TOP GLUTE EXERCISES TO DO AT HOME TO STRENGTHEN THE BOOTY FOR A PAIN FREE BODY

I am a huge fan of at home routines. It’s a great way to keep the body moving when time is limited. While few have home gyms staked with equipment, a simple routine using resistance bands can be very effective to strengthen the body, get your heart rate up and improve your overall health. As you progress your lifts, you may want to transition to heavier weights, but banded work is the perfect way to start out and is also the recommended tool to work through pain and injury in the lower back, knee and hips as a result of weak, inactive or overactive glutes.

Here are my favorite banded glute exercises to support a healthy and mobile body:

Glute Bridges with a Mini Band

By far my favorite exercise to work the glutes in the shortened position in hip extension. Controlling the hips as they move into flexion and extension while keep tension on the band will have those glutes on fire and will ensure you are maintaining the contraction the entire time.

Resistance or Mini Band Squats

This is a great banded exercise to work the glutes in the lengthened position. If you have access to a band with handles or a cross-fit style pull up band you can add some resistance to the exercise as you drive out from the end range. If you have a mini band you can add resistance at the end range (bottom of the squat) by slightly opening up the hips and abducting.

Mini Band Kick Backs

It is important to incorporate unilateral movements into a well-rounded program in order to work through any imbalances. A kick back is a fantastic unilateral exercise to load the glutes in the shortened position and work on strengthen the hips in extension.

Banded Dead Lift

The deadlift is one of the top exercises to train the glutes in the lengthened position. While a challenging exercise to execute at home with limited equipment, there are a couple of ways you can perform the motion using bands. Using a cross fit style pull up band, folded, step on the band and hold the top portion between your feet. This variation will load the glutes as you move out of the end range.

Lying Side Kick Ups

The glutes have several major muscles and when programming a solid glute routine, one should select exercises that target all of them. The lying side kick ups is a great movement to target and load the glute medius and minimus (the upper portion of the glutes).

Seated Abductions

The glutes are responsible for hip extension as well as abduction, a movement that will externally rotate the femur. This is important to note, as the femur works in tandem with the knee, hip and ankle and if our glutes are strong, theoretically we have better control over how our femur moves and ultimately keep the hips, knees and ankles stable as we perform daily activities. Abduction exercises, such as a seated mini band abduction, is one of my favorite at-home exercises to ensure the glutes are strong when rotating the hips. The glute medius and minimus, as well as the piriformis are the dominate muscles controlling this motion. You can load the glutes in this plane by placing a mini band around the quads and pressing laterally to add resistance. You can also perform this in hip extension (in a glute bride), which will target the glute medius, minimus and maximus all at the same time.

The post Top Glute Exercises to Do at Home For a Pain Free Body first appeared on Leigh Taylor Method and is written by Leigh Taylor

Long-term weight loss isn’t impossible, but you do have to be committed. Having a weight loss plan for your success is a good start. Here are ten items that should go into your weight loss plan.

1. Eat nutrient dense meals. This will help you stay full for longer periods of time reducing the possibility of snacking mindlessly or binge eating.

2. Stock your refrigerator and pantry with the foods that you categorize as “anytime” foods. These are foods that you feel best fit into your plan and consuming them helps you meet your macro goals. They are also ones you know you have a good relationship with, meaning you can control your portions and they aren’t associated with negative feelings after consuming them.

3. Fill up on Fiber. Eat foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The fibers in these foods will fill you up leaving less room for choices that may not be in line with your goal.

4. Don’t go off the rails on the weekends. Many people will follow a strict diet on weekdays only to fall back into eating and drinking more on the weekends. Unfortunately, this can cause you to regain the weight you may have lost during the week. Try having a plan for dining out and drink clear liquors with soda or water. This will help create balance and a structure that allows you to be social while still sticking to your plan and achieving your weight loss goal.

5. Watch portion sizes. Your perception of what a serving size should be and a “true” serving size can differ dramatically. Measure your portions accurately, especially when you first start your healthy eating regime.

