Muscles appear to droop as you get older because you begin to lose muscle around the age of 30. This decline in muscle ratio leads to appearance of flabby muscles and loose butt and thighs, not a pleasant sight for any women. Well, who wouldn’t like the appearance of a toned fabulous butt.
The constant pressure of sitting or driving for long period of time over the years can make your butt muscles shrink, which leaves nothing to hold up surrounding fatty tissues. Poor lifting habits, such as bending forward at the waist, also reduce butt muscle activity. Butt-lifting exercises can help reduce low back pain by providing more postural stabilization.
Acquiring that sought after shape and strength, requires resistance training. Look at all the Hollywood actresses that have hired personal trainers to push them through rigorous weight training sessions to acquire the butt and abs that produce that knockout physique.
Improving your posture will be a good start at walking those muscles up, while the following exercises will strength them, thus lifting and firming the buttocks.
- Deep Plies: Stand tall with your feet about 45 cm (18 inches) apart your legs turned out from the hips. Keeping your back straight, drop your tailbone down towards the floor, bending your knees but without taking your heels off the floor. Squeeze your thighs together to straighten, pulling up the muscles in your buttocks and the back of your thighs. Keep on squeezing so hard that you rise up on your toes. Come down, in one slow, smooth movement and bend the knees into another deep plies. Repeat the whole sequence 4 times in all.
- Barbell Deadlifts: Position the barbell in a squat rack about two or three inches above the level of your knees. Stand with your feet directly under the bar and your thighs touching the bar. Grasp the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and your palms facing opposite directions. Stand straight up to lift the bar off of the support pegs, using your legs not your lower back. Step backward about 12 inches and suck your navel toward your spine. Keep your back flat as you stick your buttocks out behind you and lower the barbell toward your ankles. Your knees should be slightly bent as you lower the bar until you feel a stretch at the back of your thighs. Contract your gluteal and hamstring muscles to pull the barbell back up, returning your body to an upright position. Push your pelvis forward slightly once you are completely upright. Repeat this exercise for one set of 10 repetitions. Gradually increase the weight you are lifting, ensuring that it is heavy enough you can only complete six to 12 repetitions per set for six sets of deadlifts.
Tips for Safety Squatting
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Lunge: Bend your knees until your right knee forms a 90-degree angle Hold this position for a count of five then push back with your right leg and return to start position Do 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps on each side. If you have knee injuries, please take extra care.
- Butt-Lifts: On hands and knees, keep the abs tight as you lift one leg up, knee at a 90-degree angle throughout the movement. Keep lifting the leg until the bottom of the foot faces the ceiling and the hip, thigh and knee are all in alignment and parallel to the floor. Don’t arch the back and keep the neck straight. Lower back down and repeat for all reps before switching sides. Add ankle weights for more intensity or, as in this example, hold a light dumbbell behind the knee. Perform 1 to 3 sets of 10 to 16 reps.
- Locust: The locust pose is a yoga exercise that also targets the lower back and abs. To start, lie face down on the floor with your legs together, arms at your sides and palms facing up. Steadily lift your upper body, arms and legs from the floor at the same time until you are balancing on your lower stomach and pelvis. Squeeze your glutes forcefully and hold for 30 to 45 seconds.
NOTE: Do the following lower body exercises three to four times per week, in addition to consistent cardio and a healthy diet, surely you will see results in just a few weeks.
Incorporating dumbbell and barbell leg exercises is an effective way to lift your butt and tighten the back of your thighs.