Working your legs but not seeing results in your glutes? Maybe you are wasting time doing these 3 moves!
The 3 WORST Glute Exercises
(and the moves you should actually be doing!)
WORST GLUTE EXERCISE #1: SQUATS
Right now you’re probably getting very mad at me and thinking, SHE’S SO WRONG!
Everyone says squats are the key to toning and strengthening your glutes. There are even social media accounts dedicated to squatting for a better butt.
Well guess what!?!
SQUATS AREN’T A GREAT EXERCISE FOR YOUR GLUTES!
Squats are a great leg exercise. A great compound exercise.
But NOT a great exercise if you want to focus on your glutes.
Because they don’t isolate your glutes or activate your glutes near the same percentage as more hip extension or hip hyperextension exercises.
All that squatting you are doing may be great for burning fat and building the muscle in your legs, but it may be doing NOTHING FOR YOUR GLUTES!
And all of those women with nice butts you see squatting? Well they’ve probably been doing their glute activation exercises when they aren’t shooting fitness photos!
WORST GLUTE EXERCISE #2: LUNGES
Lunges like Squats are a great leg exercise, but they don’t isolate the glutes and people can often get away without even really using their glutes at all.
Our glutes are sleeping giants and often won’t activate if we don’t force them to. And Lunges don’t force them to!
Plus, all too often people lunge with form that emphasizes their quads and not their glutes.
I know you may now be thinking, well what about lunge variations like the Reverse Lunge that supposedly focus on the glutes more than the Front Lunge.
Even if you use the Reverse Lunge, which does focus more on the glutes than other lunge variations, you still aren’t getting as much bang for your buck as you could with isolated glute activation exercises.
Like the Squat, the Lunge isn’t a bad exercise, it just is one of the WORST Glute Exercises if you really want to focus on activating, strengthening and toning those glutes!
WORST GLUTE EXERCISE #3: STEP UPS
If you want a way to cheat your glutes out of working, keep doing Step Ups. Because when you push off the foot on the floor, that is exactly what you’re doing…keeping your glutes from working.
Step Ups in theory are good. But most of us don’t do them honestly enough to really force the glute to have to activate and work hard. It is very hard to not use that other foot to push up off the ground.
And while using a higher box can engage the glutes more, you still run into the problem that most people like to rock forward or use their other leg to push up. Both of which don’t allow the glutes to engage.
If you want to do a box exercise that will actually work your glutes, try the Step Down instead. This hip hinge exercise will force your glutes to work and won’t allow you to press off the foot on the ground!
So What Exercises Should You Be Doing To Get Results?
You want to do moves that isolate and activate your glutes!
If you want to strengthen and tone your glutes, you need to pick moves that allow you to really contract and engage that muscle group without any other muscles taking over.
And most people can contract their glutes HARDER during bodyweight glute activation exercises than they can when using heavy weights during their Squats and even Deadlifts. That means you can activate more muscle fibers during bodyweight glute activation moves than during heavy Squats!
Also, including bridging exercises in your glute workouts is extremely important. Bridging moves stretch your hips and work on hip extension while also activating your glutes. This is super important for anyone with a desk job who wants to get their glutes activated!
Basically you want to do isolated movements that open up your hips while putting your glutes under maximum tension!
Below are 3 Keys To Glute Activation that your workout program must include if you want results!
The 3 Keys To Glute Activation!
Focus On Isolating The Glutes
The reason Squats, Lunges and Step Ups are some of the WORST glute exercises is because they don’t isolate the glutes and force them to work.
Because of our modern lifestyle, our glutes often don’t naturally want to engage and are often inactive and underused.
That is why it is ESSENTIAL to do exercises that isolate them to get them activated and working.
These bodyweight, or lightly loaded, exercises target the glutes the best and allow you to contract your glutes harder to get better results!
Work Your Glutes From Every Angle
There are three glute muscles – the maximus, medius and minimus. To work all three muscles, you’ve got to work your glutes through all three planes of motion.
You want to work your glutes from every angle to get all three muscles firing and really get your glutes pumped and activated.
If you want truly strong, toned glutes, you can’t simply move in one plane of motion. You’ve got to rotate, move forward, backward and even laterally.
You get the fastest and best results when your workouts include movements that work the glutes from every angle!
Focus On Creating A "Pump"
A great glute activation workout should get your glutes pumped. You should feel that they’ve been working.
Our glutes are a hard muscle to get working and that “pump” is a sign that we’ve not only got them activated but put them under enough tension to create results.
That “pump” isn’t the same thing as soreness. Soreness doesn’t mean results.
But that activated, burning, pumped feeling right after you’ve done the activation exercises does mean your glutes were under tension and forced to work.
That is why it is important to focus on your glutes working during the exercises and even pause to hold movements to put your glutes under constant tension. Adjusting rest times and even the numbers of reps and sets can also help put your glutes under constant tension to create results!
Try My 28 Days Of Booty Burner Workouts!
I’ve combined the 3 keys above with the best glute activation exercises to create 28 days of Booty Burner Workouts.
These workouts are all about 10 minutes long and can be done anywhere.
They are workouts specifically designed to “burnout” your glutes to create fast results. They will help you get your glutes activated, stronger and more toned in just 28 days.
They are my go-to glute workouts no matter where I am!
Join my Booty Burner Program below and get results in 28 days, I guarantee it! 🙂
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