Your glutes are your largest—and possibly most powerful—muscle group and when used are an all-star calorie burner and metabolism booster. Show your buns some love with these killer moves. They work the glutes and the muscles that support them (the hip flexors and hamstrings) to tighten and tone your booty and core. Whether you choose to add them to your existing routine in place of lower-body exercises or combine them for a calorie-frying, buttock-toning circuit is up to you. Either way, you’ll wind up with a superior posterior.
Doggy Hydrant
Start on all fours, hands shoulder-width and knees hip-width apart. Keeping your feet flexed and knee bent, open your left leg out to the side until your inner thigh is parallel with the floor. Squeeze glutes and abs and return to the starting position with knee slightly off the floor.
Repeat 15 times; switch legs.
Donkey
Kicks Start on all fours, hands shoulder- width and knees hip- width apart. Keep your right foot flexed and leg bent, raise your right leg and press your heel toward the ceiling until your foot is directly above your butt. Squeeze glutes and slowly return to starting position keeping your knee off the ground.
Repeat 15 times; switch legs.
Chair Kicks
Grab a tall chair facing it away from you. Stand at arms length with feet together behind the chair. Grab the back of the seat with both hands for balance. Lean forward slightly and lift your right leg directly behind you keeping your knee straight but not locked. Squeeze glutes and make sure to square hips with the chair; don’t open hip out to the side when you kick behind. Raise your leg as high as you can and then lower your leg with control and return to the starting position.
Repeat 10 times; switch legs. Do two sets.
Squat Pulse
Stand with legs wider than shoulder-width apart, toes turned out, and arms straight out. Squat and keep knees in line with toes, squeeze abs tight, and keep your back straight. Stay squatting and pulse up and down, raising and lowering your butt 6 inches each time.
Pulse 10 times; relax and stand. Hold your squat until the end; stand only when finished. Repeat 15 times; do three sets.
Squat Kick
Stand with legs wider than hip width apart and toes slightly turned out. With arms straight in front, lower into a squat until your butt is just below the height of your knees. Keep knees behind toes when squatting. If your knees pass your toes, widen your stance a little. Stand and when you reach starting position, lift your left leg as high as you can directly to your side. Lower your leg back to the ground with control.
Repeat 10 times; switch legs. Do three sets