When building a booty, it’s all about creating shape. Of course, we work with what our genetics have given us, but we do have some say in how things go, and that’s through picking specific exercises in our glute training.
There is a science behind booty building. There are professionals in the world that spend time, money, and resources on figuring out the safest and most effective ways to train the glutes. And we are here to reap the benefits. One of my go-to scientists for glute training is Bret Contreras, PhD, aka “The Glute Guy.” Read his books, follow him on Instagram, get educated on the topic of glutes.
Planes of Motion for Booty Building
In the meantime, I am here to help. In my first blog, 4 Exercises to Start Building Your Booty, I walked you through 4 basic exercises to build a foundation of strength and assist in growing a booty. In this article we are going to talk about the 3 anatomical planes of motion the human body moves in: frontal (or coronal), sagittal, and transverse.
Sagittal plane exercises:
Squats, lunges, deadlifts, hip thrusts. Any version of these single leg or staggered stance.
Frontal/Coronal plane exercises:
X band walks, standing cable abduction
Transverse plane exercises:
Seated banded abduction, hip abduction machine, banded lying clamshells, ankle weighted or banded fire hydrants.
Depending on how much time you have to spend I recommend picking one or more exercises from each of these groupings. Always start with your heavy compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and lunges. Compound exercises recruit massive muscular activation throughout your whole body. They also work over several different joints, releasing more hormones and burning more calories. Basically you get more bang for your buck when doing these movements, that’s why I say start with them first and go heavy weight with a moderate to low rep range.
Next we have the frontal plane, this plane is all about hip abduction. There are lots of variations on hip abduction exercises and I’ve mentioned two of my favorite go to ones. Time given I would pair this up with another sagittal plane exercise but single leg/staggered stance. Use cables, machines, or bands and stick to a moderate rep range of 12-15 pushing muscles to near fatigue.
Last but not least is transverse plane. Here is where hip rotation comes into plane. As you become more adept in your body you can get really creative here. If you have time to spare and calories to burn I recommend a hip abduction machine dropset of 3 rounds 15 reps each, dropping the weight between each set. Or grab a loop band and burnout those glutes with some banded clamshells.
I know this is a lot to consider so I’m including a workout and videos to help you get going.
Booty Day Workout:
– 3 sets of 5-8 reps dumbbell squats
– 3 sets of 7 each leg walking lunges
– 3 sets of 10 each direction X band walks
Followed by:
– 3 sets of hip abduction machine drop set (3 weight drops – 3 x 15, 15, 15)
Finisher:
– Clamshell burnout – 3 sets of 20 reps per side
Now that we’ve thoroughly fatigued your legs and glutes, it’s all about rest and repair. Getting at least 7-9 hours of sleep is imperative to recovery, and eating enough calories to help those glutes grow. Don’t starve the booty if you want it to get bigger! But more on that next time.
