Just when you thought we were running out of body parts—it's ASS TIME.
Photography & Video: Ben Murphy
Model: Callum
The human butt is the engine of the human runner. Without it, your legs would attach directly to your lower back, and, besides looking like a waiter in a Hieronymus Bosch-themed restaurant (how great would that be?), you wouldn't be able to run. Nor would you be able to walk, sit, or partake in the timeless hilarity of flatulence. You're nothing without your butt. Your gluteal muscles play an essential role in making you who you are. It's the biggest muscle in your body, and besides holding your trunk upright, it allows you to extend, abduct, and rotate your hips, thereby providing and maintaining mobility to the bottom half of your body.
Right now, you're probably asking yourself, 'Isn't the act of running enough exercise for my gluteus maximus?' No, running is not enough. Your daily postural habits—slouching in your chair, slouching on the couch, slouching at Hieronymus Bosch's Spaghetti Barn—can decrease hip mobility and create imbalances in the general area of your human ass. So, working out your butt is a good idea.
Before we go any further, we need to acknowledge that the butt is comprised of three distinct parts: the Gluteus Maximus, the Gluteus Medius, and the Gluteus Minimus, which will all get some action here. And because of their proximity, the hip rotators, quadratus lumborum (your sides), psoas major (the bit that goes from your spine to your pelvis and upper leg), hip adductors (inner thigh), and abdominal muscles (guts) will also get a workout. This all adds up to improved performance and overall injury reduction. Now, let's have a look at some exercises to strengthen your caboose.
*As always, check with your GP before attempting any of the butt-work below.
Your daily postural habits—slouching in your chair, slouching on the couch, slouching at Hieronymus Bosch's Spaghetti Barn—can decrease hip mobility and create imbalances in the general area of your human ass.
Bridges
This one is super easy and also super effective in strengthening your butt. Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent (if you can lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor without bending your knees, please send photos). Now, slowly lift your hips and butt off the floor, and when they've reached their full extension toward the ceiling, focus on squeezing your glutes like you're trying to crack a walnut. Hold for a count of five and release, gently lowering back to earth. You may feel some initial cramping with this one, particularly in the hamstrings. If you do, just chill on the full extension and continue. 20 reps, 3 sets.
Resistance Band Kicks
Get down on your hands and knees—your hands beneath your shoulders, knees beneath your hips—and struggle awkwardly until you can get a resistance band around your left foot and right knee. Push your foot out and away from your body like you're trying to kick a table holding a priceless Ming Dynasty vase behind you. Do this 20 times and change sides. Then do it again on the other side 20 times, and so on, until both sides have done 60 of 'em.
Squats
Duh. Squats. Of course. Who doesn't know how to do squats? Everyone knows squats, and that's because they're popular, and they're popular because they're effective—so we're doing them. Stand with your feet a little wider than your shoulders, chest up and back straight, weight in your heels, and drop down like you do at the club every weekend, only slower. Hold. Then slowly push back up through the heels until you're standing again. 20 reps and 3 sets? Why not. And if you don't think this is doing much for your butt, grab a kettlebell and hold it to your chest. If you don't have a kettlebell, get a cinder block. No cinder block? Fill a pillowcase with billiard balls.
Clamshells
This might look easy—which it is—but it's also super-effective in strengthening the area where your booty meets your abductor region. It's an excellent exercise to improve mobility and reinforce a particularly injury-prone part of the runner's anatomy. Get down on that floor, lying on your side like the guy in the video, and bend your hips and knees to create a 90-degree angle, or like you're sitting in a chair that fell over. Now, without separating your feet, lift your top knee as high as it will go before your pelvis naturally rotates in its direction. Can you feel the burn? No? Okay, do 20 on each side and get back to me.
So, that's four fundamental glute exercises you can do to strengthen your butt and help you run better. If you'd prefer not to do those exercises but would like to have a more robust butt, run lots of hills.
