Surprisingly enough, building an awesome booty (for a guy or a girl) has very little to do with squats… FITSPO LIED!

Sara and I sat in a dark park, basked in the street lamps gloom, enveloped by the unseasonably cold November night. We have a tradition that, like many other traditions, came about through repetition.

Every Tuesday night for the past few months, we have eaten tacos. We call it Taco Tuesday. And I have what’s called the Taco dance that NATURALLY accompanies the event.

On this particular night, we decided to hunt down the Taco Truck and, as we sat in the park, me eating my four chicken tacos, and Sara her fish ones, I couldn’t help but notice the five guys that were loitering around, waiting impatiently for their dinner.

Whilst there was nothing out of the ordinary, five simply guys who were inconspicuously getting dinner on a Tuesday night, there was one thing that I couldn’t ignore- their arses were almost concave; their jeans hung loosely where their arses should be.

A trainer friend of mine says that the first thing he notices about a person, man or woman, is their gluteal development… aka their butt, and with good reason.

People with big butts are not only incapable of lying but they also have less lower back pain, better hip drive, and increased pulling power to pair with athletic endeavours such as strength training and sprinting, among others.

But then, how do you get a well developed gluteal maximus that will not only fill out your jeans, but also help you in the gym?

Building a ‘Sir Mix-a-lot booty’ that will help you lift more, reduce lower back pain and stop traffic

I’ll preface this by saying this is not a quad builder. If you desire is to become a Quadziller, terrorising small Japanese fishing towns with your ginormous quadriceps of doom then this isn’t for you. A program like that would require a larger emphasis on creating metabolic damage in the quads, as opposed to in the hamstrings and glutes.

Subsequently, this is a particularly good routine for a woman as it will ensure that the curves grow where you want them, instead of building quads that bust the seams of your jeans.

Barbell Glute Bridge        4×10                    60 seconds
DB Single Leg RDL         1×10, 1×15, 1×20  60 seconds
(If you can’t stand on one-leg, use a staggered stance, one foot behind the other for balance)
DB Reverse Lunge          3×12 (per leg)       60 seconds
Barbell Hip Thrusts       3×15                       45 seconds
KB Swings                       2×25                       30 seconds

The DB Reverse Lunges are the only quadricep movement in the program, but the step-back movement shifts the focus from the quadriceps to the hamstrings and glutes.

One word of warning, the goal, especially when you get to the Hip Thrusts, is to cause a glute cramp. If you’ve never experienced one of these before, be prepared, they are awful.

Try it for a month, once a week, and watch your curves grow.