What are the best butt excercises??

I have been doing squats with the bar that slides down the apparatus with 35-50lbs, usually 2-3 sets of 10, leg press (100+lbs), leg extension(40lbs), hamstring curls(40lbs), leg abduction/inner/outer(55lbs for outer & 65lbs for inner), dead lift using a 30lb bar, and glute kickback(55-60lbs).

My question is what is the best excercises to do for your butt/back of the thigh area?

 

Hi Sound to me as if your on the right track!

I Would also highly reccomend the Pilates based floor excersises! They are killer and you (well I ) really notice the diiference in the shape and feel of the glutes after only a short while.

Try laying on the florr on a mat on your hands and knees and bringing in your knees to you chin and then pushing the leg out keeping your foot flexed & maintaining a hip level height, 20 reps on each side, the also try the fire hydrant, same position (on hands & knees) but keeping knee bent and lifting leg to the side:)

heres a great link of video Podcasts for Pilates

http://pilatesonfifth.com/video/2007/08/08/ep -13-butt-burner-pilates-on-fifth-video-podcas t/

squats. deadlifts. squats. hanging leg raises. squats. lower back extentions. squats.

um... did i mention squats?

ditch the machines and use free weights. you should be able to lift 40 pounds easily without a spotter. to position the weight, start with a dead lift, clean and press it over your head... then lower to rest behind your head on your traps.

 

I had heard that about free weights but why do free weights work better than the machines? I like to do my squats upstairs in my gym where there aren't alot of guys. All the guys are clogging up the weight area downstairs, but if I have to I will go down there because I am not scared of them! LOL!! The heaviest the weights go upstairs is 15lbs which is where the squat machine is.

Free weights are far superior because the machine is doing a good portion of the work for you. I have seen little 115 lb girls maxing out the weights on leg machines. I work out with all the big boys, too. Actually once you start lifting correctly, you'll find you're lifting as much or more than some of the guys.

As for the question, as someone already mentioned squats and deadlifts using barbells. I don't have a spotter; I use the squat rack. That thing has saved me during failure more than once. If you don't have access to a squat rack, try front squats so you're not lifting the weight over your head. You'll be able to squat more.

I think that is what I use is a squat rack. The bar is positioned on the rack and you twist it back to release it and then it slides down as you squat.

That's actually a Smith Machine and it's not good at all I'm afraid. It puts you in an unnatural position. I can fire off 250lb little squat plies on that thing.

What? OMG it's not good? I've been doing this for months. Why isn't it good? I'm confused. I try to make sure that I squat back as if I'm sitting on a chair and I even do one leg squats. This sucks!!

These are my favorite and really work my a$$!  I do them at home with dumbbells and I'm definitely seeing results.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_Q8FKO7Ueg&nb sp;

Shoot I cannot access that site from my work computer and my home computer is down right now. Maybe I can do it later.

The Bulgarian squat looks good for those of us that workout at home.  nenewa, have you checked out this site? http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

for glut activation you cant do any better then dead lifts, when done correctly.  Good Mornings are a second, just focused on glut contraction in both movements, not so much back.

Original Post by trhawley:

The Bulgarian squat looks good for those of us that workout at home.  nenewa, have you checked out this site? http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Wow that is a great site. Thanks Trhawley

The reason the Smith machine is considered evil is because it forces you into a particular, fixed movement path that's very unnatural for your body, leading to shear forces on the spine and knee.

 A barbell lets you move freely through three dimensions and doesn't constrain your body's movement to one fixed path, so you can keep your spine and knees correctly aligned all through the movements.

 'Course, it takes some care and instructions to do it right, but exrx.net has very good video demonstrations of how to do it - so does Krista in her Lurn 2 squat good -- E-ZY! video series.

 Machines are tools, and sometimes they're the right tools for the job, but most of the time you're better off using free weights both for the more natural range of motion (machines are mostly built to fit a 5'10" 175lbs male's movement patterns, and if you're none of those it gets tricky) and for the greater activation of stabilisator muscles and synergists.

 Machines train your muscles in isolation, you see - but outside of the machine, your body almost never functions in isolation. There's room for, and a point to some isolation work and machine training - depending on your goals, training time and training age, but in the main you'll build more functional strength using compound movements.

I do have one more question related to squats. When you squat down and come back up are you supposed to squeeze your buttocks? I try to do this because I thought I heard that I should before from somewhere, but I find it hard to do and I feel awkward.

Any time you squeeze your muscles you will be working them harder.  It's harder to do and you'll be working them harder.

Original Post by nenewa:

I do have one more question related to squats. When you squat down and come back up are you supposed to squeeze your buttocks? I try to do this because I thought I heard that I should before from somewhere, but I find it hard to do and I feel awkward.

I remember hearing that from my old aerobics class days, but I'm not sure it's necessary when you're doing weight squats. You already have the resistence with the weights. Here are a couple of links to weight squats:

Barbell

Dumbbell

Also I can't resist the urge to say "no squeeze my buttocks during squats"

Often I will just squeeze my butt when I'm sitting at my desk.  This is really effective and easy way to add a little bit more to your butt workout.  I really find that little things like this really add up.  Just how you carry your body is really important.  Posture, pulling your sholder back, and contracting your muscles really makes your muscles stronger.  Add that to your daily routine!

Ever seen the ABC shoe Extreme Makeover?  Well that guy that was the main triner on the show said the absolute best thing to work your butt is to just tighten and release as many times you can at a time - no joke -

My gym's really small, so I have to use a Smith Machine for squats. It's true that the Smith machine is inferior to using a real bar, but I haven't had any trouble with the results I'm getting, and I've been using it for almost a year. My only beef is that it does feel awkward/unnatural, but it's my only option right now. So I wouldn't worry about using a Smith machine, as long as you're comfortable with it. You could also try dumbbell squats.

Ok I went to the gym last night, and I must say that I didn't do to well with the free weights. It's as if I forgot how to do a lunge. I couldn't keep my balance and I had two 12 pounds weights in each hand. WTF? I know how to do a lunge. I guess it's just been a long time and I'm used to the machines. I also tried to do the Good Morning on the Smith machine and that was hard. How do you do that correctly and I don't see how I can do the Good Morning with a free weight bar on my upper back. On the other hand my buttocks are pretty sore so I must have gotten something out of it. I need to pull out my old FitnessHers magazines and see how it's done in color. Keep the suggestions coming though.

Edit:  Wow my butt is really sore and it feels really tight. I can't wait to do some more lunges and good mornings, correctly this time. :)