The one thing that sets us apart from our primate ancestors is our butt muscles.

As, in the words of an anatomy expert and physician in New York City, Stephanie P.Marango, M.D. “That ability to be bipedal is a huge deal, and it’s this muscle that is really doing a major component of that.” She is referring to our gluten Maximus, which is the largest and probably the heaviest muscle out of all.

But, ironically, this largest muscle is also the one that is hugely ignored when it comes to exercising. On a daily basis, we move our bodies a lot. Either it’s walking, or jogging, or just a simple act of crouching, our entire body muscles are getting engaged one or the other. Some muscles are involved to a maximum degree while others are worked on less.

However, the only muscles that are not enough engaged in all these activities are our butt muscles. This is the reason why this area of our body is more prone to fat gain. So how exactly can you keep them in shape and sculpt them perfectly? Let’s dig deeper into the details in this article.

If you want  bigger toned glutes then you will have to follow a proper workout and diet routine. Many people think that only a workout will do the trick, but that is not true at all. We repeat, not at all! When you work on your glutes, these muscles, like any other muscles of your body, start breaking down. They get into a recovery phase right after the exercise session. During this phase, you will have to incorporate the right type of foods in your diet to ensure that your butts recover in the direction you want them to be, that is sculpted and perfectly bigger.

Walking Tones Your Glutes

Walking is known as one of the all-rounder exercises because it works on multiple muscles at a time. It is a good way to reduce calories and fats. But, if you think that you can get a nice and rounded bottom just by walking, then that is sadly not the case.

It may have some impact on your glute muscles, but a regular walk is not enough to target your deeper hips muscles. The walk might keep your hips muscles enough activated that you can easily go by performing daily chores. But, it does not tear down those massive muscles and shape them.

For that, you must modify your walk routine and add some tweaks that can really fire up the hidden deep muscles of the hips. One such tweak is adding a glute workout to your walk routine. You can add strengthening exercises to your routine that we have explained above.

You can also go for interval training like sprints, bursts of jogging, faster walking bursts, and other height intensity drills. Although, it is suggested that before you opt for any of these exercises, you see your fitness level. Each of these exercises is according to a specific fitness level.

Foods That Help Grow Your Glutes

Our glutes are made of muscles as well as a thick fat layer. Some people naturally have a lot of fat deposits on their hips that make their bums big. While some people have a lesser amount of fat, which gives them a flat-bottom look.

When you go on a diet plan for a firm and round bum, you must check to see if you need fat and muscle gains or you need to tone down the fat layer and shape up the deeper muscles. A protein-rich food is typically responsible for increasing lean muscle gains, while food with high calories accumulates fat. So if you think that you don’t have enough fat on your butts, then start consuming high-calorie food, but in moderation. And combine the diet plan with a butt workout. And if you have enough fat on your glutes, you only need to shape up your muscles. For that, you may want to cut back on high-calorie food and limit yourself to food rich in protein only.

Foods You Should Eat for Bigger Glutes:

• Flax seeds are rich in protein, omega 3 fatty acids, minerals, and B vitamins. Adding them to your diet will help you tone up your tush muscles, resultantly you will get round and firm booty.
• Eggs are also a good source of protein along with vitamin B12, and other minerals. They will not only enhance the size of your glutes but will also boost your energy.
• For an instant post-workout energy boost, protein shakes are best. They are also quite effective if you drink them before your workout. They serve as a good diet snack and give you a tremendous amount of protein and other essential nutrients. You can blend all kinds of fruits or veggies, depending upon your body’s requirements and your taste.
• Milk has been found to rev up the process of muscles and strength building right after your workout. It also enhances fat loss. So if you already have bigger bums and you need to tone them to a firm and rounder shape, milk should be in your diet.
• Other foods that are highly rich in protein are cottage cheese, oats, greek yogurt, almonds, broccoli, lean beef, tuna, salmon, and many more.

Home Glute Workouts

As we discussed above, there are two phases of any fitness regime. The workout session and the diet intake afterward. We have talked about how diet affects your glutes toning, let’s now look at different types of exercises that you can do at home to get bigger butts. Because, when we talk about getting bigger butts naturally, a set of few exercises and a good diet plan are typically the key components. So without further ado, let’s plunge in!

Jump squats

Jumping squats belong to the family of plyometric exercises that are designed for increasing muscle power and shaping them with forceful exertion. This workout works on your entire hip muscles, quads, calves, and hamstrings. Their wide reach to the legs makes them a useful drill that can be incorporated into a variety of workout regimes, such as legs workout, lower body workouts, etc.

Steps Involved:

1. Stand straight, keeping your feet slightly wider than the width of your shoulders.
2. Keep your arms at your sides.
3. Come into a squat position by lowering your body to knee level. As you do so, bring your arms in front of you and bring your palms together.
4. Now from the squat position, directly push yourself up, at least 3 inches above the ground while extending your arms backward.
5. Then come back into the squat position and repeat.
6. Do at least 10-15 reps, and 3 sets.

Single-leg Deadlift

This exercise is best to activate your glute muscles as these muscles get immediately fired up because of the balance required to stand on one leg. Additionally, this exercise also works hamstrings and deeper hip muscles like abductors and flexors.

