[Editor’s note: If you’re looking for effective exercise techniques that get results quickly and safely, allow us to introduce a new fitness column written by the trainers of The Phoenix Effect. Watch for it each Sunday.]
Top bunk, bottom bunk, somewhere in between, we all want a great ass. So what are some things you can do in your workout to help sculpt and lift the booty?
Turn your glutes on!
In my experience, many of my clients’ glutes simply don’t fire. This can easily happen from sitting all day or having tight hips. Warm up your bottom with a series of band walks. Grab a band. Hold the handles in both hands. Step on the band itself with your feet at hips distance, cross the band in front of you to form an X in front of your shins and walk to the left 15 times and then back. Do three sets of these just to get that derrière ready to work!
Ass to the grass!
A deep squat will challenge your glutes and make sure your buns are doing all the work they need to be doing to make your butt big and strong. Don’t sacrifice form for weight.
Too many guys want to pile on the plates and can’t squat low enough to really target their posterior, resulting in lower back and knee injuries. Start low and slow for toning and then add weight for size. Give these weights a try, but adjust as necessary based on your ability.
Set 1: 15 reps at 100 lbs.
Set 2: 12 reps at 120 lbs.
Set 3: 10 reps at 140 lbs.
Set 4: 8 reps at 150 lbs.
Prisoner squats: hands in the air like you don’t care!
Last but not least, follow your squat set with an explosive movement like prisoner squats. Put your hands up and behind your head, squat deeply while keeping your chest up and push up hard enough to come up off the ground. Adding an explosive movement immediately after muscle failure promotes growth in the muscle. Give it 10 reps and rest for about two minutes before going into the next set of squats.
Follow these instructions and watch your butt grow as will the number of woofs you’ll rack up on a certain “networking” site. Have fun and be safe, fellas!
The Phoenix Effect, a metabolic bootcamp that gets you in shape fast, is offered exclusively at Mansion Fitness, 7914 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood.
Xzamilio
Awwww, that’s cute. Yeah….no.
avesraggiana
Another gimmicky workout programme. Anything with the words “extreme”, “bootcamp”, “crossfit”, etc, I regard with suspicion as “the gimmick of the month”. The best thing thing to build up a heavenly bottom is ballet class five or six days a week. For years, and years and years.
Even though we all want something quick and easy, a “quick tip” to get this or that, growing a fine ass doesn’t happen overnight.
Black Pegasus
Why is it that gay men are more likely to be in better shape than their straight counterparts, yet we continually see and hear about incidents of gays getting their azz kicked by homophobes? The point is; if you’re going to invest all that money and time into your body, why not learn how to use all that muscle when defending yourself..? lol
jd2222248
People need a video to help explain the workout. 🙂
DiscoveryInLA
No one said it would happen overnight. But their program does work. In my life I’ve worked out solo, worked out with a partner, worked out with a trainer and I’ve done the Phoenix Effect. Nothing transformed my physique faster than Phoenix a Effect. So they might know what they are talking about.
Even if I hadn’t tried their program, with an article like this my take away would be ” going deep in my squats and doing explosive movements right after is better for toning my ass than shallow squats alone.”
onthemark
@Black Pegasus: That’s simple, you know the answer. It’s hardly ever one against one – usually it’s two or 3 or 4 against one.
Masc Pride (masc4masc)
@onthemark: That’s not exactly true. I’ve wondered the same thing as Black Pegasus. A lot of the bashings in my area were usually two (or more) gays and one assailant (sometimes a woman). Though it’s usually the femmy twinky gays that get assaulted. Attackers are just less likely to go after a guy that looks more manly/jacked. Maybe they can’t even tell those guys are gay in the first place. All it would take is a few instances where a gay guy obliterates a basher (instead of being interviewed on the 10 o’clock news crying like a 7 y/o girl).
adventuretime
@Masc Pride (masc4masc): dude come on…do you really enjoy being such an offensive troll all the time? Does it not get tiring? Like, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but you test all limits
Masc Pride (masc4masc)
@adventuretime: I’m trolling but Black Pegasus isn’t? We’re saying the same thing. Neither of us said anything offensive either. Nice try, DarkZephyr.
onthemark
@Masc Pride (masc4masc): I’ve never heard of gay-bashings like that, though I suppose they are possible. Most gay-bashings I’ve heard of – and one of the two I was involved in – were where the gay guy was simply leaving a gay bar. It was usually two or more young males versus one, sometimes carrying broken bottles or worse. Good luck fighting back against that, no matter how in shape you are.
Masc Pride (masc4masc)
@onthemark: Yes, sometimes there are group attacks, and those are unfair no matter what the motivation. I’m saying Black Pegasus made a good point: What good is the gym if these guys get their asses handed to them EVERY time? One of the reasons why bashings continue is because gay guys seemingly NEVER fight back. When the attack is one on one, it’s just a fight, and gay guys seem to lose those too. These queens are always full of so much moxie online, but when confronted IRL….nothing but tears.
Merv
Thanks for the article. I have never been able to properly activate my glutes. Even squats don’t work for me. I always end up working my quads instead. About the best thing I’ve found is lunges with the back foot on the weight bench, but even that loses effectiveness after a few weeks (judging from lack of soreness afterwards).
Saint Law
@Masc Pride (masc4masc): Your wound is showing, deary.
No innately masculine man would feel the need to describe himself as such in post after post after unconvincing post.
Stop trying so hard.
