#also hi maximus’ calves
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the Man™️ of all time if I’m being honest
#this is how you get me to watch violent ancient epic movies#you put russell crowe in a piece of sackcloth that shows off every one of his muscles and i can’t tear my eyes away#even when he decapitates the guy in the other scene i’m like 😍🥰🤩😊🥹😍#this academy award winning scrap of coarse fabric has appeared in every one of my fantasies for years#something about how it’s open on the sides just ahdjHGGGGGGRRRRRR#turns me into a ferocious tiger of a woman#GET IN MY BED SIR#and let me kiss every inch of your skin#obsessed with how stocky and sturdy and robust he is#a literal feast for the eyes AND the soul#like as if it’s not enough that he’s kind and compassionate and smart and brave and loyal and honorable#he’s also the sexiest man ever to don a tunic and boots??#*insert feral madwoman noises*#it’s just. the grit of this for me#how he’s at his lowest point here and down in the arena sand fighting for his life after he didn’t even want to live anymore#and how he’s showcasing all his strength and survival skills and sheer power#gets me. so hot so fast#use that strength on me maximus#go full on intense raging warrior on me#*quick shot of maximus twirling a sword and setting his jaw to focus on a kill*#*quick cut to me ripping off my clothes like a cartoon werewolf*#i just. have nothing appropriate to say#also hi maximus’ calves#would you like to meet my calves in a horizontal position#anyway sorry everyone my insanity doesn’t even make sense anymore#my brain is wallpapered with photos like this and i’m so happy about it#gladiator#maximus decimus meridius#gladiator 2000#russell crowe
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Interview with a Vampire A Max Phillips One-Shot
Summary: Reader is sick, a curled up on the sofa while Max is at work, little did she know he'd surprise her coming home early while 'Twilight' is on TV Words: 1962 Rating: E for EVERYONE --Its a lot of fluff- Warnings/Triggers: Max is a vampire, he's kinda of an asshole, but its mostly fluffy, mentions of the movie Twilight, mention of sex and God...nothing really to bad. No mentions of reader descriptions, but it is written in first person from a female.
It's Friday the 13th it felt like a good day to share a Max Phillips story, something I wrote quickly to help get out of my writers block. And thanks to @musings-of-a-rose-writes for reading it before I posted ;)
**Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story. **
The perks of being sick, besides the fact I don’t have to go to work. I get to snuggle into my boyfriend's old Princeton hoodie while having my lower half burrioted in a fuzzy blanket. I’m laying on the way over-priced leather couch that he just had to have. “It’s classy sweetheart, and I am a classy man," he had said when the delivery guys dropped it off in his great room. I’m warm in the little cocoon I’ve created and my eyes slowly close and I drift off for yet another nap.
My senses start to come too when I feel the fuzzy fabric moving, the feeling of his large hand rubbing the soft fabric up and down my calves that are now draped over his lap. I slowly blink awake, glancing at the wall clock on the far wall, it’s too early for him to be home. The sun has just started to descend. I stare at his sharp profile. The strong jaw, his Romanesque nose, and those pouty lips. Those lips that should be a sin to be able to kiss. I mean, technically they are a sin. He is a sin. He is the definition of sinful.
I turn my head seeing that Twilight happened to be the movie playing. His eyes focused on the images moving in front of him. He hated vampire movies, always complaining about how Hollywood portrays them. I see the remote sitting on the coffee table, in the same spot I left it. I lean forward reaching for it when his hand snatches it before I can even lift my arm.
“Now, baby girl…” he says, smirking and raising an eyebrow looking at me, “Bella is just about to tell Eddie boy what he is”
Maximus Phillips, senior sales manager, my boyfriend…and a vampire. Now you see, dating my boss was never part of my plans. And dating a vampire definitely wasn’t on my life BINGO card, but here we are.
“Max, give me the remote” I sniffle, sitting up and pulling my legs away from him
“But this is the best part” he puts his arm around me, pulling me close, rubbing his nose along my neck before placing a kiss to my pulse point
He is trying to distract me, and god damn it…it’s working. He sucks on the delicate skin he can reach. His hand sliding up my arm, his fingers grip at the material and pull it out of his way. A little nip has me meaning his name. “Mmmm Maaaax”, he nips at my skin again, and I feel him smile. Knowing Max it is probably more of a smirk. His hand slides around my throat, keeping me in place “shit foooooocmmmcus” I think, as I wrap my fingers around his wrist
“I know what you are”
“What are we baby girl?” Max asks, he sharp teeth grazing against my skin
My free hand grips his thigh, waiting for him to sink his fangs into me. “A vampire…” I say in unison with the movie.
