When you think of the nature of the glutes and how important they are for everyday life, it’s pretty easy to see why it’s important to workout.
They might not be your biggest concern when it comes to thinking about the impact of your long days at a desk (and even longer evenings on the sofa) – but they should be.
The glutes are the biggest muscle in our body, and they work on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis.
Taking the time to actually do a glute-focused workout or making glute training part of your usual routine is important, because we don’t tend to consciously activate these muscles a lot.
For instance, if you’re walking, you’re not thinking about squeezing your glutes.
The importance of glute workouts goes beyond the muscles themselves, as training the muscles will help prevent injury and poor posture.
Your glutes support your lower back and pelvis, and are connected to the quads and hamstrings, so you’ll really feel the impact if you neglect them.
We know what you’re thinking: it’s hard to build strength from home without weights.
While you typically might associate glute-building workouts with heavily weighted barbell hip thrusts and abductor machines, there is actually a whole host of exercises and training techniques that you can do from home to gain strength and muscle too.
You might not get the same satisfaction without big weights, but you can absolutely work the muscles.
Here’s top tips for building leg muscle without
Increase time under tension
There’s a reason you can walk out of pilates and barre classes with sore legs even though you haven’t used any kit.
It’s because they do slow movements on a concentrated area.
Replicate this at home by pausing at the end of a movement and, if you can, adding in miniature pulses.
For example, if you’re doing a donkey kick, squeeze your glute and hold your leg up for a few seconds or pulse your leg while it is kicked up, rather than just letting the leg go up and down.
You’re contracting the muscle for a longer time, which adds more resistance.
Do single leg work
If you don’t have much weight, it makes sense to focus on one glute at a time rather than spreading the weight across both sides.
Doing a split squat, for example, in which you’re focusing on one leg at a time adds more load to the individual muscles.
Change the lever
Forget just using the floor – working with different depths can make things more challenging.
Put your feet on a raised surface during glute bridges and split squats.
You are adding in more distance to push through, making it harder for the muscles body.
Now you’re ready for the workout. Keep these techniques in mind when performing this glute building circuit.
You can use weights or your bodyweight, add in pulses or pauses and try using steps or boxes to add depth and adapt it to your skill level.
Perform them back to back for a seven-minute workout, and if you want to, do multiple rounds. One thing’s for sure – your glutes will be firmly awake after this.
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