Our buttock muscles/pom muscles are made up of several muscles. The musculus gluteus maximus, after our jaw muscles one of the strongest muscles in the body, and the smaller and middle gluteus muscle (musculus glutesus medius and minimus) move our hips and stabilize our pelvis and hips when standing. An important muscle that belongs to the gluteal muscles is the Musculust piriformis, the pear-shaped muscle.
This muscle is often too weak and can lead to piriformis syndrome, which can cause pain in the lower back and thigh. The muscles of our buttocks can be trained well by performing the exact movements that our buttocks muscles are there for. Training for the buttocks therefore includes exercises for stretching the hips and spreading the leg (abduction).
Standing exercises are also important because they imitate the everyday function of our muscles much better than isolated exercises on the gym mat. Nevertheless, these exercises are also good for training certain parts of the buttocks. Exercises for the buttocks while lying down have the advantage that patients with foot, knee or hip complaints do not put any strain on the supporting leg and therefore have no limitation in exercises for the buttocks.
Exercises for the buttocks while lying down 1: From the four-footed position (hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips), hip extension and spreading the leg can be trained. One foot is pushed backwards, the leg stretches, the buttocks are tensed. It is important not to get too much into the hollow back while lying down.
It is also important that the pelvic bones remain at the same level and that the pelvis does not turn up on the side where the leg is stretched. The lower back and the pelvis should remain straight while the leg is led backwards. This exercise should also be performed about 15 times in three sets.
It becomes more difficult if you put a theraband around your foot and hold it with the diagonally opposite hand. This way the foot can be guided against a resistance. You can make circles with the stretched leg, small seesawing up and down movements, you can bend the knee (!
here you quickly get a cramp!). There are many exercise variations. Exercises for the buttocks while lying down 2: Bridging is an effective exercise for the buttocks while lying down.
It is performed in a supine position on the floor or on a mat. The legs are set at a 90° angle and the arms are slightly spread out beside the body. Now the hips are stretched so that thighs and torso form a straight line.
The groins are pushed upwards. The position is held for a few seconds, then the tension is slowly released again, but the buttocks should not be put down completely, but stretched upwards again shortly before touching the floor. The exercise should be repeated about 15 times, then a short pause is made (about 30 sec).
You can do 3-4 sets. Alternatively, you can also hold the tension in the raised position. At the beginning for 20 sec, later you can increase the tension.
Auxiliary means can be used or a leg can be lifted. There are many different variations of this exercise for the buttocks while lying down. It is important that the movement comes mainly from the hip and not from the lower back.
Exercises for the buttocks while lying down 3: For abduction, the leg should not be lifted backwards but sideways. The knee remains bent, the thigh is lifted sideways, here too the pelvis should remain as still as possible. Colloquially, this exercise is also called “peeing dog”, which may illustrate the exercise procedure.
Exercises for the buttocks while lying down 4: Another exercise for the buttocks while lying down is done in the lateral position. The stretched leg lying on top is lifted. Here it is important to first push the heel far down so that the leg lying on top becomes “longer than the leg lying below”, the pelvis is turned in a little so that the upper pelvic bone points slightly towards the ground, the tips of the toes also look slightly towards the ground, the heel initiates the movement.
Now when the leg is lifted, the movement really takes place out of the buttock/butt and thigh muscles and evasion through the abdominal and back muscles is prevented. This exercise can be done quietly with 15-20 repetitions in 3 sets, whereby the clean execution of the exercise has priority over the number of repetitions!Exercises for the buttocks while lying down 5: A variation of the “peeing dog” can also be performed from the lateral position. The legs are angled in the lateral position so that the lower legs are parallel to the mat.
The upper knee is pushed forward so that it looks out over the lower one, now the upper leg is lifted without turning up the pelvis. The exercise does not allow for much movement, but can be felt clearly in the upper thigh and buttock/po. Exercises for the buttocks, thighs and legs in position 1: The lunge is also very effective.
From a standing position, one foot is placed a large step forward and then the back knee is lowered towards the floor. It is important that the back thighs and the upper body form a straight line. Now you can either push yourself up again, then let the knee sink slowly again, or you push yourself back with the leg set forward and place the leg next to the other.
This dynamic variation should only be done once you have mastered the movement safely. The width of the step should be about as large as the span of the outstretched arms. Once you have set the knee forward, you should make sure that it does not bend inwards, but tends to push it slightly outwards to avoid overloading the joint.
The lunge can also be done backwards. Then, from a standing position, one leg is set far back, the upper body is lowered towards the floor and the body is pushed back into the starting position. Then the other leg is set backwards.
Lungeing steps can also be performed in different variations or can be made more difficult by using aids and weights. Exercises for the buttocks, thighs and legs in stance 2: A very good and easy exercise for the buttocks, but also for the thighs is the knee bend. There are many different variations of the knee bend, the basic exercise is always similar.
In the classic variation, the legs are slightly wider than hip-wide, the feet point slightly outwards. The weight is more on the heels than on the forefoot, the back is straight, the belly is tense. Now you lower your bottom backwards as if you were sitting on a stool.
