Don’t think so? Look at all the sprinters in the world from high school to the Olympics and you will see living proof. Almost 90% of sprinters have the butts that most women are working hard to get. A lot of women are doing tons of squats and lunges but not too many have ever thought of sprinting on the track or on a field.
Take a look at this picture on the right, this sprinter Alenka Bikar. For the most part this is how most sprinters look. The good thing is that sprinting usually keeps both your thighs and butt all proportionate.
Muscle Function
When you walk there is joint action that takes place from the time your front leg hits the ground until it being pulled back as you push forward, this is called hip extension. Basically this is what the gluteus maximus is for so when you run you need to do all of this very quickly. The faster you run or sprint the more the glutes get worked. Sprinters do these hundreds of times daily and explosively and this is why you will notice a great difference between a sprinter and a marathon runner’s shape.
Sprinting over Traditional Exercises
Well, the most important reason is that sprinting tends to give you an overall firmer bum! Whereas the other traditional exercises such as lunges, squats, and deadlifts tend to actually increase the size of not only your hips, but also your thighs, hamstrings, and butt. Most women seem to only want to firm up or have a more rounded bottom not necessarily a BIGGER one!
But She Was Just Born With It
Yes, some women are just born with a nice firm round bottom while others have to work on it! The good news is that for your glutes genetics play less of a role than you think. You see unlike some other muscle groups your butt isn’t really limited. In other words, the playing field is a little more even in the race to having a great butt!
What to do
Sprints
What to do – Run as fast as you can for 10-20 seconds, then rest or walk for 1 minute. Perform this 8 times followed by 10 minutes of cool down.
Kettlebell Swings
What to do – Stand with a wider-than-shoulder-width stance, with your feet angled out slightly. Hold your kettlebell between your legs with both hands.
Push your hips back and squat down while hold your chest high. Squat down until your kettlebell is below knee level. Explosively pull your hips forward hips forward (extend your hip joint) as you swing the kettlebell up to chest height whle keeping your arms straight.
Keep the swinging/squatting action going for 10-20 seconds making sure that you maximally squeeze your butt (lock out your hips) with each swing.
Hey Thomas,
Great site you got here.
Great post as well, it is similar to a post i did recently: http://www.leanathletefitness.com/athletes/how-to-get-a-beach-volleyball-players-butt
I look forward to coming back here.
Great stuff!
Michael
@ Michael
Thanks for stopping by I appreciate the kind words. Just here looking to help where ever I can! I’ll make sure to check out your post.
Sprint workouts not only work, but they’re over before you know it. I used do a brisk walk the treadmill an hour+. Ha. Might as well have not done anything. But this… it works. Thanks!!
@ B
Sprints definitely save time and are a complete body workout! Just make sure you don’t over do them. I would say only do sprints maybe 2-3 times a week. And don’t cut out walking as it has great benefits as well!
Hey, great article man. I am up to start sprintig (and give up my all body routine at the gym as it’s not what i’m looking for) for building mass in my legs. I haven’t done a cardio workout for ages. My plan is to keep my leg routine at the gym (squats, leg press, leg extension, leg curl once a week) and add sprints gradually. What would you recommend for me to start? thanks.