Do squats really work the butt?
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I've been doing squats! And lunges, and a few wall sits in there. Not nearly close to lifting 250 lbs tho!
The ONLY thing that hurts is the side of my thighs.
How much weight are you currently squatting and for how many reps?
If you aren't heavy enough to hit failure after 3-5 reps (and some may say 5 is high), then you aren't actually doing anything that will create the adaptations you desire, which in this case would be increased musculature.
Additionally, I saw a statement about bad knees. How do you get bad knees better? Work them, intelligently, but you work them. Or they'll degrade.0 -
Do a heavy set of *kitten* to grass squats one day instead of those sissy sets of 50 non-weighted ones and get back to us the next day LOL. See how those glutes feel then. #wheelchair
I've been doing them with 5 lbs hand weights! It counts!
A gallon of milk weighs 8 pounds.
5lbs doesn't count.0 -
^this. Focus on form and you'll feel it in the right places.Go deeper. Squeeze your butt at the top of the squat.
These are good, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFW_8abqDlo 0 -
i've been focusing on heavy weights for lower body for four months now. i see lots of progress but you have to lift with weight, not body weight.
make sure you are doing perfect form too. if you arent pushing through the heel and sitting back you arent targeting the glutes. you need to also do more than just two exercises, the butt is a muscle with various parts. you need to work the outside, inside, upper and lower parts of the butt.
for me, since i dont have much fat on me i have to lift very heavy so i do more sets but low reps on the really compound exercises like squats and dead lifts. are you doing dead lifts? what about kick backs? weighte bridges?0 -
Do a heavy set of *kitten* to grass squats one day instead of those sissy sets of 50 non-weighted ones and get back to us the next day LOL. See how those glutes feel then. #wheelchair
I've been doing them with 5 lbs hand weights! It counts!
A gallon of milk weighs 8 pounds.
5lbs doesn't count.
you def need more weight. i am 105 and squat with 115lb and im still not anywhere near where i want to be yet
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Squats are great but there is a lot to recommend hip thrusts and heavy kettlebell swings.
sumo deadlifts are also good.
But i have to say that, in my own personal experience, I've had better faster improvements in both glute strength and shape from hip thrusts and heavy KB swings than from squats (despite variations etc).
Keep squatting because it's an awesome exercise (whatever variation works best for you) but do get onto the Bret Contreras stuff.
It's gold.
i have to agree that hip thrusters/weighted bridges leave me more sore than anything, and i love that. sure it looks awkward doing it but hell i love the feeling the next day 0 -
Squat low, squat slow, add more weight. Exercise physiology reckons donkey kicks activate your glutes more too, you can add resistance to them with weights or exercise bands.0
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Deep squats, deadlifts and lunges OH MY! They will make your legs and bum look great. If *I* can defeat generations of flat butt, there's hope for everyone.
PS- I do my squats and deads at the barbell.0 -
Yes, they do0
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Good Mornings, Dead Lifts, Glute Kick Backs and Hip Abduction will get you going in the direction you want ......0
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yes.
i have an amazing *kitten* from squats/deadlifts.0 -
yes.
i have an amazing *kitten* from squats/deadlifts.
Yes you do.
Wait wut?0 -
Bumping for myself, as I can't do back squats at the moment.
Also - here's my experience. When I started out (very obese) I tried doing unweighted squats and they really didn't feel like they were doing anything except hurting my knees. I could never get anywhere near failure.
Weighted back squats felt much better, and didn't actually hurt my knees - not sure why that was. But that's no help if you can't do them!
Front squats do hurt my knees a little.
Single leg box squats DID feel like they were working something, but .... also hurt my knees :sad: .
I've tried that exercise where you lie with your knees bent and a barbell over your hips and make a suggestive movement upwards. I couldn't get enough weight (I only have about 40kg on my home barbell) to feel I was really working, and the bar hurt where it was resting. It might be a good exercise if you had more weight to do it with, and some proper padding between you and the barbell. Avoid having friends and family around because they seem to think it's funny, for some reason. I don't think they bothered my knees.
One-legged and stiff-legged deadlifts feel like I'm working even with a much lighter weight than I would use for deadlifts. They don't seem to bother my knees.0 -
Hip thrusts. Really freaking heavy ones. I also love good mornings.
