Want to fix your flat hips? Try 5 butt-lifting exercises to shape them up

In a world of Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna and Shakira, wanting to shape your butt like a peach is a wish many women may have. But it becomes especially true for those who may be conscious about their flat bums. A good exercise regime, complete with butt exercises, can come to your rescue.

Exercise can help you build and tone your glutes by increasing the muscle strength. They can target and develop your glute muscles, inner thigh, calves, and hamstrings. So, if you want your butts to be round and strong, you need to practice a few exercises.

Health Shots spoke to Abhishek Sinha, senior fitness instructor at Equilibrium Pro Gym, Faridabad, to find the best butt exercises which can help you lift and tone your bums.

Here are 5 expert-recommended butt exercises:

1. Squats

When you sit by squatting, your hamstring, quadriceps, and hip (glutes) muscles are engaged.

Here’s how to do it:

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• Stand straight in front of a mirror.
• With both legs apart, as per your shoulder width, go down as you would sit on a chair or bench, but here there will be no chair or bench.
• Your hamstring muscles should touch both your legs’ calf muscles while sitting.
• Continue with this and keep practicing this exercise.

2. Lunges

The muscles that will be engaged are the quadriceps, hips (gluteus), hamstrings, calf muscles, etc.

Here’s how to do it:

• Stand straight in the same squatting position and take your right leg out in front.
• Your left leg will be there at the same place as you will lunge.
• Now, bend your right leg forward and your left leg will also bend at the knees forward.
• Now, after bending your right leg, take back your right leg from where you put it.
• Bring your left leg and lunge forward the same way you did with your right leg and bend forward.
• Simultaneously, both legs will come out alternately and keep doing lunges.

3. Hip thrust

This exercise will come out with a focus on your hip muscles and glute muscles. They’ll also improve the agility in your thighs and leg muscles.

Here’s how to do it:

• Lie down on the edge of a decline bench on your upper back side.
• Face will be up towards the roof of a room.
• Apart from your back, the rest of your body will be in the air with both legs apart at least 18 to 20 inches in a bridge position.
• Now, put the barbell with some plates on your lap just at the joint of your legs and lower abdominal
• Start thrusting downwards and above the bench line.
• Continue with this hip thrust and concentrate on your hip muscles.

4. Step-up squats

This exercise will deeply focus on your hip muscles, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps.

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Here’s how to do it:

• Stand straight in front of a box or a bench. The box height should be around 20 to 25 inches.
• Now, just lift your right leg and step up on a box straight with full-body balance.
• Come down slowly and continue this with only the right leg 10 to 12 times, and then with the left leg on a box or a bench.

5. Adduction

Here again, with this exercise, your glute muscles are trained. It is one of the greatest exercises to improve muscle performance and decrease pain in your knees.

Here’s how to do it:

• Stack your hips as you lay on your side.
• Fold the arm on the floor-side under your head to support it.
• As a reminder to yourself not to slant forward or backward, place your upper hand on the ground in front of you.
• Flex and stack both feet.
• When you feel your hip flex, lift your top leg just over your hip and hold for two seconds.
• After three counts of lowering, return to the starting position.
• Work up to three sets by performing 10 repetitions on one side before switching to the other leg.
• Aim for 20 reps on each side as you go.