This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Canada, which closed in 2021.

Exercises to Give You "That Butt"

Every woman seems to have a goal in mind for their backside. Standing and engaging your postural muscles has a waist-slimming effect. The added benefit to this, better spine alignment and all the health benefits of increased neural and blood flow. But who cares about the health benefits, people are going to be asking your trainer for "That Butt," and pointing at you.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
Woman wearing fitness clothing measuring her buttocks for a fitness and weight loss concept
Getty Images
Woman wearing fitness clothing measuring her buttocks for a fitness and weight loss concept

As a male in the fitness industry I am not sure how I feel when a new female client comes to me and says "I want a butt like..." and you can fill in the blank.

Every woman seems to have a goal in mind for their backside, and it usually has something to do with lifting and toning. I frankly find it strange that girls check each other out so much and get mad at boys for doing the same. I guess it boils down to the values of the situation. In any case, our attention seems to be caught by the same factors. Toned and lifted.

The two secrets that get missed when talking about assets to remember are locked away in the anatomy of the whole situation.

How do we actually defy gravity? The answer is in the posture. Keep in mind, a gravity-defying chest has the same principals as a gravity-defying booty, it's all in how you present it.

As we age, sit at a desk, stop engaging our core to watch TV, or become inactive, our posture muscles are the first things to give up and go home. If you want your booty to pop like J.Lo from her fly girl days, you have to engage your core, and focus on your posture. When you stand and bring your pelvis to neutral, something magical happens. Your muscles align (glutes included), and just like the stars on a perfect night, the view can be breathtaking. Standing and engaging your postural muscles has a waist-slimming effect, making the definition in your glutes even more pronounced. You will also tighten those glute muscles, making them stand at attention instead of dropping into no man's land. The added benefit to this, better spine alignment and all the health benefits of increased neural and blood flow. But who cares about the health benefits, people are going to be asking your trainer for "That Butt," and pointing at you.

Humans are very focused creatures. We want a more defined derrière, so we do workouts to focus in on them. Now, of course you should be doing specific glute work, especially if you are a runner. But if you want to really get noticed, add in hamstring work. Creating a larger belly of the hamstring is what sets apart "backsides" and "please walk past me again so I can look at your backside." From a definition standpoint and sculpting the perfect body, hamstrings add depth and curves to the back of your body. To fit your jeans perfectly and add contours to your body, make sure you define your hamstrings. Again, not that anyone cares, but healthy hamstrings can prevent knee injuries in rec athletes who play tennis, basketball, and run regularly. The added strength will also help add balance to your pelvic alignment and work to balance your pelvis against the forward pull of over developed quads. That's going to help reduce low back pain at L4, L5 and sacrum. But again, who cares about back pain reduction? You're going to be turning heads with the way you look in those skinny jeans.

All kidding aside. Your low back health, and performance in many sports will be greatly improved when you take the time to plan to add these simple movements in to your daily routine. Practice posture when you stand, increase the strength of your hamstrings, and start enjoying the fruits of your labour.

If you walked in to see me in Winnipeg, here's a sample workout from One Fit City.

5 min on the treadmill to warm up

5 min on an incline running, more back of the leg activation

Circuit 1- 3 x 12

Functional Squat

Hamstring on Medicine Ball

Lift and Kicks

Circuit 2 - 3 x 12

Sumo Squat

Glute/Ham Raises

Squat Jumps

5 rounds of Kickboxing on the Nexersys

Core Stability x 3

Situp x 15

Plank x 45 seconds

Leg Lift x 15

Side Plank x 30 seconds

Take time to stretch and cool down, and go on with your day happy you got time in to workout some stress and tone your glutes.

Stand At The Bar

25 Ways To Move More

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Canada. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.