Sounds to me like you probably have poor glute activation, i.e. you are using your low back and your quads more than your glutes to push weight. You need to do a lot of reading on Bret Contreras's website. He can help you fix this.0 -
A few deep heavy squats will be better for knees than a lot of body weight ones. Once you get past parallel on a squat the pressure comes off your knees and is know held by your hamstrings and put.
I suggest looking into New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women or Strong Lifts 5x5.0 -
try consciously using your butt muscle instead of relying on your thighs. concentrate on the feeling of tightening those muscles and feeling the movement that results.0
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I do lots of squats, and my wife has an amazing *kitten*...therefore squatting got me a nice *kitten*...
But I digress, Sara's advice was spot on.0 -
30DS is more of a weight loss program than anything else. The results you want you kind of need heavier weights for. Ideally you will need access to a barbell, a squat rack, and 100+ lbs of weight. You need to hit failure in a single digit rep amount ideally. Also don't use shoes that lift the heel higher than the toe (like running shoes do) as they prevent you from working the glute as hard as you realistically could.0
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Yes you do.
Wait wut?
(no homo?)0 -
Be sure to go down below the hip level or where the thighs are at least parallel with the floor. This will engage the glutes more. Only going half way means you are just mostly hitting the quads. Get deep in that squat. Be sure that you can safely handle the weight though.0
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Pick a couple:
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/HipsWt.html#anchor169231
ETA: a step up with weights could work very well for you given your issues.0 -
Technically squats work the quad but does also work the bum bum too.
To directly hit the butt, do the following;
Lunges
Stiff leg deadlifts
Glute lifts
Donkey kicks
^all with weights.0 -
I find that if I don't do squats correctly, with my knees kept over my feet and my bum/hips pushing back, it doesn't work my butt as much. It really gives a good burn in my rear if I am in the correct squatting position.0
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google bret contreras. Squats are not enough.
So basically I'm SOL having bad knees....
Everyone will respond differently to the exercises, but I can't imagine the hip exercises being any harder on the knees than doing heavier weight squats.
Yeah, thanks. Heavy weight squats would finish off my knees! Only exercise I can find that's supposed to work the butt but not hurt knees is straight leg dead lifts which I do with a kettlebell. I can feel it a little in the glutes.0 -
Another vote for squats and deadlifts. With weights - and more weight than you'd carry bringing groceries in from the car.
Heavy weights have given me a new butt. It's still a work in progress, but I've gone from literally not having a butt to having a small and tight one.0 -
I should have also thrown in the that I have rheumatoid arthritis in my knees. So I can only go so low, and I can only do so heavy, but I do them to the point it burns.
Basically wanna know what are other things I can do that aren't so hard on the knees.
Great replies so far!
Take it from someone who suffers with RA, the more you work these muscles the less pain you'll feel in your knees. You can go farther and lift heavier; you just have to work up to it and always be very aware of your form.0 -
What about those silly things I always see the women doing at the cable machine, where they hook up the ankle strap and extend their leg backwards.
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Without weights:
Hip thrusts/single leg hip thrusts
Reverse hypers
Hill sprints
Russian leg curls/natural leg curls/ghetto GHR's (whatever you want to call them), using hand assist (doubt a woman could ever get strong enough to do one unassisted).
Squats really don't work the butt all that well. The glutes are worked best in hip hyperextension, not extension.
The best squat for the glutes is the single leg/pistol squat, the glute medius plays a significant role in balancing (not getting much work with a standard squat), and they are by nature ultradeep squats, which is where most of the glute maximus activation when squatting comes from.0 -
snatch grip deadlifts are probably the best upper hamstring/ glute exercise I've done.
They absolutely destroy the back of my legs to the point where I don't want to walk the next day.
I like them in the 15-20 rep range.0 -
I should have also thrown in the that I have rheumatoid arthritis in my knees. So I can only go so low, and I can only do so heavy, but I do them to the point it burns.
Basically wanna know what are other things I can do that aren't so hard on the knees.
Great replies so far!
Take it from someone who suffers with RA, the more you work these muscles the less pain you'll feel in your knees. You can go farther and lift heavier; you just have to work up to it and always be very aware of your form.
Very true. Last month I went from hardly being able to lift myself from the toilet... to my knees only causing pain during a workout. If I'm gonna be doing something to work my butt muscles, I wanna put my all into it. Maybe I'm just doing them wrong.0
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