“That’s right” he presses his lips against my skin
I open my eyes and see remote sitting next to him, I slide my fingers up, lacing them with his. I run my hand up his thigh, leaning into him more. Hoping and praying that he is still laser focused on my neck. My hand flies from his leg to reach for the remote. Before I can even realize what happened he is sitting on the lazy-boy, remote in hand. Almost teasing me with it.
“You gotta be quicker than that baby girl” he smirks. Turning his attention back to the movie.
“Max, please. Can we just watch something else” I beg
I watch Max, he throws his head back in laughter shaking his head as Edward sparkles in the sunlight. “This is the skin of a killer” the TV says, he laughs at that even harder. “This movie is full of lies”
“Aren’t they all?” I groan. I knew this was going to happen, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. But really this is all his fault, he came home early
“I don’t fucking sparkle in the sunlight, in fact I don’t know a single vampire that does”
“Well yeah, because you turn into a pile of dust” I smile at him
“How many bad vampire movies have you seen?” He questions, taking off his dark charcoal suit jacket, setting it over the armrest “I don’t turn into a pile of dust, and I don’t catch on fire either”
“The daylight ring protects that” I watch as he stands, undoing the knot I’m his red tie, and pulling it from around his neck. He drops it into my lap, walking to the covered floor to ceiling windows on the far side of the room, “Max…Max, what are you doing?”
“Showing you what happens to me in the sunlight” pushing a few buttons on the wall, the dark blinds begin to rise, letting the setting sunlight fill the room.
He starts to unbutton his white dress shirt. He stands in the middle of the windowsl, letting the sun hit his entire body. My eyes are locked on to him. His fingers slowly finish unbuttoning his shirt, “now sweetheart, I want you to watch…” he slides the silver ring off his finger. It makes a clink when it hits the hardwood floor beneath him.
“Max, don’t…you don’t have to do this”
I honestly have no idea what is going to happen. I mean he wouldn’t put himself in danger of melting, burning, turning into dust or wax..no wait that’s a witch. He gives a wicked small, while he lets the shirt fall to the ground. I sit and wait, and watch. He’s right…nothing happened. No sparkles, no smoke, no turning to dust.
“I told you baby girl, nothing was going to happen to Daddy” he smirks.
“Don’t call yourself that, it’s weird” I say, watching as he bends down to pick up his ring. He slides it back on his finger before picking up his shirt. There’s a faint glimmer from where the sun was hitting his back. I cough, trying to hold back my laughter. I end up coughing harder than I probably should have.
Max is sitting next to me in the blink of an eye. A hand rubbing up and down my back. “Sweetheart, are you ok? Baby?”
“I’m…cough..ok” I get out finally
Max pulls me close, pulling my legs over his lap as I snuggle into his chest. The sun had warmed him slightly. He was never ice cold to the touch but his body was always cooler than mine. Never even breaking a sweat when we fooled around. I turn my head up to look at him, I barely open my mouth “and no, I can’t read your mind” I swear I could almost hear his eye roll
“But, you just did” I smile, resting my head on his chest, “the movie does have one thing right”
“That we vampire’s are incredibly sexy”
It’s my turn to roll my eyes. Confidence was something he didn’t lack. Nope, not one bit. Maximus Phillips knew he was attractive and he made sure everyone knew it too “it’s part of my charm” he would always say. I lace my fingers with his and set them on my lap. “I was going to say moody…” I grin turning my head to look at him, “but, sure sexy weeks too”
He frees his hand from mine, tucking his fingers under my jaw tilting my head up. He slowly brings my lips towards his. His eyes looking into mine, his tongue darting outs, quickly wetting his lips. A sinfully playful smile before they crash onto mine. It starts slow, gentle; his hand slowly moving to wrap around my neck. Licking the seam of my lips I let him in before quickly pulling back, “it’s alright baby…I can’t get sick…remember”
And he says he can’t read my mind. His thumb brushing the delicate skin just below my ear. I close my eyes and look down at our joined hands. Max leans forward, resting his forehead against mine.
