MARLO ALLEVA: Target exercise for glutes
Many lower body exercises will tone the glutes, but simple, target exercises are also needed to zero in on those hard to reach areas.
Our move today is a weighted glute lift, sometimes referred to as a hip thrust. You will need a flat surface, a towel or yoga mat, and a medium hand weight of some sort. It could be a weighted medicine ball, or even a weighted bar. This exercise is going to focus on your glutes and hamstrings.
Have a seat on your mat, extending your legs out in front of you. Place your chosen amount of added weight directly in your lap. Keeping your legs close together draw your knees up and plant both feet flat on the ground. Lay your upper body down onto your flat surface, rotating the hips, and pressing your back flat into the mat.
Once you are in this position, pull your feet slightly closer into your glutes, giving you a longer range of motion. And also position your added weight just at the hinge of your hips, across your lap.
Keeping your hands on your added weight for stability, you are ready to start moving!
Proceed into your glute lift by digging your heels into the ground and pushing your rear-end upward. Push to your fullest contraction as if you are over exaggerating squeezing your gluteus muscles.
Once you reach your deepest contraction of this lift, slowly return to the start only this time slightly hovering your rear end over the ground, not lying back down completely.
Continue lifting and lowering for at least 10 repetitions. At this point, take a small break, reposition, and continue into your next set. Give yourself at least three sets of this movement.
This is a good time to gauge if you need more or less added weight or need to reposition your feet and hips.
This is a great exercise to target and tone your bottom. And this move is also very simple for most fitness levels.
Marlo Alleva, a fitness coordinator at Fontaine-Gill YMCA, can be reached at faluuzpa@msn.com
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Let’s focus on our bottom half; more specifically our glutes!
