Awesome 10-Movement Booty Band Workout - Anywhere, Anytime

For many people, It is not uncommon for their quads to take over in exercises like squats and lunges, when in actual fact what you really want is your butt to be doing a significant amount of the work.

 The main reason this occurs is because a lot of people tend to overuse their quad muscles during workouts that aren't meant to target them, this is often referred to as quad dominance. There are a many things that can cause it, but a major factor is often tight hips. The tighter the hips, the more likely they are to initiate movements like squats from your knees instead of your hips, putting increased  pressure on your legs instead of your glutes.

 Booty Band or Hip Circle workouts are amazing at targeting the muscles in the booty, specifically the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. What makes Booty Bands so great is that they can be used just for a booty focused workout, but they are also incredibly helpful if you want to activate or switch on your glutes for an bigger workout, too.

We have seen massive success with athletes such as Crossfitters who use the Booty Bands to warm up before big compound movements like Squats, Deadlifts, Cleans and Snatches. 

Below is a workout that can be done in isolation to Shape, Tone & Strengthen the Booty by completing the full allotment of reps and sets, or could be reduced in terms of capacity simply to activate the glutes in readiness for a big workout.

 The Workout:

Complete 3 Sets of each of the following:

• Hip Bridge Leg Extensions — 20 reps
• Jumping Jacks — 20 reps
• Banded Walks — 20 reps
• Lateral Band Walks — 20 reps
• Hip Bridge Pulses — 20 reps
• Glute Kicks — 20 reps each side
• Squat to Lateral Leg Lifts — 20 reps
• Clamshells — 20 reps
• Fire Hydrants — 20 reps
• Donkey Kicks— 20 reps

Hip Bridges With Alternating Leg Extension — 20 reps

• Place the band just above your knees.
• Lie on your back with your hands at your sides, knees bent, and feet flat on floor hip-width apart.
• Squeeze your glutes and abs and lift your hips a few inches off the floor.
• Extend your right leg until it's straight, keeping your knees in line.
• Return your right leg to starting position. Bring your hips back down to the floor.
• Lift your hips up again. Then, extend your left leg until it's straight.
• Return your left leg to starting position. Bring your hips back down to the floor. That's 1 rep.
• Continue, alternating sides for 20 reps.

Focus on touching your heels on the floor each time, not your toes  

 

Ankle Jumping Jacks — 20 reps

• Place the band around your ankles.
• Stand in a quarter-squat position (a shallower squat), with your feet about hip-width apart, hands at your chest.
• Jump your feet out and in for 1 rep.
• Do 20 reps.

Try not to let your body pop up too high, and land with your weight mostly in your heels, not your toes.  

Banded Walks - 20 Reps

• Place the band around your ankles.
• Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend your knees a few inches and hinge forward at the hips, keeping your abs engaged and glutes tight.
• Take 10 steps forward.
• Take 10 steps backward. That's 20 reps.

Be sure to keep your back flat and shoulders back so you're not hunching over

 

Lateral Band Walks — 20 reps

• Place the band around your ankles.
• Stand in a quarter-squat position (a shallower squat), with your feet about hip-width apart, hands at your chest or on your hips.
• Take a step to the right with your right foot, so that your feet are shoulder-width apart. Then, follow with your left so that your feet are hip-width apart again.
• Take three steps to the right, and then three back to the left. That's 1 rep.
• Do 20 reps.

Try to keep your weight in the center, keep your core engaged, and keep constant tension in the band. 

Hip Bridge Pulses - 20 reps

• Place the band just above your knees.
• Lie on your back with your hands at your sides, knees bent, and feet flat on floor hip-width apart.
• Squeeze your glutes and abs and lift your hips a few inches off the floor. Walk your feet together.
• Hold the bridge, and push your knees out to the sides, keeping your feet touching.
• Slowly return your knees to touch for 1 rep.
• Do 20 reps.

Keep your pelvis tucked under, with no arch in your back, and pull your belly button to your spine to maintain correct form 

 

Glute Kicks - 20 reps

• Place the band around your ankles.
• With your hands at your chest or on your hips, shift all your weight into your left leg and place your right toes on the ground about an inch diagonally behind your left heel, so there is tension in the band.
• Squeeze your abs and tuck your pelvis under as you kick your right leg back about 6 inches. Keep the knee straight.
• Return your right foot to the ground, keeping tension in the band, for 1 rep.
• Do 20 reps. Switch sides and repeat.

This is not a big movement, If you feel your lower back arching when you kick, make the movement smaller. Try not to put any weight in the leg that's kicking as it comes back down to the ground. 

Squat to Lateral Leg Lifts - 20 reps

• Place the band just above your knees.
• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, with your hands at your chest or on your hips.
• Bend your knees and push your butt back to lower into a squat.
• Stand back up and lift your right leg out to the side, keeping your knee straight.
• Return your right leg to the floor.
• Squat again. This time when you stand back up, lift your left leg out to the side, keeping your knee straight.
• Return your left leg to floor. That's 1 rep.
• Do 20 reps, alternating sides.

Keep your core engaged and make sure your chest is lifted and that you're not rounding or arching your back. 

 

Clamshells - 20 reps

• Place the band above your knees.
• Lie on your side, with your head resting on your bottom hand. Elevate your feet to hip height (if you can), keeping your knees touching the floor.
• Keep your feet together as you lift your top knee toward the ceiling.
• Slowly lower the top knee down to hover right above the bottom knee. That's 1 rep.
• Do 20 reps. Switch sides and repeat.

If it's too difficult to open up your knees with your feet in the air, leave them on the ground and do the same movement. This is a good activation exercise to do before any lunges or squats... 

Fire Hydrants - 20 reps

• Place the band just above your knees.
• Start on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
• Without shifting your hips, left your left knee out to the side.
• Slowly return to starting position for 1 rep.
• Do 20 reps. Switch sides and repeat.

Keep your core engaged, so you're stabilized and not shifting your hips. You also want to try and keep constant resistance in the band, so if that means you don't come all the way back down to the ground, that's OK. 

 

Donkey Kicks - 20 reps 

• Loop the band around the bottom of your left foot and right ankle.
• Start on all fours with your knees under your hips and hands under your shoulders.
• Kick your left leg up, keeping your foot flexed and knees bent. Hold for 2 seconds at the top.
• Return your left leg to floor for 1 rep.
• Continue on the same side for 20 reps.
• Switch sides and repeat.

The more time you spend holding at the top, the longer the muscle is under tension—which forces your glute to work harder. Give this workout a go and let us know how you go in the comments below!

Angry Calf Hip Circle Booty Bands are available from our website www.angrycalf.com The Bands come in 3 sizes and can be purchased for $29.95 each or $75 for the full set of 3, which would probably be required to complete all 10 exercises in this workout.

Featured athlete is Uyen Huynh who is a 2018 PNBA Pro Figure Athlete with 14 careers titles. Uyen can be found on instagram @wonder.uyen