You have probably heard before that if you want a great butt you need to be doing squats. The problem is, not everyone wants to or likes to be doing squats.
The good news is while squats are a good butt building exercise they are not really the best as many people think. They are good but there are better ones out there.
In this article, we cover some great exercises that will build you a perfect butt without doing any squats. Let’s break it down.
As you can see I the diagram above there is more to the butt than just the Gluteus Maximus. While the Gluteus Maximus is the biggest muscle in the butt it is not the only one. There is also the Gluteus Minimus and Gluteus Medius as well as the muscles underneath that help determine the shape of your behind. The best way to make sure you are hitting all of these muscles is to use a variety of exercises and angles. We took all of these muscles in to account when designing this program to be sure you get the most bang for your booty buck.
When it comes to building a superior posterior, you will see that the basics are still the best as with almost any body part. Newfangled exercises are usually not worth the bother and it is the tried and true exercise that always works best no matter what muscle you are working on. The basics are the best for a reason, they work. Stick with them and they will take you far.
While squats are a big butt builder and what many people use as their main butt building exercises they are not needed to have a great butt. In fact, they are not even the best butt building exercise out there.
Use these exercises in your workouts and get a great butt workout without doing any squats. These 5 exercises will work your entire posterior to perfection, let’s get started.
Clamshell
We start off with this simple and effective yet underrated exercise. It is easy to find exercises to hit the gluteus maximus but this is not one of them, the clamshell hits mainly the gluteus medius which we don’t want to forget about.
The clamshell is a simple exercise that can be done anywhere. Just lay on your side with your legs bent and open your legs like a clamshell would open as pictured above, keeping the lower leg on the ground. Lower the top leg back down and repeat.
This can be made more difficult using a band around your legs to increase the workload. It is a good hip-strengthening exercise is important to people who do a lot of running or play sports where you run a lot like basketball or soccer.
Lunges
Lunges are another real booty blaster that hits the gluteus maximus. They also work the quads and hamstrings as well. Not only is this a great exercise for your booty but it is also one of the best lower body exercises there is overall.
There is a large variety of lunges out there. There are regular lunges, reverse lunges, side lunges walking lunges, walking lunges many more. The good news is all of these lunge variations give you a great butt and quad workout. You can also do them with dumbbells or a barbell the more advanced you get.
Reverse lunges are a good choice if you have any sort of knee problems as they are easier on the knees.
Lunges are also great for evening out imbalances so you don’t have a weak side and a strong side like can happen when working both legs at the same time with things like barbell squats.
Cable Kickback
Cable kickbacks are a great shaping exercise. Attach the cuff to your ankle, brace your upper body against something sturdy and kick your leg back for about 15 to 20 reps.
You will really feel these in your glutes and hamstrings. With some butt exercises, you can get by without working the butt the way it should be worked using other muscles more than you should like your hamstrings and quads. With this exercise, you are forced to use your glutes more exclusively and you will really feel it. This is officially the buns on fire exercises that really blasts your glutes and get them burning
This exercise is a good one to use at the end of your workout to really get a good burn to finish off your workout.
Hip Thrusts
Hip thrusts are probably the best butt exercise there is. You may get some funny looks if you do these at the gym but only from the clueless people who don’t realize the benefits, either that or they are total perverts. Either way, these are worth it.
While they do look a lot like the glute bridge they are a little different. With these you support your back on a weight bench, your feet can either be on the floor or elevated on a bench also. From there you just thrust your hips up to the top and squeeze and lower it back down and repeat. Use a controlled slower motion and do not forget to get that squeeze in at the top with a nice pause.
These can be done with just your bodyweight using both legs or just 1 leg to make it more difficult. You can also do them using a barbell. If you are going to use a barbell you will need some good padding because that weight doesn’t feel good at all without padding.
If you have the time here is a video all about hip thrusts from The Glute Guy, Bret Contrares who is a huge fan of the hip thrust. The video is long though at 16 minutes but it gives you everything you need to know when it comes to doing hip thrusts with a barbell on the pelvis.
Cable Pull-Throughs
Cable pull-throughs are a great exercise we should all be doing but for some reason, this exercises is underappreciated.
Pull-throughs are similar to kettlebell swings, but they are easier to learn good form on and are also easier on your back.
This exercises hits the glutes and hamstrings and is a popular exercise of people who like to do heavy squats. While you aren’t squatting, you can still reap the benefits of this exercises as a solid booty builder and strengthener.
Execution of this exercise is simple enough, using the rope on the cable machine pull the rope through your legs using a shoulder-width stance. Maintain a neutral spine at all times and hinge at the hips. Be sure and squeeze the glutes at the top of this movement for maximum effect. 8-15 reps per set is desired, 3-4 sets should be good.
Now that you have the exercises let’s get to the workout so you can get that jaw-dropping booty.
This workout should be done twice a week for maximum effect.
Day 1:
Exercise Sets Reps
Hip Thrusts 3 8-15
Clamshell 3 10-20
Cable Kickbacks 3 15-20
Day 2
Exercise Sets Reps
Hip Thrusts 3 8-15
Lunges 3 8-15
Cable Pull-Throughs 3 10-20
Wrapping it up
Now you have some great butt exercises to give you the butt you are looking for without doing squats. These exercises and workout are designed to give you a killer butt using a workout you can feel working your glutes to perfection.
Do this workout twice a week for best results. It will take time of course. As with anything else when it comes to fitness results come slowly but they will come if you stick with it and dedicate yourself.
You have probably heard before that if you want a great butt you need to be doing squats. The problem is, not everyone wants to or likes to be doing squats.