6. Set lifestyle goals – not weight loss goals. Commitment to eating healthy foods does lead to healthy weight loss — gradually. Looking at your weight daily can cause discouragement and will make many people give up and go back to unhealthy food choices.

7. Take healthy snacks with you when you’re on the go so you have an option you know fits within your calorie goals. When we are hungry our brain sends signals to the body to consume! We are likely to be less thoughtful about our choices in these moments. Having a snack on hand will not only keep you with energy throughout the day but allows you the ease of not worrying about what to eat when hunger strikes.

8. Don’t deny yourself the foods you love. If you absolutely love chocolate, go ahead and have a piece but be mindful of serving sizes and account for it accordingly. I encourage you to track your calories to get an idea of what portions look like. Tracking is not only a way to help you stay on track but it will indirectly teach you how to visually track your food; as you prepare meals you’ll see portions sizes correlating to your tracking app. Eventually you won’t have to use an app to track!

9. Start moving. Exercise is the key to long term weight loss.

10. Keep a journal. Writing down what you eat, when and how much you exercise and your moods will keep you on track and motivated to continue the course.

Weight loss is achieved by both diet and exercise. It is also achieved by persistence. If you “fall off the wagon” one day, pick yourself up and continue your healthy lifestyle the next. Don’t give up!

The post The formula for losing weight is simple: eat less and exercise more. But, it’s not really all that simple, is it? first appeared on Leigh Taylor Method and is written by Leigh Taylor

Written by Natasha Wolff

According to the CDC surgeon general report, nearly 50-60 percent of Americans have a sedentary lifestyle and roughly 25 percent are completely inactive?

From that annoying lower back pain you just can’t seem to figure out or that chronic knee pain you get every time you take a long walk, inactive glutes are often the culprit.

People may experience lower back pain and will try everything but glute exercises (Maybe take this part “but glute exercises” out) to alleviate the pain.

What they don’t know is that the exercises you should be doing are all centered around strengthening the gluteus muscles and hip attachments to treat and prevent lower back pain and injury.

New York City-based fitness trainer and nutrition coach, Leigh Taylor Weissman, is leading the charge on changing the mindset about this important muscle group and how to engage it properly.

“The glutes are indirectly responsible for balancing and supporting almost your entire body but specifically initiate and control movement of the hips,”

says Weissman.

“Our hips connect to our lumbar spine, or lower back, and glutes as well as help control movement in the hamstring and quad (which control extension and flexion of the knee). When we sit all day, our hip flexors can become tight causing weakness or inactivity in the glute muscles.

As a result the glutes cannot kick in to help perform their usual job and the hips may take over to compensate.

This then causes the lower back to tighten up as the flexors tighten and assist the hip muscles to bear movement they are not strong enough to control.

The shift here can cause a myriad of issues from something as small as a pelvic tilt to disk degeneration.

The pain domino effect can be endless.”

With gyms back open and workout enthusiasts returning to their pre-Covid-19 routines, we talked to Weissman about strength and resistance training and how to prevent and correct inactive glutes and get the most out of each workout.

Trainer Leigh Taylor Weissman does a single arm dumbbell row

What exercises should you be doing to strengthen glutes and hip muscles?

Hip Thrusts to strengthen the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in your body and the main muscle controlling hip extension.

Bulgarian Split Squats to work the lower glute max which will help with knee stability.

Seated banded abductions or abductions on a machine to work the glute medius, minimus and piriformis—all essential for strong and balanced hips to prevent lower back pain.

Single leg dumbbell deadlifts to work the glutes in the lengthened position to stabilize and strengthen the hamstrings attachment to the knee.

Barbell back squats and Barbell deadlifts to work the glute maximus in the lengthened position. Both exercises work to strengthen the supporting muscles of the hips, knee and back.

Pistol squats to work the rectus femoris one of the muscles responsible for hip flexion and stabilizing the knee.

Trainer Leigh Taylor Weissman does a barbell hip thrust

How can you build significant muscle?

