I like big butts and I can not lie. I also can not deny the fact that the media has done a great job of bringing this backyard body part way in front of the line. Forget about everything else, all we wanna do is grow this derrière until it’s bootylicious!
-There is science in growing your butt-
Little that we may know, growing your booty is actually pure science- biology-to be exact and it’s not as hard as we think. A mixture of training your muscles (butt and legs to be exact), feeding your body the proper nutrients it needs to grow the muscle, and rest to let the magic happen- is actually all you need. So, for all those times we mentally shut off during bio class…why couldn’t we learn about this instead ?!
The Muscles You Need For That Butt
Muscle is under your control. Fat, on the other hand, is a totally out of control freak of nightmare that grows everywhere at once. Weight lifting trains your specific muscle groups to grow. Can we control the curvy nature of our body? To an extent YES! The butt can grow larger with muscle and be more curvaceous. By weight lifting and adding muscle mass over our bone structure , we CAN tone and curve our silhouette.
The lower body (hips, butt and legs) are covered by 4 main muscle groups that you can train to grow.
- Glutes ( butt muscles )
- Quads (front of your thighs aka The Thunder)
- Hamstrings (the back of your thighs)
- Calves (between your knees and ankles)
To tone and grow your butt, mainly you must focus on the top 3. Working calves is important for toning legs and shouldn’t be skipped, but it doesn’t directly result in booty growth. And for the sake of lower body strength GAINZ, you should also remember to focus on lower back to power you through your leg routine and prevent any injuries. Below image will help you locate the muscles on your body (if you didn’t already know).
How Strength Training Makes Your Booty Grow
Great that you have located your muscles, now let’s talk about how lifting heavy makes muscles grow. Lifting heavy weights causes micro tears in the fibre of your muscle which need consecutive repair. During repair of those micro-tears, those damaged muscles are rebuilt thicker and stronger. Through brain memory from our nervous system, every time we lift, our muscles are rebuilt with more stronger fibres. Over a period of time (not too long don’t worry) your muscle fibres are thicker than when you had started. That is why it is very important to complete the moves with full range of motion and use the full power of the muscle group. This phenomenon can be applied to every muscle group in your body and especially to the buttocks. With growth in muscle fibres your body needs more calories to maintain that muscle and also repair it. This extra calorie need / increase in metabolism leads to fat burn. Couple this chemical equation with a proper diet and you turn your body into a fat burning machine even when you are resting.
Understanding Exercises
Exercises can be classified into two groups: Compound and Isolation. Compound movements and isolation movements both will result in a toned lower body. Compound movements such as deadlift and squat use more than on muscle group such as your entire lower body. Isolation movements such as hip thrusts / bridges focus on a specific muscle group like the glutes (butt) but that isn’t to say that it does not use other muscles. Muscle isolation exercises are used to target a specific muscle more than other . Your goal is to use a combination of both to increase strength, and focus these days as LEG DAYS.
Basic Compounds Movements:
- Deadlift
- Squat
- Leg press
Isolation Movements:
- Hip thruster and it’s variations – mainly for glutes
- Stiff Leg Deadlift
- Abductor exercises – muscles on the side of your legs running down from your hips
- Donkey kicks / kick backs – mainly for glutes
Using Exercise to Grow That Booty
Now that you know how and what, time to assign a couple of days of the week for the most dreaded LEG DAY…organise that weekly workout routine ( 👈click to find out) Working on legs twice a week with 2 to 3 days in between each LEG DAY is optimum for rest and growth. Your Leg days should last somewhere between 45 minutes to 1 hour, stretching to 1 hour and 30 minutes if you count warming up and stretching. And remember the muscle -tearing action we talked about up above? Well, these also cause pain and sore-ness (called DOMS – delayed onset muscle soreness) in your legs and these are nothing to get too worried over. Beginners tend to get these more often and this just means your muscles are getting stronger. However, be careful of joint pain which can mean you need to lower the weight and work on your form of lifting. Talking about lowering weights, how heavy you should lift depends on specially on you.
The weight you can lift properly is decided by taking a moderately high enough weight where you can do 10 to 12 repetitions of the movement WITH CORRECT FORM. There is no use of lifting a weight with incorrect form and setting yourself up for an injury. Taking time to correct form ensures you have a long life in lifting. You should feel a burn in your muscle in the last 3 to 4 reps. For example if I am squating the empty bar then my muscles won’t burn until I am 25 reps into the exercise. So that’s a bit too low of weight for me. Where as I can squat with 15kg plates on both sides and squat 12 with the last 3 reps causing my thighs to burn. Good weight! So for you to decide on a proper weight needs some safe experimenting . Beginners, please use help from a gym partner when you try this. For others, you know the way to go.
Secret To Booty Growth : Glute Activation
You probably may not read this in most other places. Activation of the proper muscles is basically the most important formula in making sure you lift heavy and maximise booty growth. Why is glute activation so important? Because it signals your glutes to wake up and forms a strong connection with your brain. Firing up your glutes (and connected muscles) ensures you have right form and can lift heavier. Not to be taken light heartedly. glute activation will single handedly kick your training up a notch and get you results. Here is how I used glute activation to improve my squats in 3 WEEKS ONLY!
How To Eat Right for Booty Gains
Meals before, after and through out the day will repair, refuel and and grow those GAINS. Depending on the type of diet you are on (high carb, low carb / ketogenic, paleo, gluten free etc) Your best bet for BOOTY GAINS is to intake clean carbs. I advocate a gluten free and low (or not) processed-sugar diet due to the tremendous benefits on the body as a whole. If you still need time to go gluten free / processed-foods free then atleast keep your carbs as clean as you can. Meaning, as close to the natural state and without ultra processing and adding of additives.
Proteins (amino acids) build muscle. Your muscles are literally made up of chains of amino acids held together by peptide bonds. Providing your body with a constant supply of protein will lead to better muscle growth. But proteins are not just only for growing muscles, every organ in your body is made from amino acids and every function in your body requires amino acids to fulfill it’s task and keep you healthy. Your best choice of complete protein comes from meat, fish and eggs. The best and ONLY plant source of complete protein is Hemp (👈 click to find out). To find out the proper amount of protein your body needs you can multiply your body weight in pounds by 1 or click here.
A right combo of macro’s (👈 click to find out) is definitely the secret and key to booty gains. And while you’re at it, increase your intake of water and vegetables (fibre) to help the repair process. Dehydration not only prevents muscle growth but also leads to injuries. Where as, a weak and poor gut will leave you feeling stressed, tired and not at your fullest energy. Read this to find out how to detox your body and stay fit for a lifetime.
Rest
The magic happens during resting. Those micro tears you caused by that grinding set of squats now need to be repaired and reinforced with more muscle fibre. This mostly happens during sleep and for the next couple of days. This is why it is very important to space out your workouts over 2 to 3 days and taking a day off from the gym. Focus on your quality of sleep for those major booty GAINS.
Conclusion
Your booty gains require discipline. Unless you’re more into quick fixes *cough implants cough*. The results you get from strength training / weight lifting can last you a life time and lead to some generous benefits which include having a better lifestyle over all. I’m not saying a bigger booty is gonna change your life. I’m just saying that in the process of working out your body you will learn focus, discipline, patience and determination. OK…so I guess having a big backyard can be life changing after all.
Marina Farook 