Friday, December 12, 2014

It's All About That Bass (Bring Booty Back!)

While none of us want to end up with too much "junk in the trunk" especially while we're attempting to fit into our holiday finest, a lot of folks aren't really sure what they can do to maintain a toned deriere and firm toned legs.  Well, if you want to bring booty back, then keep reading to find out the BEST tips for building that killer tusche and rock hard thighs.

FIRST
Stop doing squats like you've probably been taught to do them. Usually, the instructions you hear are something like this. "Ok, get comfortable, feet about shoulder width apart toes forward." Which, is a commonly taught and "ok" type of squat to do. It has a couple of drawbacks, namely:

1. It really works your quads the more than anything else, so no booty for you.
2. Most people don't track out properly over your toes and it puts pressure on the knees.

Understand, these are good for what they do. They will build your quads, but if you want a better squat that builds your booty, then make this simple adjustment.
Goblet Squat

SECOND
The simple adjustment is to turn your feet out to somewhere between 11 and 1 and 10 and 2. This adjustment does a several things for you.

  1. It really activates the inside of your thighs (the adductors and the gracilis muscles) much more. No worries, you're still getting plenty of work on your quadriceps group as well, but that's not the primary thing anymore.
    Note: The first time you do squats like this, go LIGHT, you won't believe how much you've never felt your gracilis muscles before. Trust me on this.
  2. This squat works your butt in a MAJOR way. It's going to really fire those glutes - all of the glutes (max, min and med).
  3. It protects your knees. Specifically, it saves strain on your Vastus Medalus, (the muscle that runs on the inside of your knee) and the tendons to the inside as well.

THIRD
Now you know the adjustment to make and the benefit, your question might be, what exercise(s) can I do?  The answer? Many.

  1. Bodyweight squat. You don't need weights, and if you're doing this squat correctly when you do it the first week, I'd actually recommend doing body weight only.
  2. The Goblet Squat (see image). This one is my personal favorite. It's GREAT beause just by holding the weight properly, you automatically keep yourself centered. You hold the weight close (it's not a big bar) so you don't need to be worried about being pulled off balance - even when you start to get the weight up there. Best chance to do your best and not get injured, which is critical.
  3. Back Squats. Unless you're a body builder I tend to recommend against back squats. Especially if you're working out alone and/or in a home gym there are just lots of opportunities to get hurt. Additionally, even when done in proper form, they really load your lower back, so the potential to injure that in addition to other things that might happen don't seem to be worth it to me.

FOURTH
There you have the answers! If it's all about the base and you want to bring booty back - it's the right squats done in good form. Now go get them so you can rock that holiday outfit!

Shalom,
Phillip

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