Hi friends!  If you’re like 90% + of women out there, you want a nice, round, perky butt!  Believe it or not, the glutes (butt) are one of the hardest muscle groups to work, and one of the top body areas both men and women want to change in their physiques!  Most of us have either a.) alot of fat in the butt area or b.) have really underdeveloped glute muscles leading to a pancake or flat butt!  When I first started training several years ago, my booty was really lacking muscle development, and was one of my weakest body parts on stage.  I’ve spent the last few years training glutes at least twice a week, and they have improved SO much thanks to alot of repetitions of these exercises below.  Here are my favorite exercises to train my glutes that will help you build that booty just in time for summer!

1.) SQUATS!! Bottom line (Ha! Pun definitely intended!) this movement is the KEY to really developing that round, booty shelf look that comes with a great butt!   There are SO many types of squats!!  Mix these up every time you train legs– plie squats (feet wide toes out, using either a dumbbell or body weight– these will target your inner thighs more), jump squats, hack squats, front squats, sissy squats, Bulgarian split squats, pistol squats, air squats, bosu ball squats, heavy barbell squats at the squat rack or on the Smith Machine, and high rep lighter weight squats too!  The great thing about squats is that there are so many variations with equipment, foot placement, intensity, etc., that you can incorporate several versions of them into every leg workout.  Here’s a great link to a bodybuilding.com article on different versions of squats.

Squat Variations from Bodybuilding.com

2.) Leg Press-  Leg Press, ooohhhhhh Leg Press.  I have a love hate relationship with this machine.  It literally kicks your ass.  And hams, and quads, and can get your heart pumping SUPER fast when you go really heavy with it.  It’s one of the oldest machines around, and looks really intimidating, but it’s not.  Most gyms have both a plate loading version and a pin weight version.  Personally, I prefer the plate loading type.  Foot placement can really change which muscles are doing the work in the movement.  If your feet are higher on the platform, you’ll feel it more in your upper hamstrings and glutes.  Wider feet will incorporate more inner thigh, narrow feet more outer thigh, and lower feet more quads.  Easy, right?  Try moving your feet around next time you’re on the Leg Press.  Be CAREFUL not to lock your knees out when you’re pushing the sled back up–you can break a knee that way dude!!

3.) Glute Kickbacks- These are AWESOME.  Personally, I love to do high volume repetition sets of these at the end of a workout as a finisher.  They’ll give you a great pump!  You can do them on either the glute kickback machine, or on a cable with an ankle band.  If you go the cable route, be sure to keep the weight low enough to keep good form.

4.) Lunges!!! I’ve done a bazillion of these over the years.  They’re not easy, but I’m convinced that next to squats, they are the building blocks of a great ass!  Like with squats, there are so many variations of these that you can really change it up.  Some of my favorites– weighted walking lunges with a barbell or dumbbells, uphill lunges (outside on a hill or ramp), lunge jumps, split lunges with foot on a bench and dumbells, curtsy lunges, and reverse lunges.  Change it up and do a few different versions in your next workout!   A tabata (HIIT session–try the tabata timer app; 20 seconds all out effort, 10 seconds rest for 8 rounds) of lunge jumps and squat jumps will definitely work your legs!  Try it as a finisher!

5.) Glute bridges.  You can do these with our without weight, banded, etc.  I prefer them with a barbell and a squeeze/hold at the top.  You’re gonna feel the burn for sure!

I hope that these exercises and ideas encourage you to experiment more with your typical workout routines.  Remember that muscles take YEARS to develop.  If you keep working hard, and you eat a clean diet consistently, you WILL see results!

I’m always here to answer questions, help, and encourage you, so feel free to email me at meredithlynchfitness@gmail.com, or DM me.

Till next time!

-Mere