Hip Thrusts for a Perfect Bum
Every woman secretly wants a perfect bum, even if they don’t admit it. But few will know the power of the weighted hip thrust, or even a body weight hip thrust, to achieving a bottom that’s more peach than pancake.
The problem with low calorie diets and too much cardio exercise is that valuable muscle gets burned up with the fat. When women say they want to get ‘toned’, what they need is to have low enough body fat to be able to see the muscle definition, and of course have muscle there in the first place. If you don’t have enough muscle, you won’t look toned however slim you are.
And you won’t have a pert bottom without developing your gluteal muscles.
The best exercise for developing the glutes? The Hip Thrust!
So what’s all this about weighted hip thrusts for a perfect bum? Lets take a look.
Benefits of Hip Thrusts
The benefits of hip thrusts extend beyond having a nice round butt. Strong glutes will have a knock-on effect in all your workouts (yes even cardio such as running). You’ll be able to do more/better/heavier squats, planks, lunges and many other exercises, so your whole body will benefit.
If you enjoy running or cycling and take part in races or fun runs, your speed and performance will improve with powerful glutes to propel you forward.
You are much less likely to get injured if your legs, back and hips are supported by strong glute muscles, and it will prevent you from overusing some muscles to compensate for weak glutes.
Watch this video for a demonstration
Hip Thrust vs Glute Bridge
Many people get these two exercises muddled up but they are slightly different.
Quite simply in a glute bridge you are lying on the floor as if you were about to do a sit up, but instead of raising your torso, you raise your hips. Both exercises are excellent for glute development and getting a round, firm bottom.
How to do a basic Weighted Hip Thrust?
Start sitting in front of a bench, shoulder height box or glute thruster machine.
Rest your shoulders and arms on it behind you, and bring your knees (and feet) in to about 90 degrees, keeping feel flat on the floor.
Brace your core, squeeze your buttocks, and lift your bottom up until there is a straight line running down your torso from chest to knees.
Lower and repeat as per your chosen workout plan.
Make it harder with progressions
Once you’ve mastered the basic hip thrust you may want to start adding weight or resistance in the form of a barbell or resistance band.
When using a barbell, rest it across your hips at the point that it bends. You might want to place a piece of foam or cushion underneath to prevent bruising your hip bones.
Sundried do a great resistance band here which you can get for 50% off with code TFMF
An alternative that’s do-able at home is to use a resistance band. Stretch the band over your hips and tie the ends to something heavy and stable on the floor (like dumbbells). This will provide some resistance as you move your hips upwards.
Or if you don’t own either, just do more reps using body weight until it feels too hard to do any more.
So though you might be reading this while still encased in thick winter clothes, don’t leave it until bikini season to start doing this simple exercise. Whether it’s a 300lbs barbell or your own body weight, everyone benefits from having strong glutes.
And you’ll be pretty pleased with how your bum looks too!