Although you may not notice it while you are working out, the butt is actually made up of three different muscles. These muscles help you to rotate and extend your leg out behind you as well as lift your thigh out to the side. Because the butt is made up of more than just one muscle, it requires a variety of methods and techniques to help increase its size, leverage and shape.
Free weights or barbells
Protein-rich foods such as eggs, beans, legumes and lean red meat
Stability ball
For optimal results, eat a variety of nuts, complex carbohydrates like brown rice, veggies, fruits and healthy fats such as peanut butter. A healthy diet will resupply your body with the calories and nutrition it needs to build muscle.
To prevent injury, do not perform butt-strengthening exercises every day. Your muscles need recovery time in order to grow and develop.
Warm up your body by performing a light cardiovascular exercise for about 15 minutes, such as walking or jogging in place. This prepares your body for exercise, increases the flow of blood to your muscles and lessens your chances of injury.
Perform body-weight exercises that specifically target the muscles of your butt two times a week. For example, do a lunge by stepping back with your left leg. Lift your heel up from the floor and bend your knees until your right thigh is parallel to the ground. Return to the starting position and repeat for 11 more repetitions. Switch legs and continue. Aim for a total of two sets of 12 repetitions on each leg.
Do at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise, five days a week. Perform exercises that utilize and strengthen the muscles of the butt such as walking uphill or climbing up stairs. Cardiovascular exercises such as these not only help burn fat, they tone the muscles in the butt, giving them a more pronounced and uplifted appearance.
Use a stability ball to target and isolate the muscles in your butt. Try a kickback exercise by laying on elbows and knees. Lift your left leg and position a stability ball between your thigh and calf. Lift your foot toward the ceiling and pulse for 15 repetitions. Switch legs and repeat.
Add weights to your strength-training workouts to help increase the size of your gluteal muscles. For example, do squats or lunges while holding dumbbells or a barbell. Using weights challenges the muscles in your butt and forces them to work harder than normal.
Eat protein-rich foods such as eggs, beans, legumes and lean red meat to rebuild and retain the muscles in your butt. Bodybuilding.com recommends consuming approximately 1 to 2 grams of protein for every pound of body weight.
Things You'll Need
Tips
Warnings
References
- Bodybuilding.com: Bodybuilding Tips for Babyboomers
- Good Housekeeping: 30 Days to a Better Butt
- Strength Training Anatomy, Second Edition": Frederic Delavier
- Go Ask Alice!: Booty Enhancing Exercises
- Cooking Light: Get Stronger with Protein-Rich Foods
- MayoClinic.com: Aerobic Exercise: How to Warm Up and Cool Down
Writer Bio
Rose Erickson has been a professional writer since 2010. She specializes in fitness, parenting, beauty, health, nutrition and saving money, and writes for several online publications including The Krazy Coupon Lady. She is also a novelist and a mother of three.