“You sure you can’t find minds?” I sigh
“Maybe, just yours” he shrugs grinning from ear to ear
He places a quick kiss on my check and returns to watching the movie. I put my head back on his chest, his hand on my thigh. His thumb gently rubbing soothing circles while his other hand rubs my arm up and down. It’s gentle moments like this that I forget who and what he is, a man who can flip and switch. A man who is incredibly capable of snapping my neck with just a flick of his wrist if he wanted.
“Ugh…” he throws his head back, groaning and yet another vampire cliche “our eyes don’t change colors. They especially don’t change based on what we eat. Baby, why do you watch this crap?” it wasn’t a question though
It was a good question, I don’t really know why. Maybe because it was nostalgia, maybe it was because at the time, I thought it wasn’t just a cheesy vampire movie. Did I know at the time that a handful of years later I would actually be dating a vampire? No, it definitely wasn’t on my life’s ‘bingo’ card. I didn’t even believe vampires were a real thing…not until Max Phillips walked into my life.
“But they do, I mean not like that…but yours do”
He shakes his head, “they stay this awful shade of brown…they always have been” he kisses the top of my head before I turn to look up at him
“They are always brown, yes, but sometimes they are lighter. They have a honey color to them, sometimes they have a speckle of gold to them especially when you look at me and tell me you love me. Then, sometimes…when you are just about to ya know, they are almost black.” my hand holding on to his broad shoulder, he stares down at me and I see that little fleck of gold I was just telling him about. I scrunch my face, trying to hold back a sneeze but it doesn’t work. I have been holding it back for too long.
I closed my eyes, and sneezed all over his face before I could get my elbow up to cover my nose. I open my eyes to Max's face, something between annoyed and shocked that I actually sneezed on him.
“You sneezed” he comments
“Thanks, I didn’t realize that's what I did” I roll my eyes at him “wait, you can’t say it can you? You can’t say bless you…” he shakes his head no, “you can’t say God either can you?”
“No, I can’t say it, but I sure as hell can make you scream it…just before mine” he smirks, pulling away from me and going back to watching the movie
“Max…gross” I shake my head, wiping my nose on the sleeve of his hoodie and laying my head back on his chest. His laugh, deep makes his entire body shake and it’s moments like this. A domestic moment with him that makes me forget he's a vampire.
I had fallen asleep at some point, waking up to a dark room. Max had laid me down on the couch, a blanket wrapped around my body. My back pressed up against his chest, the thick, warm blanket between us. The final scenes playing out in front of us. Edward and Bella sharing a dance. He leans her back, his lips moving to her neck. Max’s hand resting on my hip, I can feel his lips moving against my ear. “I love you too…” he whispers
#Pedro Pascal#Pedro Pascal Characters#Chirstina Writes#Max Phillips#Max Phillips x Reader#Max Phillips x you#Blood Sucking Bastards#Pedro Pascal Character Fic
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Posterior Chain Training: Exercises for a Strong Lower Back
There is an epidemic of chronic lower back pain.8 It’s one of the leading causes of “Years Lived with Disability” (YLD), is responsible for over 7 million ER room visits each year, and costs us both time (hard to do much of anything when our lower back is hurting) and money (people with lower back pain end up spending thousands of dollars a year on average to treat it). I can’t think of anything that degrades overall quality of life more than persistent lower back pain.
And as is so often the case, our attempts to treat the condition often make it worse. What does the average person do when their back hurts?
They avoid using their back altogether. They tiptoe around and craft a cocoon of comfort for their lumbar spine. Chairs that recline. Slouching. Leaning on their arms. It’s only natural to avoid the pain, but it is also our undoing. In order to reduce low back pain, we must make our backs stronger by training it.
But that’s not how the average person trains.
They’re doing pushups and bench presses. They’re curling (sometimes in the squat rack). They’re doing leg presses and squats. They want strong chest, biceps, quads, and they have them, but they also have the rounded shoulders of the bench press addict, the “folded in hulk” look. Those are the parts that pop in the mirror. They’re the easiest to monitor and see grow before your eyes. They’re what you see when you flex.
