20 Minute Easy and Effective Bodyweight Butt Workout

Overview

This workout will take you 20 minutes to complete. You stay on each exercise for 20 seconds and then move immediately onto the next (no rest!). Once you’ve completed each exercise, rest for 30 seconds. Repeat twice more, going through the set of exercises three times in total.

The list of exercises below looks long, but you’ll notice the changes from one to the next are small. In some ways, it’s very similar to the work you do on the floor in barre classes. You start with a bunch of squat variations, then move onto a bunch of hip bridge variations, then finish with a bunch of variations in a tabletop (hands and knees) position. It’s really just a handful of movements, making a few small changes to each as you go: full range (large movement) –> pulse (small movement) –> hold (isometric).

I’m breaking up these explanations into three groups: squat moves, bridge moves, tabletop moves. This is just to give you a better idea of the flow of the workout—you do not take breaks in between these groups of exercises. You only rest when you’ve completed the entire list of exercises.

Even though the whole point of this workout is that no equipment is involved, you could always do it with ankle weights on and hold a set of dumbbells during the squats to make it more difficult (neither are needed to feel the burn though—I promise!).

Bodyweight Butt Workout

Image Source: Pumps & Iron

Exercises

Squat moves:

  • Squat: Feet about hips-width apart, squat down, sending your hips and butt back and down (not the knees forward!). Keep your chest open, shoulders back—it’s natural to lean forward slightly as you lower down, but we don’t want to hunch Bring your hands in front of you as you sink down to your lowest point, bodyweight staying in your heels. From there, powerfully stand back up, straightening your legs and thrusting your hips forward (squeeze your bum at the top!) and driving your arms behind you. Make sure you’re actively engaging the outer thighs to prevent the knees from caving inward (knock-knees) as you lower down into your squat.
  • Pulse Squat: Now just take it down to your lowest squat and from that position pulse up an inch and down an inch.
  • Squat Hold: Take out all movement and just hold down low in your deepest squat. Make sure weight is in your heels.
  • Plié Squat: This is your basic squat but with feet much wider than hip-distance apart and your toes pointed outward (like a ballerina’s feet when doing a plié). Keeping your spine straight, abs in tight and chest open, bend your knees and lower your booty down into a squat. From there, return to standing, squeezing those buns and straightening your legs as you power up. Knees should track out in the same direction as your toes the entire time, and feet should be wide enough apart so that as you squat down, your knees are jutting forward, in front of the toes.
  • Pulse Plié Squat: You’ve probably got the drill by now—lower down into your deepest plie squat and pulse from there, up an inch and down an inch.
  • Plié Squat Hold: You guessed it—take out the pulsing movement and just hold your deepest plie squat.
  • Alternating Sumo Squat Leg Lifts: This is a wide-stand squat with alternating side leg lifts. Feet wider than hip-distance apart, squat down low. Shift your weight into the right side and, staying as low as you can (it’s natural for the right to straighten a little, but don’t come out of the bent knee all the way), lift the left leg straight up and out to the side. Lower it, bringing your weight back to center in that deep squat. Repeat to the other side.

Bridge moves:

Do these all on the right…

  • One-Leg Hip Bridge Thrusts: Lay on your back, arms flat on the ground by your side for support, knees bent and feet flat on the floor. From here, squeeze your glutes and lift your hips a couple inches off the ground so that your butt is hovering. Lift your left foot into the air as well. This is your starting position. Your butt and that lifted foot will never touch the ground again (well, not until you’re done with this side). From here, thrust the hips upward, squeezing your glutes and pressing through the planted foot. Hold for a second at the top and then slowly lower hips back down to a hover.
  • Pulsing One-Leg Hip Bridge Thrusts: Make the movement of the previous exercise smaller—you’ll send your hips up as high as you can, and then from there just lower the hips down an inch and up an inch. It’s a small, pulsing movement at the top of your range of motion. Think of it as a squeeze (of the glute/hamstring) and release. Left leg still is pointing straight up in the air as ou do these.
  • One-Leg Hip Bridge Hold: Now take out all movement, holding your hips up as high as you can with that left leg pointing up towards the ceiling, squeezing your right glute and hamstring.

Then do the same moves on the left…

  • One-Leg Hip Bridge Thrusts
  • Pulsing One-Leg Hip Bridge Thrusts
  • One-Leg Hip Bridge Hold

Tabletop moves:

Do these all on the right…

  • Donkey Kicks: Start on all fours: knees stacked under hips, hands stacked under shoulders. From here, you’re going to press the bottom of your right foot up towards the ceiling, squeezing that right butt cheek. Pause at the top and then lower down most of the way (don’t let the right knee come to rest on the floor). As you do these, keep a straight spine by engaging your abs, pulling the belly button in towards the spine.
  • Fire Hydrants: Start on your hands and knees in a tabletop position, hands stacked under shoulders, knees stacked under hips. Keeping your right leg in that 90-degree angle, lift that knee out and up in a wing motion (like a dog lifting to take a pee), opening up at the hip. Bring it back in close to the starting position, but try not to fully rest the knee back on the floor. As you do these, pay attention to your core: You wants a straight spine, protecting the low back by pulling your abs in tight the whole time.
  • Straight-Leg Side Lifts in Tabletop: This is like the fire hydrant move, except with a straight leg. Get on your hands and knees in a tabletop position, hands stacked under shoulders, knees stacked under hips. From here, bring your right leg straight out to the right side. Lift it up a couple inches so that it’s hovering off the ground. This is your starting position. From here, lift the right leg up as close to hip height as you can (it’s tough!) and slowly lower back down to a hover. As you do these lifts, try to avoid shifting all your bodyweight into that opposite left side—instead of leaning in the opposite direction as the right leg lifts, you want to keep your body in a centered tabletop. A good way to achieve this is to lift the opposite, left hand off the ground (it’s also more challenging this way).

Then do the same moves on the left…

  • Donkey Kicks
  • Fire Hydrants
  • Straight-Leg Side Lifts

Via: Pumps & Iron

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