Resistance training causes adaptations in our muscle fibers, one of these being increase in muscle size. It requires a lot, I mean a lot, of calories to build significant muscle in a short period of time, a fact one forgets when the fear of looking like the hulk prevents one from lifting. You can, however, gain a little bit of muscle, shape and tone the glutes, by simply eating intuitively, ensuring you’re getting enough protein and carbohydrates and adding weights to your routine.

How can this kind of workout not only help tone the body but also help with longevity?

Lifting has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, decrease risk of heart attacks and strokes, improve bone density, blood pressure and prevent diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Weightlifting is particularly helpful with those struggling with metabolic issues and weight. One of its greatest strengths, no pun intended, is resistance training’s ability to stabilize blood sugar (our body will put sugar to work pre- and post-exercise, as a means to fuel and repair the body). A new study released by the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and College of Health Sciences found that weight training actually causes fat cells to turn on their fat burning mode on a molecular level. We can now say lifting weight causes us to burn fat.

Trainer Leigh Taylor Weissman does a Bulgarian split squat

How do you know what the right exercises are for you?

First you may want to get an assessment from a glute specialist or physical therapist to analyze if there is an imbalance, why it exists and where it stems from. There may be an obvious indication, but there may not be a tell-tale sign and we want to get to the root of the problem. If you don’t have the time to see a professional, or simply want to begin incorporating glute work to stave off pain and injury, start with a booty band. Banded glute bridges off the floor, clam shells and seated banded hip abductions are great exercises to incorporate into your daily routine. If you have a desk job and lying on the floor isn’t an option, carve some time out of your day to do banded work in your chair. I would also encourage foam rolling your quads and lower back to release any tension in the hip flexors.

This post was originally published on dujour.com

The post The Exercises You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren’t first appeared on Leigh Taylor Method and is written by Leigh Taylor

This post originally appeared on our partner site, Furthermore by Equinox. 

Equinox offers nutrition coaching from certified instructors because it’s not just about what you eat, it’s about how you eat. So, we created Habit Forming, a monthly series devoted to bringing you actionable eating habits to help achieve your nutrition goals. This, the fourth installment, delves into the relationship between stress and appetite.

There’s a deep connection between your mind and stomach, which is sometimes called the ‘second brain,’ explains Dominic Matteo, level 2 masterclass instructor at Precision Nutrition in Cleveland. That’s why the impact of negative emotions like stress and anxiety may cause overeating. “People tend to want to fill a void with food,” says Bethany Snodgrass, holistic health coach and operations manager at the Equinox Fitness Training Institute in New York City. They may feel as if a stressful event has taken something away from them and that food will fill the gap, she says.

Others experience the opposite effect and drastically reduce their eating when too many stressors impact their lives. “Nourishment is the last thing on someone’s mind if they’re so overwhelmed that the thought of food is nauseating,” Snodgrass explains.

Few people only fall into one camp. These physical and mental responses to heightened stress often depend on the situation at hand. Regardless, it’s easy to feel powerless in the face of these challenges.

Furthermore asked Matteo, Snodgrass, and more experts about ways you can remain true to your nutritional goals and practice emotional self-care.

The challenge: I’m so stressed, I’m eating everything in sight.
In addition to the aforementioned emotional reasons for overeating, there’s a physiological explanation as well: Your adrenal glands may pull minerals and vitamins away from other organs to produce stress hormones, such as cortisol, which could result in hunger, as your body needs to regain nutrients. In these situations, many reach for high-fat, high-sugar comfort foods, because they release the feel-good chemicals dopamine and serotonin. “It’s easy to retreat and soothe those feelings with food,” says Matteo.

The solutions:
Track your feelings and food. Keep a log of when and what you’re eating, the quantities you’re consuming, and how you feel before, during, and after. This may help to identify emotional-eating triggers. “A lot of times, you don’t catch yourself in those behaviors unless you track them,” says Lauren Deluca, Tier X coach at Gold Coast in Chicago.