Masc Pride (masc4masc)
@Saint Law: LOL @ “deary”. My grandmother used to say that. What does your catty little comment have to do with what we’re discussing here? Nothing. Your obsession is showing. Harassment is against Queerty’s ToU:
“Additionally, you agree not to: contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted; “stalk” or otherwise harrass [sic] anyone”
http://www.queerty.com/terms-of-use
Tackle
Yes it’s true that on average, gays are in better shape then their straight counterparts. But being in better shape does not necessarily mean being stronger. Most bashers tend to pick on gays who are smaller then them , use weapons , when they are coming out are bars or clubs: which the victim has a high chance of being tipsy or more. And what was mentioned here, the attackers outnumbering their victims.
adventuretime
@Masc Pride (masc4masc): I’m not DarkZephyr.
And no, you’re not saying the same thing. BlackPegasus is making somewhat of a valid point, it being that why have all the muscles if you don’t know how to use them?
Regardless, it’s still blaming the victim instead of the assholes who would attack someone in the first place. Your assumption that “femmy/twinky” guys usually get attacked, which is completely unsubstantiated, is unnecessary. And feminine does not mean skinny/weak. Even if feminine guys are out there getting attacked and still being brave enough to stay true to who they are and saying fuck the haters, why do they need your anonymous internet criticism trolling them? Or are you out there beating up homophobes left and right and just happen to know better?
At the end of the day, no matter what you look like, if you’re a dude who likes dudes, you’re gay. You’re just as gay as the next gay guy. The people who hate us out there? They don’t give a shit how much you like football or how strong your 5 o’clock shadow is. They hate you just the same.
Impossible Boy
@adventuretime: To US, it’s all equal. To some homophobes, though, the fact that a gay person is more different to them — like more “femme” guys — makes him all the more likely to be the one attacked. And it’s not that they’re not brave; it’s simple logic to figure out that “beefier” guys with more muscle are better equipped to defend themselves.
And let’s just face it, they might not DARE try to bash a muscular gay guy that might actually be their match, or more. They may hate them just as much, but they’re afraid they might actually fight back — easier to just go with what they who are the weaker ones, who they think won’t be ABLE to fight back. You know, “picking on guys that are smaller than you”, or so they think at least.
Masc Pride (masc4masc)
@adventuretime: BlackPegasus said: “The point is; if you’re going to invest all that money and time into your body, why not learn how to use all that muscle when defending yourself..?”
I said: “One of the reasons why bashings continue is because gay guys seemingly NEVER fight back.”
Tacky said: “Most bashers tend to pick on gays who are smaller then them…”
I said: “Though it’s usually the femmy twinky gays that get assaulted. Attackers are just less likely to go after a guy that looks more manly/jacked.”
SAME. FUCKING. THING! You’re just a bitter queen looking to stir up an argument because you have a personal issue with masc appreciation. Your off-topic anti-masc diatribe totally gives you away, buddy.
avesraggiana
@Black Pegasus: Because a characteristic many, not all, gay men share is vanity. Which is different from being naturally aggressive and unafraid of physical confrontation, which is a characteristic many, not all, straight men share. That’s why it’s such a big deal when someone comes out as gay in a high physical contact and violent sport like boxing, UFC or football.
Gay men are great at bitchy cat fighting, as evidenced by the many comments on this blog, not so great at calling out another guy and taking them down to the ground.
adventuretime
@Masc Pride (masc4masc): No, not bitter at all. Queen–sure, as much as the next gay guy. Argumentative? Maybe. I like having discussions.
Masc appreciation? Wtf is that? I have appreciation for all kinds of people, regardless of how “masculine” (or not) they deem themselves to be, and have issues with no one based on those kinds of perceptions.
Attackers are cowards, so they go after whatever they think is easiest. What I’m saying to both you and BlackPegasus is that no one actually knows the statistics on who is bashed more, but I’m sure it has far more to do with outnumbering than the potential “masculinity” of their victims. There are very femme guys who are big as hell, as you no doubt must be aware of. And who cares if twinky guys are assaulted? Many women who are attacked are usually smaller too. Does that mean we should shame them for being attacked or talking about it? By calling out the “weak” status of the victims, it’s like you’re shifting the blame onto them, when it is ABSOLUTELY NO ONE’S FAULT that they were attacked except the attacker’s. Period. full stop.
adventuretime
@Masc Pride (masc4masc): btdubs, this article had to do with a simple fitmess regimen, and you and BlackPegasus started talking about femme guys getting bashed and why it’s their fault. so, calling people out for off-topic diatribes? Pot, meet kettle.
adventuretime
@Impossible Boy: I don’t think the people trying to stop marriage equality in the states or hang gay people in Uganda care about how “beefy” you are. You might be talking about on the fence people who just aren’t so comfortable with the “campier” side of the gay community, but not true homophobes. Certainly not someone who would be cowardly enough to attack someone just because of their sexuality.
And masculine does not equal muscular. I know plenty of very “masculine” guys who are pretty damn skinny, and plenty of pretty “feminine guys” who are roided beyond belief. So who’s an attacker gonna pick between the two? The huge femme guy, because he’s listening to Lady Gaga? Please.
Of course we could all just get guns, and I guess that would solve that problem :O
vive
So where are the big butts? Photos please. In the meantime, look here, you’ll be glad you did:
http://butts4all.tumblr.com/archive
SteveDenver
An article about butts with NO PICTURES OF BUTTS. BUMmer.
SteveDenver
@vive: Graciass