Everyone likes a firm toned bum

Bikini Bum Exercises for a tight toned tush

Belinda my personal trainer gave me some exercises to practice at home as homework. Who doesn’t want a tight toned bum?  You may think that this applies just to girls, but, guys, for the record, women appreciate a tight toned tush just as much as men appreciate it on women. So, for those who care, these exercises, and the bikini bum innuendo, applies to both sexes, for everyone’s benefit. The absolutely best exercise for toning your bum is the squat. Squats are the best exercise for shaping not only your bum, but also your thighs. The problem with squats is that people tend to find them too hard because they put too much pressure on their knees and ankles thus causing them pain. You need to be mindful not to overstress your knees and damage either the ligaments.

Avoid stressing the knee joint

Disclaimer

An important thing to remember when performing lunge and squat exercises is that you should never let your knees go over your toes; meaning, you should always be able to see your toes. Otherwise, you place excess stress on your knee and ankle joints which can / may damage the ligaments and associated structures in those joints. If in doubt, consult your doctor before attempting theses exercise. This advice applies to some yoga exercises as well. It is all good and well to <em>take the advice of other people<em> because you believe them, but ultimately you need to be responsible for your own body, you physical, emotional and mental limits, and listen to you body when you feel that you are placing too much stress on it. No One, no professional doctor athlete or parent can take the place of your own self when undertaking exercise designed to push you past your traditional comfort zone.  Exercise is designed to improve your mental and physical form.  How you implement exercises is up to you.

The glutes make up the bum

Bum Muscle – the Gluteus Maximus

One of the biggest muscles in the body is the gluteus maximus muscle. It is a large, wide muscle that covers the back of the hip joint and comprises the majority of what is commonly known as the bum. The ‘glutes’ are the primary muscles to focus on if you want to tone your bum. You will see the most benefit, in the shortest amount of time by focusing exercises on this muscle. The second most important muscle for bum exercises are the quadriceps muscle of the thigh otherwise knows as the ‘quads’ that is responsible for extending the leg.

Buttocks (Bikini Bum exercises)

Squats: This exercise works the gluteus maximus muscle of the bum and your quadriceps of the thigh.

Squats are an excellent exercise for the bum

How to Squat

The best way to describe the squat exercise is that you are bending the knees slightly as you lower you bum as if you were sitting down on a toilet seat, ie. push your bum backwards and down at the same time. A full squat can be performed by taking the thigh to a 90 degree angle you leg so that the thigh is almost (not quite) horizontal with the floor; whilst a half squat will only take you thigh to form a 45 degree angel with the floor. In both cases you are pushing your bum out, keeping you head and eyes facing forward, but keeping the knees from extending forward over past the toes. Squats: Do full squats with weights. Start with the feet flat on the floor and shoulder width apart, slowly lowering yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep all your weight on your heels and your knees in line with your feet remembering to not let them extend past the toes. Rise slowly up. Starting with a warm up set, use half the weight you normally squat, then add the rest of the weight and do three sets of 10-12 repetitions. Build to four or fives sets over a four week period. An important point to note whilst doing this exercise is to go slowly. The slower you squat down and the slower you stand up again the more your muscles will work. A 2 or 3 second pause in the middle is also good for reducing any stress placed on you joints from bouncing the exercise. Under no circumstance should you be using momentum in this exercise. You are lowering yourself down, NOT DROPPING, and raising yourself up. Slow and steady does it, in fact, the slower the better. Another important point to notes is to stand up straight, with your feet shoulder width apart. You should keep this posture during the whole squat. Stretching your arms out to the side during the movements this will help you to keep your balance and assist in maintaining posture (as well as working the deltoid muscle of covering the top of the shoulder). You will begin to notice a small difference in your bum after two weeks with significant changes being visible after four weeks, and all with only minutes of your time in a day. If you have knee, hip or back problems, do a half squat instead. Lower yourself till your thighs make a 30-degree angle with the floor.

Walking Lunge Exercise

Thighs (Bikini Bum support exercises)

Lunges: This exercise works at toning and strengthening the thighs, as well as the bum. Using dumbbells or your flour bag weights, take a reasonably sized step forward with your right leg so that your knee is bent 90 degrees, letting your left knee lower down the floor, almost touching the floor. Then push back up to the starting position with your right leg. Then repeat the move this time leading with your left leg, so that you are now dropping your right knee almost (but not completely) to the floor. This is one repetition. Try to do two sets of 8 – 10 repetitions. Note: If you have knee, hip or back problems, do half squats instead taking your thigh to a 45 degree angle with your leg, rather than the 90 degree angle specified in the full lunge.

Calves

Calf Raisers: Standing calf raises are low impact compared to lunges. Using dumbbells or some other weights (bags of flour in shopping bags) stand on the balls of your feet on the edge of a step. Make sure the step is secured and that you foot will not slip off. Rise up on your toes, then come back down, letting your heels drop slightly below the step. Do two or three sets of 15-20 repetitions or until you get a good burn sensation in your calf muscles. When performing calf raises, you will primarily feel the muscle burn in your calves, but you will also feel it extending up the thigh quadriceps muscle and into the gluteus maximus muscle of the bum. Enjoy your tight toned tush.