A toned bum is a desire for many women, it's hard not to be so focused on it when you see stars like Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Kim Kardashian parading theirs around so often. So, how do you tone your bum?
It’s not enough to work your bum muscles, you need to work the opposing ones too, which means your lower back and legs.
Table of Contents
How to tone and lift your bum
Jump Lunge
Elevate the standard lunge by adding in some plyometric training. Jumping lunges increase the intensity of the exercise and you'll start to feel the burn a whole lot sooner than you would a standard lunge. Ensure you keep your back straight through the entire exercise and keep your front knee in line with your ankle, if you push it forward too much it'll only leave you with sore knees.
Start with ten reps on each leg and build up from there, it might not seem like a lot, but you'll definitely feel it in the legs and tush.
Push off from the front foot when doing lunges to really work the bum
Jump Squats
Looking for something different than your regular squat? Adding a jump will definitely up the intensity of the exercise. When completing the exercise make sure you keep your back straight and don't let your knees go over your toes. Squeeze your bum as you lift yourself into the air too for the maximum bum burn. Start with 15 repetitions and build on from there.
When you start to get used to the exercise you can up the intensity by moving around as you jump, such as 90-degree or 180-degree turns.
The higher you jump on your squat the lower you can go to really work the glutes
Glute Bridge
Glute bridges are a great exercise for toning your entire core, not just your bum. They work the hamstrings too, which are essential for helping to lift your bottom. Start with no weights, and vary up the exercise by changing how far out your place your feet, as well as lifting up and down in a full extension, pulsing your hips and then even just holding the position for a length of time. When you want to up the intensity, try holding weights onto your hips or you could take it to a single leg bridge to target one cheek at a time.
Glute bridges are great for working the lower back muscles too
Tuck Jump
Tuck jumps are explosive movements that work more than just your glutes, and plus they're cardio too so they're great for burning fat. Bring your knees up as high as you can when you perform the movement, and the more you practise this move the better you'll get at it. Engage your core when you perform the workout to help stabilise the body and increase the burn too. Try starting with 20 repetitions and increase them when you can.
Make sure you engage your stomach when doing tuck jumps to get the most from the exercise
Squats
Squats are a great compound movement that works more than just your glutes, they're also great for your core, quads and hamstrings, and provided you use weights, your upper body too.
The essential thing when performing squats is to ensure that you keep your knees behind your toes, squeeze your glutes when you get to the top and keep your core engaged throughout to ensure your back is straight.
If you want to work your glutes that little bit more add some weights to your squats, dumbbells or a kettlebell are great to add resistance to your exercises.
Using a weight will add resistance to your exercise and make your muscles work harder
Squat Thrusts
Squat thrusts are another excellent exercise to work your bum, core, upper body and it's a form of cardio too. They can be quite intense, and at first you might not be able to bring your legs completely towards your chest, but as you practise these more and more you'll get better and stronger.
The girls at Tone It Up also know a thing or two about ways to tone your bum and they have a brand new video that will work your glutes, as well as your quads and abs too. So follow the exercises on the ways to tone your bum from British Military Fitness and then do the Cardio Booty video from Karena and Katrina – you’re going to have a toned and pert bum in no time.