Steps Involved:

1. Start by holding the dumbbells in both hands, and standing in an upright position.
2. Now, start shifting your weight to the right leg slowly and keep the right knee slightly bent.
3. Keep your core muscles engaged
4. Now, begin lifting your left leg back while lowering your torso in front of you. Let the weights drop down as you go lower and keep your arms straight once you come in the final position.
5. The final position is achieved by lifting your left leg backward until it becomes almost parallel to the ground and your back and torso are aligned with the leg.
6. Your right let will remain planted.
7. Bring your left leg back to the ground.
8. Do at least 15 reps and 3 sets.

Glute Bridge

Glute bridge is the perfect workout if you aim to work on your glutes along with the entire lower body area. It works on your glutes, legs, core, and entire back.

Steps Involved:

1. Lie on the floor with your back straight and knees bent. Plant your feet on the floor and keep your arms on the ground on either side.
2. Now lift your hips from the floor, while keeping your core, glutes, and abdominals engaged. Your shoulders, upper body, and knees, everything should be align.
3. Stay in the bridge position for a few seconds, and then come back to the floor.
4. Repeat 15 times and complete 3 sets.

Equipment for Glute Workouts

There are many tools and equipment out there that help in training and toning your glutes. As you can see in the video, Nina Cherie, a health and wellness expert, explains different types of tools that you can get to work on your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and all the other inner and outer thigh muscles.

According to Nina Cherie, the best equipment for toning all these muscles are those which are used in resistance training. These tools are dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, ankle weights, rubber tubing, and exercise balls.

You can watch the video above to see what exercises you can perform with these tools, as Nina has explained it quite well. 

Hip Bands

The one tool that is also resistance training equipment, and not mentioned in the video above, is a hip circle.

This tool stands out among the other ones because of many reasons. It does not only work effectively on your hip mobility and flexibility, but it is also portable. The other tools like dumbbells or kettlebells are heavier, hence they are pretty difficult to carry around.

However, the hip resistance band is lighter which means you can carry it anywhere you want. Be it the park you go to for a walk, or a gym, take it anywhere you want and start working out!

As we have mentioned previously, it is not easy to target the deeper hip muscles with conventional hip workouts. There are some exercises you can perform to activate those muscles, they still won’t give the same results.

This is where the role of circle resistance bands comes into play. This tool is simply a resistant band that is worn around the thighs, a bit above the knees. It puts pressure on the muscles of your lower body and creates added resistance.

Hip Resistance Bands Are Good for Your Hips

When it comes to squats, there is no other exercise that gives the same result as this one. The main reason for its effectiveness is that it puts an immense amount of load on your lower body muscles as well as upper abdominals.

Now imagine, your glutes muscles are already under maximum resistance during squat, and you add more resistance with the help of a hip resistance band. The level of resistance multiplies and becomes manifold. Your lower body muscles, and especially hips muscles, have to perform a lot of work against the resistance, which ultimately results in amazing strength and muscle gains.

So, in short, yes these booty bands are good for your hips!

Recommended Hip Circle Exercises

Although you can use the hip circle in many exercises, here are some top hip band exercises that are highly effective if performed alone. But, combined with the hip resistance band, they take the fitness challenge to the next level.

The Hip Circle Walk

The hip circle walk is performed by walking back and forth wearing the hip resistance band. Ideally, walking 40 yards forward and 40 yards backward should do the job. Watch the video above to learn how to do the hip circle walk. 

The Hip Circle Sidewalk

This is an extension of the hip circle walk exercise. In this exercise, you stand with your back straight and start walking to your side. Again, the distance that you should ideally cover is 40 yards. Repeat it on the other side. Remember to keep your toes pointing forward in both types of walks.

Squats

Nothing beats squats when it comes to hip toning. All you have to do is get into the squat position and make sure that you are forcing your knees out to activate hip muscles. After doing three to four squats, hold the squat position for a few seconds before resuming the drill. This will fire up the hip and hamstring muscles like crazy.

Watch the video above, by Jessi Burdick, a Fitness Coach, to see how to do all the above three exercises correctly. 

Glutes Kickbacks

To perform glutes kickback, you have to come to a tabletop position first. Then, push one of the legs back and up towards the ceiling then bring it back. Repeat the movement continuously.

In the video below, you can see how to do glutes kickback, but remember to wear a hip resistance band first before starting this exercise.

Side Leg Lifts

This one is fairly easy. You have to stand straight with the band above your knees. Lift one leg to your side, as high as you comfortably can. Bring the leg back to the ground, and repeat. Switch sides do reps on the other leg.

Takeaway

You can work your hips muscles and glutes with a set of moderate exercises by combining it with a good diet plant. The protein-rich diet can help you tone the deep hip muscles while a fat-rich diet adds mass to your bottom. To lift and tone your muscles, a fat-rich diet is good. For reducing the excess fat on your hips, a protein diet is a solution for you.

To get better results, combine a hip workout with high interval training and get the fabulous and tone bottom in only a few weeks.

The post Sculpt and Tone Your Hips & Glutes to Perfection Faster appeared first on Docotal.