7 LOW IMPACT EXERCISES FOR THE BOOTY

A lot of you are looking for booty exercises, because duh.

Someone specifically though asked for booty and leg exercises to do if you're someone that has weak/bad knees so I wanted to show you my favs!! I also have SUPER bad knees. 

Iv'e already had surgery on one knee and i'm pretty sure I need it again in my other knee considering it hurts all the time. 

TIP : Try foam rolling your IT band (outer part of your leg in between your knee and hip). Sometime if this is really tight, which it is on most of us, it till start to pull on your knee which obviously causes discomfort. 

Alrighty, so actually good knees or bad knees, these are some of my FAVORITE booty exercises. To really get the most out of these you need to SQUUUUUUUEZE your glutes and think "small, controlled movements" Not fast and sloppy and all over the place. A lof of this is inspired from barre classes to think ELEGANT, STRETCH, CONTRACT. Lets go. 

PS, this workout steez is from YOGASMOGA, and it's suuuuper effing comfy. Like the comfiest. Can't wait to get more of their stuff because it's also super cute!

1. Inner Thigh Squeezes

Put one foot in front of you and one foot behind you and bend your knees so that both legs are at a 90-degree angle. 

From here, keep your back foot still and pointed forward while you use your inner thigh muscles to squeeze your back leg in. 

30 TIMES ONE SIDE THEN GO TO THE OTHER SIDE. 

2. Goblet Squats 

Start in a "chair" position, keeping all your weight in your heels.

Slowly lower your booty towards the ground ALWAYS making sure that your knees don't go over your toes. Keep them over your heels as much as possible. 

When you raise up make sure that you push through your heels which will trigger those booty muscles!

DO 20. 

3. Pulsing Lunges

Step into a wide lunge so that your back heel is off the ground. 

Bring your hips straight down keeping your weight even between your front heel and back toes (NOT YOUR FRONT TOES)!

Make sure that when you go down your knee is directly above your heel.

Going up and down is 1 rep. DO 20 ON EACH SIDE. 

4. Diagonal Leg Lifts

While you do this I want you to picture someone pulling your foot towards the back corner of the room. STRETCCCCCH your entire leg by pointing your toe as hard as you can.

GO SLOW.

Raise your leg, squeezing your glute at the top, then lower down slowly, barely tap the ground then slowly raise up again. This will feel like nothing if you don't angle your leg and point your toe so DO THAT. 

Up and Down is 1 rep. DO 20 ON EACH SIDE. 

5. Fire Hydrants

Cute name right? lol. You'll start with both of your knees on the ground but once you start you don;t put your knee back on the ground until you've finished all your reps and switch to the other side. 

This exercise along with the last one is going to build your gluteus medius which gives you that bubble butt. HOLLA. 

Keeping your knee bent, raise and lower your leg, SQUEEEZING your booty at the top of each rep.

Make sure you're not swinging your hips. Keep them still, let your booty do all the work.

DO 30 ON EACH SIDE. 

6. Single Leg Glute Bridges 

Keep one foot on the ground while you raise your other leg to the sky. 

Use your planted foot to raise and lower yourself. Just tap your booty on the ground when you lower, don't lay your whole back down. No breaks here, sorry!

DO 20 EACH SIDE.

7. Baby Donkey Kicks 

Get your leg in a 90-degree angle behind you and raise your knee so that it's in line with your booty. I like to do these in front of a mirror so that I can see if I'm lined up.

Pulse your leg up and down 1 INCH. It's a very small movement but it's great for building those little tiny muscle fibers that will give you a great plump up! Squeeze when you pulse up and slightly relax when you go down.

DO 60 EACH SIDE!

Do all the exercises back to back! Take a 30 second break after the baby donkey kicks then do the circuit again! I recommend doing it a total of 3-4 times!

xoxo CR

YOU LITERALLY CAN, BUILD A BOOTY.

