5 Exercises That Will Bump Up Your Rump

“I like big butts, and I cannot lie!” Both my lady and I can attest to us loving big butts, since we both have them. “Dance! Too much booty in the pants!” Sorry this article might contain a few more famous lyrics on booty’s. Not sorry! All over the fitness world, people try to make up these crazy exercises to grow their glutes more. But I’m here to give you 5 exercises that will trump all of those crazy ones. So let’s talk about the “Booty Booty Booty Rocking everywhere.” Here it is ladies and gentlemen

1.   The Booty Dominator, THE DEADLIFT!

This complex movement is one of the superior lifts that everybody should be doing. It requires all of your muscles to work as one but is considered a hip dominant exercise due to the flexion of the hip. As you reach down to grab the bar, hinging from your hips (aka hip flexion) will activate your glutes and hamstrings. Notice, the shins must be vertical for this to be a deadlift pattern. If not, you make it into a squat variation. Take a deep breath and drive off the floor through your heels. Keep the bar right along your legs as you lift and lock your knees and hips at the same time. 

2.   The Bootinator, HIP EXTENSION

If you look at this movement from the side, it’s technically a progression of a glute bridge. Put your back against a bench and roll the barbell over your hips. Tuck your feet in towards your booty and keep your feet flat on the floor. Drive through your heels and extend your hips all the way up until they line up with your knees and shoulders. 

3.   The Bootiman/Bootiwoman, SINGLE LEG RDL (Romanian Deadlift)

This one is a little tricky. Not only does it require a lot of strength but it also involves a ton of core stability. As you hip hinge, counterbalance yourself by slowly elevating your leg (kind of like a teeter totter). The working leg will be on the ground.

4.   The Bootilistic, KETTLEBELL SWINGS

Here you have the famous kettlebell swing. Most people think this is a squat exercise but it is a hip dominant exercise (aka deadlift pattern). Take a look at the back swing, my hips are flexing more than my knees and my torso is almost parallel to the floor. By doing so, your glutes and hamstrings will be engaged. This will also help to absorb the kettlebell into the hips and propel the kettlebell forward with your glutes. 

5.   The Booty Humbler, 45 DEGREE RAISE

A lot of people tend to do this incorrectly and feel this in their lower back. You are working the extensor muscles in your back but mainly this is a glute exercise. Hip hinge and keep your core tight. Keep going until you feel resistance in your glutes and hamstrings, then squeeze your glutes to go into hip extension. At that point, make sure you are not going into hyperextension in your lower back. If you keep your core tight, that will be prevented. 

Alrighty everyone, I hope you enjoyed this booty rocking article. Now, go out there and kick some butt!

The Difference Between Knee and Hip Dominant Exercise

When it comes to exercise selection, lower body movements can for the most part be split into two different categories: knee dominant or hip dominant. Some exercises can be a little trickier to categorize. No worries, I have an idea that might help.

Look at a lower body exercise from the side; you can see which joint is flexing the most (either the knee or hip). You would choose knee dominant if you are working on quad development. For example: squat, lunges, front squats, etc. You can also check out the angle of your torso versus the angle of your tibia (shin) to tell the difference as well. All of these knee dominant exercises will have your torso more vertical and your tibia more angled. Below are a few videos to help.

Hip dominant (glute dominant) will allow your hip to flex more in the exercise. You would choose this if you are working on glute development. For example: deadlifts, 45 degree raise, Romanian deadlifts, etc. But if you look at your torso and tibia, the torso will be angled more and the tibia will be more vertical. Check out the videos below to understand a little bit more. 

Now, could you make some knee dominant exercises more hip dominant and vice versa? You bet! Examples: lunges, step ups, hip extensions, etc. Always use your hips to angle the torso and keep an eye out on your shin to see if its vertical or not. Take a look at these videos to differentiate.

Normally a split squat is knee dominant. If you notice, Christine, is using the rings to make it more hip dominant by pushing her hips back and make her shine more vertical.

Walking lunges tend to be more knee dominant. As you can see here, angling my torso and keeping the shin more vertical can allow the movement to be more hip dominant. 

I hope this helped. If you are looking for more lower body videos, check out our youtube channel. Now, go get your lower body on! It will thank you. HAHA!