It’s a great time in the world, isn’t it? A time where we seem to appreciate a little heft in the bum more than ever.
Whether we were moving in that direction already or not—or whether Baby Got Back or Jennifer Lopez spurred on the movement in the 90s—everywhere I go I come across women, especially, who ask me how to build a little more muscle mass plumpness in their bums.
Then again, maybe the desire for a bubble bum isn’t all that new, after all. The first successful booty implant actually dates back to 1969—performed by Dr. RJ Bartels.
Don’t give him too much credit, though: His early butt implants weren’t all that convincing. They didn’t have a natural look to them, and because he put the implant between the skin and the gluteus maximus muscle, the implanted bums sort of moved around when you touched them. Like their actual shape would change when you grabbed it. Not ideal.
Bum augmentations are, of course, a lot better today and safer today, and certainly a lot more mainstream. It is believed that close to 15,000 Americans spent a few thousand dollars augmenting their bums back in 2015, and that number seems to grow every year. So, going under the knife is certainly an option to get that ass you have always wanted.
But….
It’s not the only way.
If you’re into working hard for things and doing them naturally—and not risking surgery and spending $5,000 for it—then these seven bum exercises are for you. All you need is your body and a band.
Bum Burner Exercise 1: Banded Glute Bridges
Adding a band to your glute bridges make them infinitely harder. Can you do 100 in a row? If you don’t have a rack like in this video, you can also anchor the band under heavy dumbbells.
- Your goal is to perform 100 without stopping.
Bum Burner Exercise 2: Clamshells
Can you do 50 without stopping?
- Try 50 clamshells per leg.
Bum Burner Exercise 3: Banded Walks
You can do these walking forward or laterally. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart (or wider) to make sure there’s tension on the band at all times.
- Do 3 sets of 20-30 steps per leg.
Bum Burner Exercise 4: Banded Leg Raises
A glute ham developer or a reverse hyper are ideal for anchoring yourself during these banded leg raises, but you can do a similar movement on all fours on a bench.
- Perform 3 sets of 25 per leg.
Bum Burner Exercise 5: Lateral Banded Leg Raises
- Perform 3 sets of 25 per leg.
Bum Burner Exercise 6: Banded Squats
If you know you don’t use your glutes as much as you should during your squat, these are great for getting the glutes more involved.
- Do 3 sets of 25 squats.
Bum Burner Exercise 7: Banded Jumping Squats
Same idea as above, except explode at the top by squeezing your bum cheeks together.
- Perform 2-3 sets of 15-25.
I promise you, your bum will burn!