I’m excited for this week with you guys because I’m going to fill you in on a little something that I learned about two years ago. Ready? Okay. So get this…you can actually build…your butt.

I know, I know, groundbreaking news. Why I never considered this as an option up until then is beyond me. 

Now I understand that this concept is so obvious but it wasn’t until I saw some before and after pictures of my friend that I realized the difference a girl can make for herself. Since then I have adopted some prime booty moves into my workout 3-4times a week and it has definitely paid off. 

So your butt has three main muscles  - gluteus medius, gluteus maximus and gluteus minimus. The gluteus maximus is the biggest and strongest muscle in your body which means that there is a lot of room for growth there! It makes up the main squishy party of your bum while the gluteus medius builds the upper portion and the gluteus minimus is what creates that lift in the lower half.

Try to do this full booty workout 3-4 times this week and from here on out be sure to add it to your weekly routine!

If anything is too easy make sure you grab some heavier weights! The last 3 reps of each exercise should be difficult if you are using an appropriate weight. 

You got this

- 1-LEGGED SQUATS X 20 (GLUTEUS MAXIMUS)

Put one or both hands on a bar or a wall. Put all of your weight on your right leg and lift your left leg off the ground and extend it straight out in front of you. 

- Keeping your back straight and your shoulders back, squat down into your right leg making your thigh parallel with the ground.

- Squat back up keeping your left leg off the ground and extended out

- Repeat 20 times on the right then switch to the left.

- For more of a challenge – hold a weight in the opposite hand of the leg you are squatting and get LOW!

- SIDE HIP ABDUCTORS x 20 (GLUTEUS MINIMUS AND MEDIUS)

- Start out lying on your left side with your legs straight, your feet stacked and use your left hand to support your head.

- Keeping your leg straight, lift your right leg into the air making sure that you keep your toes pulled back.

- Bring it up to a 45-degree angle then slowly lower back down towards your left leg but don’t set it down all the way until you have done all 20

- Repeat for 20 on the other side.

- 1-LEGGED DEAD LIFTS x 20 (GLUTEUS MAXIMUS)

Put all of your weight on your right leg.

- Grab two dumb bells or one barbell and start off standing with all you weight on your right leg. 

- Hold the weights down and in front of your legs and lift your left foot slightly off the ground.

- Then slowly hinge at your waist bringing the weights down towards your feet and your left foot back and towards the sky.

- Keep your shoulders back and your back flat

- Slowly move back up to the starting position keeping your left leg off the ground until you have done all 20 reps. Then switch legs.

- DIRTY DOGS x 20 (GLUTEUS MEDIUS)

- Get down on your hands and knees and start by lifting your right leg out to the side

- Keep it bent in the same position the entire time! (It’s as if you’re using a fire hydrant like your pup, hence the name of this exercise) Sounds silly but it kills.

- Bring it back in to the starting position but don’t set your knee on the ground until you have done all 20 reps! Do your best to get your inner thigh parallel to the floor when you lift it out to the side.

- FRONT/SIDE/REVERSE LUNGES x 15 (GLUTEUS MAXIMUS)

- Hold a weight in each hand OR grab a barbell and rest it on your shoulders. 

- Stand with feet hip distance apart and start by stepping forward with your left foot into a lunge putting both legs into a 90-degree angle.

- Push through your left heel back to the starting position and immediately step out to the left for a side lunge.

- Push through the left heel again back to the starting position then immediately step the left foot backwards into a lunge.

- Return to the starting position and continue into the forward lunge.

Repeat this process of forwards, side and back for a total of 15 reps on each leg.

- CLAM EXERCISE x 20 (GLUTEUS MEDIUS AND MINIMUS)

- Start by lying down on your left side with your legs stacked and slightly bent in a 90-degree angle so that your feet are close to your bottom.

-  Use your left hand to support your head.

- Keeping your feet together and your knees bent, lift your right knee

up, hold for a second then lower back down.

- Repeat this for a total of 20 times then switch sides.