You can lower your bottom as far as the exercise can be performed properly. Usually the back can no longer be kept straight from a certain point on and the lumbar spine becomes round, shortly before you should bring the bottom back up. The movement downwards is done slowly, the stretching upwards quickly.
This variation of the exercise while standing is especially good for the thigh muscles. You can feel it more in the buttocks if you straddle the legs a little further and let the toes point outwards. Knee bends can be performed without, but also with weight or other aids.
You should do about 15-20 repetitions in 3 sets. The break between the sets should last about 30-45sec. A workout for the buttocks should include both standing exercises and exercises lying on the mat.
Training on a treadmill or crosstrainer is also good for training your thighs and buttocks, because here you are always doing hip extension exercises. These endurance machines are particularly good for warming up, the entire thigh and leg muscles are supplied with blood and prepared for the workout. Of course you can also warm up without the equipment for training.
Jumping jacks, jogging on the spot, rope skipping etc. are good exercises that also appeal to the pom musculature. Afterwards the strength training can be connected to the workout for the buttocks.
Exercises on the mat can be supplemented with training on the machine. In many fitness studios there is extra equipment for the buttocks, otherwise you can do different exercises on the rope pull. Here you should be instructed by a trainer or therapist.
Other equipment for the back thigh and bottom are the leg press and the leg bender. To round off the training, the leg stretcher should also be included in the program. This is not responsible for a trained butt, but trains our front thigh muscle, the quadriceps femoris.
After training, a stretching program can lead to an improvement in posture. Due to long periods of sitting, our buttocks muscles are often too weak while our hip muscles are shortened. This should be stretched after the training.Many gyms or clubs and other organizers offer groups for targeted abdominal, leg butt training, usually the structure of these hours is very structured and goes well into the individual muscle groups.
The workout for the buttocks consists of many exercises that are strenuous enough in the beginning without weight. The clean execution of the exercises is important. Only when this is well mastered and no more training progress is achieved by increasing the number of repetitions, is it necessary to use weights, for example, for lunges or knee bends.
If weights are added, start small, the number of repetitions is reduced and slowly increased again, only then the weight is increased during training. Like our buttocks, the abdomen is a fat depot in the body. Where fat is stored is both hormonal and genetic.
Basically, the same applies to training for the abdomen as for the buttocks: training on certain muscles does not necessarily mean that you lose a lot of weight in these areas. A firm butt and a muscular abdomen can also be achieved through training, but the body fat percentage must also be reduced by increasing the basal metabolic rate, i.e. the amount of calories our body consumes at rest, and by consuming fewer calories than we consume. Strength training provides for a muscle buildup and muscles consume energy, so also by strength training the basal metabolic rate increases, we consume more calories.
The training itself of course burns a lot of energy, but also endurance training like jogging, treadmill training, crosser, cycling, swimming, hiking or similar, consume calories. A healthy and balanced diet and sports help to reduce body fat when the calorie balance is negative. The fat deposits in the body are reduced and the bottom becomes crisper, the belly flatter.
However, our fat stores are natural and healthy energy stores and are part of the body to a certain extent. Sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, forearm support are just a few examples from a training for the abdomen. Abdominal exercises 1: The starting position for sit-ups and crunches is the same.
You lie on the floor in the supine position and put your heels up. The lower back is pressed firmly into the floor, during the crunch you should now move up from the top towards the legs, so that the shoulder blades are off the floor, the tension can be felt between the rib arches but also in the lower abdomen, it is important that the cervical spine is not strained, during the exercise the hands should never pull the head, there should be no neck pain. In sit-ups, you come with a straight back up into the seat as opposed to the crunch, where the lower back is still in contact with the floor.
So this exercise for the stomach is a bit more difficult, the stomach must be strong enough to stabilize the spine when coming up so that it does not fall into the bend. This exercise is more noticeable in the lower abdominal muscles. Exercises for the abdomen 2: When lifting the legs, the starting position of the upper body is the same, it is very important that the lower back stays in contact with the floor during the whole exercise!
Now the legs are lifted at an angle of 90° and then almost completely lowered again towards the floor. The legs only serve as levers here, it is important to tense the abdomen so that the back is not pulled into the hollow back. There are other exercise variations from the supine position, such as “Cycling”, which trains more of the oblique abdominal muscles.
Exercises for the abdomen 3: The forearm support is done from the prone position. The elbows are placed under the shoulders, the forearms rest parallel on the mat. In the lighter version, the knees remain on the floor, in the heavier version only the toes are placed on the floor, while the body is pushed up so that the trunk, pelvis and thighs are in a straight line.
The position is held for a certain time, then released again. Here too, a clean execution is essential. There are no limits to the variation of the exercise.
You can shift your weight (from front to back, sideways). You can do the exercise in a lateral position (for the oblique abdominal muscles), by lifting your arms and legs the exercise becomes more difficult and you can train certain individual weaknesses. In many courses abdominal muscle training is part of the workout. The choice of exercises is usually good, but you should make sure that you only go as far as your training condition allows.If the abdominal muscles are no longer able to perform an exercise properly, you should switch to a lighter variation, or take a break to avoid damaging yourself by performing it incorrectly! Further exercises for the abdominal musculature you will find in the article Exercises against abdominal fat
