Read more about the article Discover the best exercises guaranteed to shape your booty

You have limited time and want results fast. So, here I give you the best exercises guaranteed to shape your booty. 

No more guessing which exercises will give you that tight, lifted, rounded booty.

You do want a sexy butt, right?

Your booty is  the largest set of muscles in your body.  You can’t easily see them (unless you look behind you or in a mirror), but they are there and they have a huge impact on how we look and feel.

Keep reading to see learn more about why the glute (aka booty) muscles are so important and the best exercises guaranteed to shape your booty.

New here?   Thanks for stopping by or welcome back.  After you read this blog, be sure to check out some of my other articles for women over 50 who want to lose body fat, build muscle, create phenomenal bodies they love.

Why you want to shape your booty

Of course, there are asthetic reasons for wanting to shape your booty.

Did you know…

these exercises that are guaranteed to shape your booty may also improve the overall quality of your life?  Sound a bit dramatic?

Maybe, but I’ll let you decide.

By shaping your booty, you are simultaneously creating stong muscles.

And, why do you need a strong booty?

Here are a few of the benefits that come along with your shapely and strong booty:

  • reduction or prevention of pain, such as knee, low back and hamstring
  • better agility
  • ability to move faster 
  • improved posture
  • better athletic performance 
  • less risk of injury

Muscles that make up your booty (ie. glutes)

There are 3 major muscles that make up your booty.  We want the best exercises to shape all 3 of these booty muscles. Gluteus maximus – this is the largest of the glute muscles and the one that gets all the praise or lack there of.  It also assists in standing from a sitting position, and climbing stairs. Gluteus medius – this muscle is important for walking and keeping your pelvis level when you lift one leg off the ground. Gluteus minimus – this is the smallest of the 3 muscles and lies under the gluteus medius. This muscle asssts with moving your leg in toward the body and away from the body. Side note:  All 3 muscles work together so it isn’t necessary (or even always possible) to work one without the other 2.  The key is to do a variety of booty exercises.

Gluteus Maximus

Exercises for gluteus maximus

Gluteus Medius

Best exercises for gluteus medius

How your quality of life improves with strong booty

As I mentioned above, your glute muscles allow you to walk, climb stairs, and rotate legs side to side.  They are also the primary muscle involved when you squat down to pick something up off the floor.

Every day activities that we often take for granted UNTIL, these movements are difficult or painful.

Your glutes also give you power in many sports, such as running, golf (as you swing), soccer.  I honestly can’t think of a sport where strong glutes doesn’t come into play.

So, whether you are:

  • looking for that tight sexy butt that gives you an exrtra boost of confidence
  • wanting to improve your performance in a sport
  • increasing your strength so that you can move with ease and prevent pain in your knees, hips and lower back

having a strong booty will improve the quality of your life.

What are best exercises guaranteed to shape your booty?

1. Glute Bridge

My absolute favorite glute exercise.   For the beginner, no weights, no resistance bands – just your body weight.
  1. Lie on the floor, legs bent with feet directly below the knees.  Lift your butt off the floor, squeezing your butt at the top for a second or two and lowering back to the floor.
  2. That’s 1 rep.
  3. Work up to 15 reps.
best exercises for gluteus maximus

2. Hip Thrust

This is a more advanced glute exercise so, if you’re a beginner you may want to skip this one and come back to it later.

There are ways to improvise (ie. use a sofa), but I’m going to share how to do this using an exercise bench.

1.Squat down next to your exercise bench and with bent knees and feet flat on the floor, lean against/rest your shoulders against the top of the bench. 

2. Stretch arms out straight along top of bench.

3. Push your hips up toward the ceiling so that they become parallel to the floor and create a straight line from shoulder to knees, without moving feet or shoulders.

4. Squeeze your butt at the top and slowly lower back toward the floor.

5. That is 1 rep.

6. Work up to 15 reps.

3. Split Squat

This is the one I love to hate.  Meaning it works great, tests my balance for sure and creates an instant burn in my butt. Now that I have you pumped up to try it (haha)…
  1. Elevate your back foot on a bench or something about knee height (For beginners, skip the elevation and just step your back leg behind you into a lunge position.)

