Within the world of bodybuilding and fitness competitors, building a great butt is important and has become the focus of many females, especially bikini competitors. Well, they’re not the only ones who want or need to build a great butt – everyone should put some focus into this body part. I’m not going to tell you to try and build a Kim Kardashian butt because that’s a little much.

I don’t know if she bought it or not, but I don’t believe in one body part dominating your whole body. Keep it balanced!

As a society, we sit a LOT. On average, Canadian adults spend 3/4 of their waking hours sitting – that’s 75% of our day! From sitting to eat meals, driving, working at a desk, and relaxing on the couch, we’re crushing our glutes, making some lazy asses.

Why does this matter? Having strong glutes pays off in a number of ways:

• Increases your power and force when sprinting, jumping, squatting, climbing, and lateral (side to side) movements
• Protects you from knee, hip, and low back injury by properly tracking the femur and increasing stability in your hips and lower back (for safer movement)
• Improves your posture
• Fills out those jeans, dresses, and leggings with a great shape!

The glutes are made up of wo groups of muscles. The main group includes the big players – glute minimus, medius, and maximus. The second group is made up of smaller muscles which are found deeper. To create a great round, full, healthy butt, hit all those big muscles effectively.

Using a variety of exercises will help ensure you hit each muscle to build the best butt possible.

I train my glutes twice a week – once in a focused, heavy lifting session, and another complimentary day using higher reps (but still heavy weight). Some of the exercises I swear by for a complete leg & butt workout are:

• Hip thrusts (bridges) – using a barbell or the laying hamstring machine
• Squats – focus on pushing through your heels and squeezing your glutes
• Weighted step ups
• Cable kickbacks – slow and controlled small movements, no momentum needed!
• Lunges – especially backward stepping with the front foot elevated

Be sure to train everything in your lower body equally – hamstrings, quads, glutes, and calves – for balance.

Do NOT fear heavy weight with these exercises – relying just on your body weight won’t give you the results you’re looking for. You move your body around all day long, so using just your body weight when training isn’t putting any extra stress on the muscle… how will you build any strength by doing the same thing you essentially do all day long??

Here’s a favorite leg day routine of mine. I always alternate reps and sets based on how I feel that day and how the exercises feel. Without fail, I leave the gym on leg day a sweaty, exhausted mess.

Always start with a lighter weight and progress your way up heavier as you build strength and perfect technique. Seriously – don’t fear the weights! The only way to build muscle is to put it under stress and break it down. If you can easily complete 12 reps with solid technique, it’s time to up that weight.  Get that shape and lift that butt!

What’s your favorite exercise to target your booty?