So, how to get from flat as a pancake to something a bit more bootylicious?
Fortunately, the glutes are a large muscle group so there's a good base to work from. Whatever else I'm doing, I will always do one good lower body strength session a week. If time allows, I'll also do a shorter plyo session - glutes respond very well to explosive training.
The mainstays of my strength set are squats. With regard to squatting form, I keep hearing people say not to go beyond parallel. Nonsense! I personally like to go all the way down, A2G! It makes sense to me to do so simply because I can - I have good flexibility in my hips. If you can, do.
I like back, hack, sumo and goblet squats. Front squats are the devil as far as I'm concerned ... but I do them anyway. I refuse to pad the barbell and it's never easy to get comfy with a big metal rod resting on your collar bones. The trick is to get your elbows as high as you can so your hands come into the most supportive position possible but I don't find it easy.
I also do barbell lunges and side lunges with a kettlebell (I think lateral movement with a barbell is asking for big trouble!)
Deadlifts are another big favourite. Great for your bum and hamstrings and there is just something deeply satisfying about bending over and hefting large amounts of weight. It's one of the most functional things you can do (because goodness knows, lots of weight training bears little resemblance to what we actually do and how we need to move in real life). I'm not a noisy lifter in general but if anything's going to get a grunt out of me, it's going heavy on my DL!
My plyometric sessions are some of the hardest workouts I do. Certainly I'm far more likely to cross the puke threshhold during one of these sessions than I am at any other time. I do burpees, jumping squats, straight leg squat thrusts and tuck jumps. It hurts but you do feel ace once you've done it ... and you know it's at least a week before you have to do it again!
I have to be honest and say that my lower body is never going to be perfect or even close. Genetics have dictated how things will be and all I can do is work with what I've got to make it the best I can. I'm not there yet ... but things are looking a little more shapely so I am at least moving in the right direction :)
Hi Hippolyta! In the US, guys would find the above picture quite attractive! No sign whatsoever of sag in the forecast.
ReplyDeleteYour post did a great overview of glute exercises done in weightlifting. Very nice! I often get the feeling from fitness magazines that the woman covering the weightlifting exercise doesn't actually use them in real life. In contrast, your post has very useful tips based upon your experience.
Because of my tricky knee that does not tolerate heavy weights, I use yoga for glute exercises. I have a very round butt for a white woman, even my black gal friends tell me so. I mostly use about 20 minutes a week of several balancing poses and the bridge pose for glutes. When I make a post about it, I'll link to yours for the glute weightlifting information.
I'm also working on a seemingly endless post analysis about all the factors for how much a woman should be able to lift, and the relative strength of women to a men. I keep thinking of more factors, and have concluded that we will never know all the factors. So I don't know when I'll ever get that post done. I've sure been lolly"gagging" on some of my drafts.
:-) Marion
Hi Marion. The bridge pose is certainly a good one for your posterior :)
ReplyDeleteEndless posts happen to the best of us! I often find myself cutting things short (yeah, I know!) in the interests of just getting something done. I just promise myself I'll revisit it at a later date ... and then write about something else entirely instead ;)