Great Butt…Stable Hip!

Train Your Butt & Kick some A**

Train Your Butt & Kick some A**

We have been talking a lot about the mental part of training. This post is all about your behind, your tush, your booty, call it whatever you want!

It is one of the most discussed topics in your life, think about it. People want a bigger one, a smaller one, want to get rid of one (if it is a person), they want it lifted. You name it the booty is everywhere.

The following blog is about two exercises that not only help you shape a nice butt (in combination with healthy nutrition) but also stabilize your hip and protect your back and knees from injuries.

Like with all exercises good form is one of the key factors.

What are the exercises?

We are talking about two variations of some traditional exercises. The reverse lunge and the side lunge. Instead of doing the classic form, you perform the reverse lunge on a slide-board without or only little knee-bend int the posterior leg. The side lunge is also performed on the slide-board The sliding leg moves out in a straight line to the side. A slight-board can be obtained for relatively little money at a plastic manufacturer ($25/board). You can use dumbbells to load up the exercise. compared to a bilateral deadlift the spinal load is relatively low.

The Slide-Board Side Lunge

As you can see in the lateral view of the side lunge, make sure to keep your center of gravity more on the heel of the standing leg. The hip shifts back as the torso leans forward from the hip. The back stays straight throughout the motion.

In the frontal view you can see how the center of gravity stays towards the standing leg and barely moves laterally from its original position. This controls how far the sliding leg moves out and prevents pulled adductors. This exercise trains the hamstrings, glutes & adductors. It is also a great cross-training exercise for runners, triathletes and cyclists.

The Slide-Board Reverse Lunge

If you are struggling with balance on a single leg deadlift the reverse lunge on the slide board is your exercise to get started. The second leg, even though minimally loaded helps to balance. As I just mentioned, to minimize the loading of the sliding leg, keep the weight 2/3rds shifted towards the back of the front leg. As you can see the body stays aligned with the extended sliding leg. This is a great exercise for trunk stabilization, glutes & hamstrings and can help you balance out differences in leg strength.

The frontal view shows nicely that the spine stays aligned. You can see that I had to correct my head position 2-3 repetitions into the movement because I was looking slightly forward & tilting my head back. We have a natural tendency to do that. It is better though to keep the spine & head aligned as you can see during the following repetitions.

I hope that gives you some motivation for your training and an alternative to what you have been doing so far.

Please let me know if I can help you with your training success,

Michael

Head Trainer Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting

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