The One Thing People Often Forget When Sculpting Their Butt, According to a Trainer

Photo: Getty Images/NKS Imagery
Whenever I'm strength training in the gym, you can find me working on my butt. I'm all about the squats, donkey kicks, and bridges galore in the attempt of sculpting my very own peach emoji.

The thing is, though—butt-sculpting exercises aren't just about working those muscles within your glutes. "I see a lot of people make the mistake when working on their butt of ignoring their hamstrings," celebrity trainer Chase Weber tells me. "You can't just work your butt and forget your hamstrings—they're just as important." Whoops.

He says to think about it like this: "There are three parts to your butt—your the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. You wanna attack that lower part of your butt—it's attached to your hamstring." So your peach is essentially held up by that often-neglected muscle known as your hamstring. It's like a muscle pillar.

It makes sense—not only do people forget about the hamstrings when working their bum muscles, but they also tend to be "quadricep-dominant." Meaning that they tend to work the crap out of their quads, while also neglecting the poor hammies. "People often forget that there is an anterior chain and a posterior chain to the body," Weber explains. "If you work one more than the other in turn you will eventually get hurt. Your hamstrings—posterior chain—are connected underneath your glutes." Hence why it's so important to work them, too.

So how is one to work the hamstrings, then? Weber says that his number one, go-to move is the deadlift. "I make everybody do deadlifts," he says. "It's great for your butt." Besides that, Weber recommends hamstring curls, which are basically bicep curls for your hamstring, and hamstring sliders, where you're lying on your back with your feet on sliders, and you kick your feet in towards your butt (this burns). Whatever you do, though, just don't forget to work the muscles that keep your peach perky in your butt-sculpting journey.

To even things out, you can also try these lunge workouts or this full-body resistance band workout to get your sweat on. 

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