[Rachellia]

Ok, here's the deal: I've never had a big butt (not even when I gained weight), and as I lose weight, I'd like to build one with muscle that will balance out my proportionately large breasts/hips.

Have any of you one here built a decent booty (or even a larger one) with weights? If so, what would you say are your top moves/equipment for bulking your rear?

Mind you, I don't just want toning, I want actual bulk in this area. On the bright side, I do tend to build bulky muscle naturally (when I started weight lifting a few years back I put 2.5" on my biceps in less than 3 months), but I find it hard to target my but without feeling like more of the strain is going to my thighs.

[zinkemomx2]

Stairmaster, donkey kicks, lunges, and squats maybe?

[Depalma]

First, do some glute activation work in your warm up such as unweighted lunges, supine bridges, and bird dogs to "wake-up" the glutes so that when you do your weighted work, you will be more likely to work the muscles you are targeting and not letting a hyperactive muscle take over the movement.

For exercises, depending on where you are at in your trainin, my favorites are:

1. Pull Throughs
2. Box Squats. These emphasize the posterior chain better than free squats. It really forces you to sit back and then drive through your heels. Just make sure you don't rock forward to get up off the box and you will be hitting the glutes hard.
3. Lunges. All variations are great. Static lunges, AKA split squats if you aren't ready for dynamic lunges.
4. Glute Ham Raise. These are HARD! If you are lucky enough to work in a gym with a GHR, obviously use that. If not, you can do natural glute ham raises on the lat pulldown machine or on the ground with someone holding your ankles. At first, you may need to start with some assistance. On the ground, you can assist yourself, On the GHR on lat pulldown machine, you will need someone to give you a tap up. Again these are HARD!

[Rachellia]

Originally Posted by Depalma

First, do some glute activation work in your warm up such as unweighted lunges, supine bridges, and bird dogs to "wake-up" the glutes so that when you do your weighted work, you will be more likely to work the muscles you are targeting and not letting a hyperactive muscle take over the movement.

For exercises, depending on where you are at in your trainin, my favorites are:

1. Pull Throughs
2. Box Squats. These emphasize the posterior chain better than free squats. It really forces you to sit back and then drive through your heels. Just make sure you don't rock forward to get up off the box and you will be hitting the glutes hard.
3. Lunges. All variations are great. Static lunges, AKA split squats if you aren't ready for dynamic lunges.
4. Glute Ham Raise. These are HARD! If you are lucky enough to work in a gym with a GHR, obviously use that. If not, you can do natural glute ham raises on the lat pulldown machine or on the ground with someone holding your ankles. At first, you may need to start with some assistance. On the ground, you can assist yourself, On the GHR on lat pulldown machine, you will need someone to give you a tap up. Again these are HARD!

I can do about 10-15 walking lunges in a row without losing my balance -- but the fire always hits my hamstrings before my glutes. Still, a few of the other moves I need to check out, as I've never tried them. The box squats especially sound like something I need to try, I'll work on those tonight. Thanks!

[Depalma]

When you do your walking lunges, when you are in the bottom position are you conscious to complete the lift and squeezing the glute when you are down there or are you concentrating so much on keeping balance that you are not specifically remembering to squeeze tight at the bottom of the lift?

This goes for lifts like deadlifts and squats too. I see a lot of people who never really complete the lift and go to full hip extension and push the hips through and squeeze those glutes.