Do Guys Need To Work On Their Butts?

Lots of you liked Caleb’s guest article last week and so here’s another guest post – this comes from Alain, which he wrote just for me – enjoy!  (p.s. don’t forget to chime in with comments!)

Guest post by Alain Gonzalez of http://musclemonsters.com

Since the beginning of men’s weight training, the question has rarely been approached. Do guys need to work on their butts? The answer to the question will be determined by your fitness goals. If your goals consist of any of the following, the answer is yes.

• Build muscle mass
• Fat burn
• Decrease risk of injury
• Better posture
• Increase testosterone levels
• Give women a little extra to… look at

If none of these are on your list of fitness goals, I would say no, completely ignore the butt.  But honestly, if you don’t have at least one of these goals on your list, then why are you reading this blog ?! For those who do have one or more of these items on there list, let me go a little more in depth as to how working your butt can benefit you.

1.Build muscle mass Being stronger will allow you to lift heavier weights when training and also perform more strenuous workouts for other muscle groups. See, one key to building muscle mass is increasing weight to put more strain on certain muscle groups, This is so that the muscle feels obligated to grow in order to be able to perform those workouts without becoming strained the next time. Some great mass building butt exercises consist of

• deadlifts,
• squats,
• leg presses,
• good mornings, and
• hamstring curls.

Note: Considering all the benefits of working the glutes, you may want to consider giving them a little extra attention. I am not suggesting that you ignore other muscle groups, but here is what I do suggest; On days that you are performing deadlifts, you can target the butt a little more by simply tightening your glutes when you complete each rep. This technique works well when stair climbing as well.

2.Fat Burn A lot of the more basic butt exercises are actually very good forms of cardio. Look at it as “killing two birds with one stone”.  By replacing your current cardio with these exercises, you are not only burning fat but you are also creating a more firm butt.

• Stair climbing
• Running uphill
• Bike riding
• Sprinting

Not only are the exercises listed going to assist in fat burn, but I will explain how fat burn really comes into play when working your butt.  Your butt or gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body. What does larger muscles have to do with fat burn? It’s pretty basic, in a sense, muscle burns fat.  To put it simply, as you build muscle throughout your body, it becomes a fat burning machine. With the combination of great cardio workouts that will aid in endurance, and targeting the largest muscle in your body, which is often ignored, your body will easily burn through pretty impressive amounts of unwanted fat.

3. Decrease risk of injury Your butt is a part of your posterior chain. The posterior chain consists of your lower back, calves, hamstrings, and glutes. It is very important to have a strong posterior chain when performing exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and even more simple things like jumping and running.

In order to benefit from a strong posterior chain you must perform glute activation exercises such as kick backs, squeezing your butt while walking, kneeling squats, or standing hip flexor stretching. If you fail to do these glute activation exercises you could be putting more pressure on your lower back and hamstrings when performing certain exercises. The reason is this, if you are sitting for long periods of time, your butt becomes dormant and therefore your lower back or hamstrings will have to compensate for its absence. Some of the injuries you could avoid are

• Strained hamstrings
• Knee pain
• Lower back pain

Next time you are at work and you are sitting for a long time, notice your lower back starts to become sore. This is a perfect example of having dormant glutes. Because they are not much help to the posterior chain, you are putting unnecessary pressure on your lower back.

4. Better posture Some of the glute activation exercises also help with tightening the hip flexors and increasing hip mobility. Hip mobility is a great solution for people with an anterior pelvic tilt. Also, tight hip flexors benefit your posture by pulling your pelvis forward. Here are some benefits of having good posture.

• Get the best possible muscle performance
• Fewer lower back problems
• A flatter and stronger stomach
• Overall a more impressive and attractive appearance

5.Increase testosterone levels

• Front Squats
• Lunges
• One legged deadlifts
• High extensions

What do all these exercises have in common? All the exercises listed target the butt or gluteus maximus. They are also workouts that are extremely strenuous to large muscles in your body. Causing strain to large muscles will actually cause your body to release more testosterone.  Higher testosterone levels will not only aid in fat loss but it will also help increase strength.

Note: For a long time now, people have been spending tons of money on testosterone boosters.  In most cases, these so called “strength enhancers” cause side effects, or are ineffective. We have already determined that working on your butt will increase natural testosterone levels and not only save you money, but help avoid taking supplements that may be harmful to your body.

6.Give women a little extra to… look at

It seems to be that when asked to list the top ten things they notice about a guy, women usually list “the butt” in the top 8 at least.  Surprisingly enough, some woman will actually place it a little higher up on the list. Some even go as far as to list it above things like smile, eyes, and clothes. I couldn’t tell you how many times I have heard women mention a guy’s butt during “girl talk”.  Believe it or not guys, women really do appreciate a nice firm butt.

So should men work on their butt?

There you have it, the benefits working on your butt.  Add butt exercises to your routines a couple of days a week and notice how much leaner, stronger, and more attractive you will become. Considering all the health benefits, you are doing yourself serious damage by weight lifting while ignoring the glutes. Think about it this way, why would anyone ignore the largest muscle in their body anyway? Not only are the benefits incredible, but there are no down sides to working on your butt.

Alain Gonzalez is the writer for http://musclemonsters.com , a health and fitness site targeted to hardgainers, weight lifting, weight loss, and mixed martial arts conditioning.

Just starting out with weightlifting? Want to get bigger muscles this winter?
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Tags: butt, glutes