, and focus on where it is needed will give you the nice butt that you will show off on the beach next summer. Excluding nutrition and rest, this is what you need to know about training for tight, round buttocks! Take it from this personal trainer.
Table of Contents
Train with the right resistance
The so-called ‘bodyweight’ exercises are not sufficient to give your buttocks a good training stimulus. The fact that the ’30 day squat challenge’ is very popular does not mean that it is very effective. Using the same resistance every day (only your own body weight) results in too little load and provides such a low intensity that you will notice little results.
Your buttock muscles consist of a slightly larger percentage of slow twitch muscle fibers than fast twitch fibers. This means that they are best trained with a higher number of repetitions or ‘time under tension’. However, to train them optimally, you need a mix of both heavy exercises performed with few repetitions and exercises done with lighter weight and many reps. There are exercises that are better suited for doing few repetitions, among other things because of the other muscles involved in the exercise. To summarize briefly, you can distinguish between 3 groups of exercises: few repetitions, medium number of repetitions, and many repetitions.
Examples of typical exercises done with few repetitions (up to 8 reps):
- Front Squat
- Deadlift
- Glute ham raise
- Good morning
Exercises performed with between 8-12 reps:
- Squat
- Pull through
- Hip Thrust
- Glute bridge
Ideal exercises for > 12 reps:
- Fire Hydrant
- Side lying hip raise
- Glute kickback
Exercises for your buttocks, lots of variation
In addition to variation in weight and number of repetitions performed, you should also train your buttocks with different exercises. Your buttock muscles are optimally trained when you use both bilateral exercises in your training program and unilateral exercises (exercises performed with both legs at the same time = bilateral, an exercise performed on one leg is called unilateral).
By doing split squats, for example, in addition to squats, you will quickly discover your ‘weak’ spots and be able to make progress in them. If you find it more difficult to engage your buttock muscles during a single-leg deadlift, then you know that it may take time and energy to strengthen one of your buttocks.
Performing exercises on one leg will require more from your ‘core’ and (thus) from your buttocks. For many of the exercises performed on both legs, there is a variant that you can do with one leg. By opting for unilateral exercises, you will quickly see that you used to compensate by using one leg more than the other. With the single-leg variant, you will probably feel the difference immediately, and you will bring your buttocks more into balance.
Difference in ‘load’ on the body
The angle at which you stress your buttocks is an important factor to consider in your exercise choice. When you want to give your buttock muscles a complete training stimulus, incorporate this in various ways into your program. As an example, here are 2 exercises that stress your buttock muscles at a different angle:
A squat, as seen in the attached photo/video, puts pressure on the upper part of the body, also called longitudinal.
Although not the best exercise for training the gluteus maximus, it is good to include it in your training schedule.
In a typical hip extension movement like the pull through, the weight comes on the front of the body. Here, the buttock muscles are maximally engaged to provide the force to push the hips forward (extension).
Both exercises stress your body in a completely different way, and it is important to use a variety of ways in each training session in which the weight used exerts resistance on your buttock muscles. If you do not train your buttocks with exercises that use both a frontal, sagittal, and transverse load, then you are missing the boat!
Periodization
There is no such thing as the best training schedule. That does not mean that there is no optimal way of training; it only suggests that a schedule cannot be used infinitely. A schedule can at most be optimal at this moment, because after a few weeks your body adapts to the stimuli used and you will need something new.
Many women often train for months in the same way ‘because it just feels good’. Unfortunately, a training that feels good is as good as worthless. Training is different from moving and is meant to take you out of your comfort zone.
The right intention
During the execution of each movement, you should focus 100% on your buttocks, and not simply move the weight. The ‘mind-muscle connection’ is the intention you put into the trained muscle. Feel the buttocks working and in many cases you should squeeze them together as if you want to bend a penny (Yes, I am getting old…).
A beautiful saying goes: ‘What you pay attention to grows’. This certainly applies to your buttocks as well. By training them with your full attention, you will give them a better training stimulus. However, it does not stop with your workouts alone. Butt muscles are rather lazy in many people, and this is mainly caused by our sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary existence means that the buttock muscles do not need to be very active, so it is valuable if you wake them up regularly. Unfortunately, you cannot achieve this with a Zumba class at the gym, but you can do it right in your office chair. Tighten one buttock while sitting, and feel how you push yourself up. Do this 10 times and switch legs. Also, remember to regularly stretch your hip flexors as shown in this picture:
To develop the right training schedule for beautiful, big buttocks, you need some knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Of course, a good diet is indispensable. They don’t say ‘Burn the fat, feed the muscle’ for nothing.
