Q and A: Not Hitting the Spot

I have one stubborn area I need some help with though and was wondering if you have any advice. I have been trying to work the good old butt and am not having much luck. I do lunge type exercises and squat type exercises, I try putting more weight in the heel, more in the toe, squat lower or not so low and nothing seems to work. My quads seem to take over everything and do all of the work while the butt just hangs around (literally!) and observes. Is there any way to get around this?  Lisa

There could be two possibilities here: you are expecting spot reduction, which we all know doesn’t work (cardio! cardio! cardio!) or you aren’t doing the right things: either in form or the actual exercises you are doing.  Or you are stronger than you think. Ok, that’s three. But the last two can be fixed by the same advice: do some new moves.

There is a possibility that your quads are weaker than your butt, so even though you are working your butt, you feel the burn more in your quads.  Even though you claim your booty is flabby, it could still very strong, just have fat over top, which again- cardio! cardio! cardio!

So! lets try some new exercises shall we?

dumbbell side step up on bench
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

alternating kettlebell swing
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

barbell deadlift with overhand grip
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

glute kickback on all 4s with ankle weight
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

Give those a shot. They isolate the butt a little bit more, making sure it gets the brunt of the load. Load probably wasn’t the most appropriate word to use there but you get the idea ;)

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