Well friends, bathing suit weather is back (GULP) and I know for so many of my fellow mamas, that’s not the most exciting news. Let me start by saying regardless of who you are, what size you are and where you are in your fitness journey, you are beautiful. We’re our own toughest critics and as we get older and our bodies change, we forget to extend ourselves the grace we deserve as women. Think about it, our bodies go through a lot. For me, I’ve learned that the most important things is that I’m doing the best I can to take care of myself and I feel confident and comfortable in my own skin. In my humble opinion, that should be how we measure our success.
As you may or may not know, I have had 2 C-Sections with my boys and getting back to a place where I feel comfortable has always been a challenge but more importantly building up my core and muscles that stabilize my lower back has been more of a struggle than anything else (good thing I love my boys so darn much!) A huge muscle group that helps stabilize your core is your gluteus Maximus and medius (AKA your booty). Building this muscle group to have the perfect peach can take years to develop, BUT building to just strengthen and tone can happen much quicker and that has really been my goal over the last few years.
For me, it’s all about trial and error when it comes to nutrition plans and workouts that work best for me and what works great for me, may not work for you. That being said, I’ve found that when it comes to that tedious booty work, I’ve seen the best results using resistance bands. I’m sore for days, but it’s worth it! I’ve tried a few different brands over the years and although I haven’t tried anyway I dislike, my favorite ones are definitely from SlingShot. I’ve just found that they last the longest and there is less risk of them tearing. I think these workouts stuck with me because I didn’t necessarily need a gym to do them. If I was out of town, I could do a workout in my hotel room, if my kids need me at home, I can do them in my bedroom. Honestly, I could probably do it while working on my clients if I really had too! Just kidding…
Since this has worked SO incredibly well for me, I thought it would be fun to share my go-to booty band workout with all of you. Now, if you have any injuries, please consult with your doctor or trainer first. Before I break it down for you, here are a few things for you to keep in mind while you’re doing each of the movements below:
- Always engage your core
- Always keep your chest up
- Keep your head in line with your spine
- Think about the muscle you are targeting to help engage the muscle
Okay, here we go.
Air Squats
- keep band just above the knee and sit all the way back into the squat
- 3 sets of 20
Fire Hydrants
- get on all fours with the band just above the knee
- With the knee bend swing your leg directly out to the side as if you were a dog peeing on a fire hydrant
- 3 sets of 8 each side
Squat KickBacks
- squat down with band just above your knees and on your way back up left one leg directly behind you
- Squat down and alternate legs
- 3 sets of 8 each side
Lateral Squat Walk
- With the band above your knees, get in a low squat position and do a lateral walk to the right 12 steps
- Look to your left and do a lateral walk to the left 12 steps
- 3 sets of 12 each way
Squat Walk Backward
- While in a squat position stay low and take 16 steps backward
- Turn around and take 16 steps back to where you started
- 3 sets
Glute Bridges
- Put the band around your knees and lay on your back with your legs bent at hip distance apart
- stabilize your feet on the ground and push through your heels to raise your hips to a bridge position with your shoulders touching the ground
- As you raise your hips push out slightly at the knees to add more resistance
- Repeat for 3 sets of 12
Are you tired just reading that? I feel like I’m out of breathe just writing it out! It’s really an awesome way to tone up your lower body and I hope you find it as helpful as I did. Let me know if you found this post helpful and maybe I’ll do an upper body post for you next! Clearly I’m tapping into my inner personal trainer these days, but I kind of dig it.
Happy squatting, ladies!
