Best Cardio For Glutes: Activate That Booty!
Adding cardio workouts to your routine is crucial for building solid glutes and priming your booty before hitting the weights.
While weightlifting is crucial for glute growth, incorporating specific aerobic exercises can complement your strength training routine and relieve your joints.
In this article, we’ll explore the advantages of doing cardio for your glutes and identify the best cardio machines for targeting your backside. Let’s dive in!
GLUTE-BASED CARDIO BENEFITS
- Glute Activation
Glute activation involves a series of exercises to wake up the muscles in your buttocks. Many of us spend long hours sitting, leading to weak or inactive glutes due to constant pressure and lack of movement.
It’s crucial to activate your glutes before starting any workout to ensure they’re ready to engage during weight exercises.
Skipping this step can lead to other muscles, like the quads and hamstrings, compensating for the inactive glutes, resulting in ineffective workouts and an increased risk of injury.
Cardio exercises are an excellent way to activate the glutes, preparing them for heavier exercises like squats and hip thrusts.
- GLUTE WARM-UP
Before lifting weights, it’s essential to warm up your muscles to prevent injury and enhance performance.
Cardio plays a vital role in this process by increasing blood flow to the glutes, delivering oxygen, and removing lactic acid buildup. Essentially, it primes our bodies for more intense exercises.
A thorough warm-up also helps loosen the joints and improve flexibility, crucial for glute-focused exercises requiring deep stretches.
Most cardio activities engage the glutes to some extent, with some being more effective than others. Later, we’ll explore the best cardio exercises targeting the glutes.
- CALORIE BURNING
In addition to activating the glutes and warming up the muscles, incorporating glute-based cardio into your routine can help burn calories.
Cardio is an effective way to torch calories, making it beneficial for those aiming to shed body fat. To lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit by burning more calories than you consume.
By engaging in regular glute-based cardio, you burn calories and sculpt and tone your buttocks, contributing to a healthier and more defined physique.
IMPROVE CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS
Incorporating some form of cardio into your glute-focused fitness routine is always a smart move.
While lifting weights is the primary driver of glute growth, having the stamina to power through those workouts is equally important.
We need endurance to get through our glute sessions without feeling completely drained. The goal is for our muscles to tire out before our cardiovascular system does.
Engaging in cardio, especially glute-focused cardio, improves our endurance, strengthens our glutes, and enhances our ability to endure intense workouts.
RECOVERY
After a challenging glute workout, you might experience muscle soreness in the following days. Lower body cardio can help alleviate this discomfort.
Increasing blood flow to the muscles speeds up the delivery of nutrients, aiding muscle recovery and reducing downtime.
Remember, your glutes aren’t built during the workout but rebuilt during rest periods. Proper recovery is essential for continuous progress.
Allowing two to three days of rest between heavy glute sessions is recommended. However, individual recovery times may vary based on exercise intensity and personal fitness level.
TOP CARDIO FOR GLUTES
While many cardio machines offer some glute engagement, some are more effective than others. Incorporating cardio into your routine can be highly beneficial if you aim to tone your glutes, shed fat, or build muscle.
1. STAIRMASTER
The StairMaster is the best cardio machine for targeting your glutes. Stepping on the StairMaster activates your glutes and engages your calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps, leading to fat loss and muscle development.
A recent study highlighted step-ups’ effectiveness in activating the glutes, surpassing other popular exercises like deadlifts and squats. Although increased glute activation doesn’t guarantee more muscle growth, the two have a strong correlation.
To maximize your StairMaster workout, consider skipping steps, incorporating kickbacks, or side-stepping to engage all three glute muscles. Maintain a tall posture, slightly leaning forward at the waist, and focus on driving up through the sole of your front foot to maximize glute activation.
While ascending quickly intensifies the workout, remember that challenges lead to engaging.
2. CYCLING
Exercise bikes offer an excellent lower body workout, simultaneously targeting your quads, calves, and glutes. However, since cycling predominantly works the quadriceps, individuals seeking to strengthen their glutes should adjust their body position by rising slightly from the saddle, repositioning their hips, and leaning forward.
Customize the resistance level to match your fitness level, and if you’re feeling adventurous, consider joining a spin class at your local gym for an added challenge.
3. TREADMILL
If used correctly, the treadmill can be a valuable tool for targeting your glutes. While walking or jogging slowly on a flat surface may not engage the glutes much, adjusting your treadmill routine to train these muscles effectively is possible. Here are some tips to maximize your glute-building benefits on the treadmill:
Increase the speed:
Sprinting is an excellent way to strengthen your quads, hamstrings, and glutes while benefiting cardiovascular health. By sprinting, you’ll engage your lower body muscles to their fullest extent, burning calories along the way.
Try HIIT:
Incorporating high-intensity interval training (HIIT) into your treadmill workout can be highly effective. Alternate between sprinting for 15 seconds and walking for 45-60 seconds for about ten rounds to challenge your muscles and boost calorie burn.
Increase the incline:
Setting the treadmill higher can significantly target your glutes. Like climbing stairs, a higher incline forces your glutes to work harder to propel you forward. Maintain a moderate pace at a relatively high incline to feel the burn in your glutes.
4. ELLIPTICAL MACHINE
The elliptical machine, or the cross trainer, is another excellent option for engaging your glutes during cardio workouts. The primary function of the glutes is hip extension, which involves moving the leg backward behind the body, a motion that the elliptical machine facilitates.
To maximize the glute benefits of using the elliptical machine, it’s essential to work against some resistance. This ensures that your glutes actively extend the hips and move your legs backward.
Choose a resistance level that challenges you without being too difficult to maintain. Additionally, adopt a stance that involves pushing your hips back and slightly bending your knees to further target the glutes during your elliptical workout.
Conclusion
Cardio is an excellent method to engage, strengthen, and develop the glutes, benefiting these muscles and the entire body. Incorporating regular cardio exercises into your routine can enhance cardiovascular endurance, burn calories, and improve recovery.
While all the cardio machines discussed effectively activate and strengthen the glutes, our top pick is the Stairmaster. Research has shown that the movement involved in using the Stairmaster results in significant glute activation, making it a standout choice for glute development.
Ultimately, the most crucial factor in any fitness program is consistency. Therefore, we recommend selecting the cardio machine you enjoy the most, as adherence is vital to long-term success. If you want your workout, you’ll stick with it over time.