Fuel up with healthy fat. If you’re an emotional eater, you’re likely drawn to junk foods in moments of stress because they trigger those happy chemicals mentioned above. Instead of reaching for fries, keep good-for-you snacks handy at work and home, including nuts and other foods high in healthy fats, and antioxidant-rich ingredients like berries, recommends Leigh Taylor Weissman, Equinox’s New York–based manager of food and beverage.

Just breathe. Before you grab something to eat, take some deep breaths. It can help you to destress, and thus realize you don’t need to consume anything in that moment. Count to ten while slowly inhaling and exhaling, or do face-down crocodile breathing to focus on belly breaths. “Breathing drills help put the thinking part of your brain back in control, as opposed to it being hijacked by your emotions,” Matteo says.

The challenge: I’m so stressed, I’ve completely lost my appetite.
When you’re overwhelmed and anxious, your body may release the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can derail your appetite and potentially cause nausea. Over time, this might lead to unwanted weight loss and disordered eating. Professional struggles and interpersonal challenges like illness or breakups often incite this kind of physical response. It’s not always a negative situation—heightened events like weddings, athletic competitions, and performances can introduce adrenaline as well. “People don’t want to consume food because they are getting the energy they need from the adrenaline, so they say, ‘I’m not hungry,’” Weissman says.

The solutions:
Eat like clockwork. Even if you don’t feel hungry, it’s important to stick to a regular dining routine. “[Your body’s] hunger and fullness cues are only regulated when you’re eating consistently. A small meal around the same time every day could bring back more of the response to eat,” says Deluca.

Seek comforting foods. Find something palatable when you’ve lost your appetite, even if it might be outside of your usual nutritional preferences, like a carb-forward dish that you might ordinarily avoid. If possible, pair it with something healthier so that you’re still nourishing yourself. “You have to get something inside of you to let your body know that you’re not starving,” Snodgrass says. “Starving yourself is just helping continue the cycle of stress internally.”

Plan meals ahead of time. Try to create a weekly meal plan by prepping, scheduling, or ordering ahead of time. “This doesn’t have to be elaborate; just knowing things like, ‘I’m eating here for breakfast, bringing this for lunch, and cooking that for dinner’ can make a huge difference in the overall allostatic load [the physical effects of stress] a person is dealing with,” says Matteo.

Do low-intensity exercise. Explore more restorative movements to increase your energy and appetite and, perhaps, provide endorphins. Exercise can be a stress reliever, but when you haven’t been eating as much, an intense workout may start to break down your immune system. “Go for a long walk or do some gentle yoga or another activity where you are getting the blood flow going while also focusing on breathing,” Matteo suggests.

The post Eating Well Under Stress first appeared on Leigh Taylor Method and is written by Leigh Taylor

Prioritize increasing mechanical tension and progressive overload

To grow the glutes we must continuously increase mechanical tension though playing with load/weight and training volume (number of repetitions per set, lift and/or program and sets per lift/program). By implementing a progressive overload program you will gradually be increasing and tracking the weight used, sets and repetitions completed during your lifts, guaranteeing enough tension on the muscles to grow the booty.

Work towards failure and chase the burn

Metabolic stress is another key component to glute growth. We obtain this by working to failure and set those buns on fire! This means we need to chase that burn and push to a point where our muscles will no longer allow us to successfully perform the exercise (or close to that point). The burn typically means a buildup of lactic acid which along with an anabolic signaling stimulates the muscle to growth.

Eat to grow

Our body needs energy to build. We get our energy through food. Ideally, to see our desired results, we are eating in a surplus with a diet rich in quality proteins to restore, carbs for quick energy and fats for stored energy.

Rest

Muscles need time to repair after we’ve worked them. The best way to give them this time is by resting the muscles worked. Ideally you are giving the glutes a min of 48 hrs to rest before hitting them again.

Be consistent

To build takes time, patience and a methodical approach. Plan to work your glutes 2-3 days per week with training programs that are around 8-10 weeks long. You will modify the program thereafter to account for the increase in strength and endurance.

The post The Glute Guide and The Big 5 : Five Important Steps to Build That Tush first appeared on Leigh Taylor Method and is written by Leigh Taylor