2. If you’re using elevation, it may take a moment to get aligned.  You want the same alignment you’d have in a lunge – knees over toes and NOT out beyond toes.

3. Lower your back knee down toward the floor and then come back to an upright position.

4. That is 1 rep.

5. Work up to 15 reps on one side and switch sides.

6. To increase the difficulty, hold dumbbells at each side.

4. Glute Kickbacks

  1. Kneel on floor on your knees and hands (or elbows).  Personally, I prefer to do these on my elbows.
  2. Lift right foot up toward ceiling.
  3. Squeeze butt at the top and lower.
  4.  That’s 1 rep.
  5. Work your way up to 25 reps on each side.

5. Frog Pump

Start in the same position as the glute bridge.

  1. Lie on the floor, legs bent with feet directly below the knees.
  2. Bring soles of feet together and move feet as close to your butt as possible.
  3. Lift butt up toward ceiling, squeezing butt at the top and lower.
  4. That’s 1 rep.
  5. Work up to 15 reps.

6. Side Lying Hip Abduction

You may know this as a side leg lift.

  1. Lie on your right side with legs stacked.
  2. Bottom leg can be slightly bent to help with balance.
  3. Lift top leg, squeezing butt at you lift and then lower.
  4. That’s 1 rep.
  5. Work up to 25 reps on each side.
  6. As a variation, you can hold your leg up and do small pulses.

7. Lying Clam

  1. Lie on your right side with hips, knees and ankle stacked on top of each other and bent at 90 °.
  2. Keep feet together and lift your left knee up and back down (opening like a clam).
  3. That is 1 rep.
  4. Complete 15 reps (work up to 30 reps) and then switch sides.
  5. For extra resistance, add a resistance band around your thighs or hold a dumbbell on the top of your left thigh as you lift.

8. Single Leg Glute Bridge

Start as you would for the glute bridge.

  1. Lie on the floor, legs bent with feet directly below the knees. 
  2. Lift your right leg straight up toward the ceiling.
  3. Pressing off your left foot, lift your butt off the floor, squeezing you butt at the top for a second or two and lowering back to the floor.
  4. That is 1 rep.
  5. Complete 15 reps and switch sides.

9. Single Leg Deadlift

Beginners, start with no weights. The most difficult part of this one may be balance.  Find a spot on the floor and focus on it.
  1. Start in an upright position, hands by your sides.
  2. As you lean forward, raise one leg straight behind you.  Arms drop in front of body to mid-shin level.
  3. Come back to standing. Squeeze your butt.
  4. That’s 1 rep.
  5. Complete 10 reps and switch sides.

How to realize full benefit of best booty exercises

You want to see RESULTS for all your hard booty work.  Here are some critical tips to keep in mind:
  1. Focus on the muscle you are working – your butt.  Can you feel the muscle working?
  2. Wake-up your glute muscles before you “start” your booty workout.  The glute bridge with body weight only is a great way to “wake-up” your glutes and prepare them for a workout.
  3. Squeeze your butt at the top of every move.  You can even hold the position as you squeeze for a couple of seconds.
  4. Always focus on perfect form over quantity.
  5. When you’re ready, use weights or resistance bands to push your muscles to work harder and therefore, grow.

How to eliminate cellulite on your strong booty?

This is one of the most common questions women ask about their booty. There are no concrete answers to this question as research continues. However, by building your glute muscles with exercises recommended above, the appearance of cellulite lessens. Excess body fat makes cellulite more noticeable, so losing body fat can minimize the appearance of cellulite. Sidenote:  Most women have some amount of cellulite on hips and/or thighs.  An inactive lifestyle can increase your chances of having cellulite.  Even thin women may have cellulite.

Pulling it all together with Exercises Guaranteed to Shape your Booty

If you’re new to strength training or specifically glute training, pick 3 or 4 exercises to start with.  My favorites to get started are:

  1. Glute bridge – #1
  2. Glute kickbacks – #4
  3. Side lying hip abduction – #6 
  4. Lying clam – #7
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