Three Awesome (and FREE!)Butt-lifting Exercises
Butt-lifts are all the rage right now, but why pay for surgery and down-time, when a little bit of work in the gym can give you true and lasting results and a body to be proud of? There is no down time, and it’s great for your quality of life. Here are three effective exercises to lift your butt for free!
Doing exercises on one leg adds a new dimension of balance, firing more stabilizer muscles and making you work harder to execute each rep, increasing calorie burn and a more complete muscle toning.
If you’ve been hitting the gym for a while and want to step it up a notch, try these variations:
One-Legged Deadlifts – Equipment Needed: two dumbbells, or one barbell
Choose a weight slightly less than you would use for a traditional deadlift. Stand as though you are about to do a two legged dead-lift, soften your knees and hinge forward at the hip. As you hinge at the hip, allow one leg to float up behind you, keeping your hips square and abs tight. Only go as far as your flexibility allows. On the drop, focus on sending your hips back rather than just folding in half. Maintain a neutral spine, and allow your upper body to follow naturally. On the lift, actively squeeze your glutes and hamstrings forward to press your upper body straight, rather than just standing up. Repeat on the other leg.
One-Legged Hip-Raises – Equipment needed: barbell or heavy dumbbell
Lay on a mat or floor as though you are going to do sit ups. Place your heels in line with your hips, and bring them in close to your glutes. Set a dumbbell or bar on your pelvic bone, padding it with a towel as needed. Raise one leg off the floor and straighten it away from you, keeping your knees together. Press down through the heel of the supporting leg, raising your hips off the floor until your body is straight, then squeeze the glute and hamstring at the top for two counts, slowly lower your hips, keeping your abs engaged. Slightly touch the floor with your hips and press back up. Repeat on the other side.
Bulgarian Split Squats – Equipment needed: two dumbbells, and either a chair, bench or box
Stand in front of the bench, box or chair. Step one foot back as though you are going into a lunge, but place your foot carefully on the bench, maintaining balance. Squat down on the supporting leg to pick up the dumbbells. Keep your center of gravity over your hips, torso erect; do not lean forward or back. Sink your hips down until your back knee comes close to the floor and press back up, keeping your spine in neutral alignment and abs tight. Keep your weight distributed about 70-80% in the heel of the front leg and allow the back leg to provide only 20-30% supplemental balance.
Complete 3 sets of 15 reps each exercise. Be sure to work the same weight and reps on both sides of your body!
If you have any questions regarding any of these exercises, call us at (661) 942-5000.
Grace Bergan, Personal Trainer
Performance Chiropractic
1055 West Columbia Way, Suite 106
Lancaster, CA 93534
(661) 942-5000
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