Can Pilates Help You Build A Stronger Butt?

Pilates could do wonders to your physique, such as strengthening your core and making improvements to your posture.

What many people don’t know is that Pilates can also help you build a stronger butt!

Yes, you read that right. Pilates is a type of exercise that focuses on our core and working out your rear is not only easy to do with several Pilates exercises, but it is actually one of the main points of focus in a Pilates session.

You are not the only one wishing for a stronger, firmer butt.

There are plenty of people around the world hitting the gym daily to achieve that goal, so if you are one of them and wish to improve your rear, we have some Pilates exercises that can support the activation of the various glute muscles and increase your flexibility and range of motion.

So, continue reading this article as we delve deeper into some details about the glute muscles and how Pilates can help you engage them and strengthen them with some simple yet effective bodyweight exercises.

Our Glutes’ Morphology

According to the ACE (American Council on Exercise), our buttocks are comprised of three main muscles: the gluteus maximus, the gluteus minimus, and the gluteus medius.

Although most people focus on the glute maximus when working out because it is the biggest and most noticeable muscle of these three, it is vital that we focus on all three of them if we want to build out the butt.

Our gluteus maximus is in charge of stretching and rotating our hips, which allows us to perform movements like squats or lunges.

Based on our pose at the time, the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus behave similarly. They assist in moving our legs away from the midline of our body and help with the pelvis stability.

How To Build Your Butt

According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, resistance training is necessary to build the glute, in the same way, it is vital for building your triceps or quads.

Even though you should implement a weekly strength-training regimen to bulk up your rear, you could also use both forms of exercise, such as Pilates, to vary how you target these muscles.

Mat Pilates for example, which is a bodyweight type of workout, includes a variety of glute-activating exercises.

Reformer Pilates can also assist you in developing your buttocks because the equipment can be adjusted to provide you with varying levels of resistance.

Whether this resistance is sufficient for your glute muscles to grow will depend on your personal level of activity, previous workout history, nutrition, and so many other factors that play an important role in muscle growth.

When you have been hitting the gym and stimulating your muscles regularly for a while, a Reformer session could help you optimize your motions, and then you could perfect the same movements and see your performance improve.

Pilates Moves For A Stronger Butt

Heel Beats

Heel beats are definitely on the list of the best glute exercises during a Pilates session. Apart from engaging the glutes, heel beats assist in strengthening your rear, from the bottom to the top.

They are also doing an amazing job at toning your body.

The best part? Heel beats are easy to perform, and they can be done in any place you are, be it at home, in the park, or at the Pilates studio.

To perform this exercise, follow these steps:

• Lie on your stomach and stretch your legs
• Squeeze your buttocks and raise your legs
• Continue squeezing your buttocks and start doing leg scissors by moving them to the sides and then back to the middle
• Rest after 30 beats for about 10 seconds. Repeat

Lunges

Pilates can support your glute growth because specific moves strengthen and tone your glute muscles. Standing lunges, for example, can help with both.

To perform this exercise:

• Stand straight and place your hands on your hips
• Using your leg foot, take a big step forward
• Keep your knee bent and make sure that it is aligned with your toes
• Lean into the bend of your leg
• Take a deep breath, then return to the standing position. Tip: Use your front leg’s strength to return to a standing position
• Repeat the same movement with the left leg
• Alternative for 20 reps per leg, then rest for 10-15 seconds before repeating the exercise all over again

It is best for you to do fewer reps of more exercises during a Pilates session, so stick to the 10 lunges per leg recommended.

All through the workout, make sure you keep your buttocks tight.

Side Kicks

If you are trying to perform side kicks, imagine your legs as windscreen wipers. While lying on your side, stack your left leg on top of your right.

Kicking the left leg forward, bring it slowly back, and then extend it behind you.

Keep your right leg pressed to the floor as this will make it easier for you to stay balanced and not wiggle back and forth.

Perform 10 side kicks from one side before turning on the other to perform another 10 kicks.

This exercise is great for toning and strengthening the sides of the glutes. It is also a useful bodyweight exercise to which you can add more resistance using, for example, a resistance band.

Finally, while you might perform the side kicks at a fast pace, the slower you do them, the more intense – and thus effective – the exercise will be.

Double-Leg Kicks

Introduce double-leg kicks to your Pilates workouts to stretch your spine, and back, and tone your buttocks.

Lying on the floor with your legs together, face down. Knot your palms behind your back to prevent your arms from assisting you in lifting your body.

Tighten your buttocks and abdominals, lower your pelvis, and raise your legs. During this whole exercise, try to ensure that your legs are touching one another.

The closer your legs are to the floor, the more strenuous the exercise. Single-leg kicks and double-leg kicks both engage and focus on the side of your buttocks and glutes.

The number of legs kicked simultaneously distinguishes the two different types of kicks. The steps to perform both kicks are the same.

As for the number of reps, stay faithful to the magic number 10 without pausing between kicks.

The Bottom Line

While it might be surprising to some, Pilates is one of the most effective types of workouts if you want to build and strengthen your butt.

There is more than one muscle in our group, which means that it is important for us to include exercises in our regimen that target all three of them, either separately or together.

In this article, we have provided you with some examples of great Pilates exercises you can perform to target the glute area, all of which will help you tone and build your butt in no time.

The only thing you need to do is dedicate time and energy to your Pilates sessions and make sure you have a mind-muscle connection to perform these exercises in the best way possible!