And don’t get me wrong. Those exercises and those muscles are incredibly important for health and performance (and aesthetics). But they neglect perhaps the most vital musculoskeletal complex in the human body: the posterior chain.
Stay on track no matter where you are. Instantly download your Primal and Keto Guide to Eating Out
Posterior Chain Muscles
Think of your posterior chain muscles as the muscles that hold up your back, starting at your waistline. Posterior chain muscles include:
The butt, including the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, gluteus maximus
The hamstrings
The lower back muscles (erector spinae)
Some sources include the calves or latissimus dorsi (aka lats, or side back muscles) in the posterior chain, but the primary ones are lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.
How Can Posterior Chain Training Reduce Lower Back Pain?
In movement, the posterior chain controls hip extension—the hip hinge we perform to lift heavy objects, jump great distances and heights, make explosive movements like throwing punches or fastballs, and run sprints. When you swing a golf club or baseball bat, most of the power comes from the hip extension performed by the posterior chain.
In everyday life, the posterior chain maintains posture. It’s the foundation upon which the torso rests, moves, and stabilizes. It provides safety and security for smaller upper body movements and power for larger lower body movements.
When we neglect the posterior chain, our lower back suffers. It bears the brunt of the work. Its primary role is to resist motion, to provide stability as the rest of the body moves, to be a lever. But when the hips aren’t moving and the posterior chain isn’t engaged, the lower back must move—for which it is ill suited.
Can’t hinge at the hips to pick up that Lego or move that bag of mulch? You’ll hinge with the lower back. Easy way to tweak it.
Can’t engage your glutes to hold up your torso? Your lower back will cover for them. Easy way to develop an overuse injury.
When you’re working at a laptop or scrolling your phone, hunched over, head jutting forward, your lower back bears the brunt of the weight. It’s not a lot of weight. You may not even feel the pain or strain in your lower back muscles. But it’s a low level chronic stress applied to your lower back that reduces its overall work capacity. So when you go from your desk job to the gym and try to deadlift, your lower back can’t tolerate as much resistance. It’s more likely to fail.
When we sit, the posterior chain is “turned off.” The glutes are inactivated, the hamstrings are slack, and the lower back muscles assume the role of posture stabilizer.
When we’re inactive, the posterior chain atrophies. If you’re not throwing balls, lifting barbells, jumping, sprinting, or heck, dancing and playing, you are not using your posterior chain.
Worse still, lower back pain often dissuades people from training the posterior chain. So many of the most effective posterior chain exercises require the lower back to resist forces acting on it that it scares people — and the medical professionals treating them. The last thing the average doctor will tell his or her patient with low back pain to do is swing a kettlebell or do Romanian deadlifts. This is understandable—you can hurt yourself and make the problem worse — but it’s also unfortunate because proper posterior chain training is one of the best allies we have in the fight against low back pain.
Do involve your doctor, though. You’ll want to rule out any small injuries that could become significant or debilitating injuries before you jump into posterior chain exercises.
Deadlifts for Lower Pack Pain
Wait a minute, Sisson: are you saying that deadlifts can actually improve lower back pain?
Yes.
In a 2015 study, 39 men and women with chronic low back pain underwent a 16 week free weight training course.9 They did deadlifts, goblet squats, lunges, planks, and step-ups. This was a progressive program, meaning they started with lower weights and added resistance as they progressed in strength. Loads were between 6 and 10-rep max.
After 16 weeks, they were stronger, their pain had dropped by 72%, their disability score had improved by 76%, and their overall quality of life (every 4 weeks they completed a self-assessment) had skyrocketed.
Another study from the same year had similar results.10 Both the deadlifting group and the group who did more traditional back pain exercises saw major improvements in pain and functionality.
The key with the deadlift is it’s very safe and indeed beneficial for the lower back as long as you maintain proper form. In the two studies I mentioned, researchers didn’t just tell the patients to start deadlifting their 6 rep max. They coached proper technique. If a subject couldn’t maintain a flat (neutral) spine, they raised the barbell until they could.
Neutral spine is everything. You’re not bending your lower back to move the weight. It must stay flat.
Hinge at the hips. Lift with your hips (glutes and hamstrings), not your back.
Barbell deadlifts are the gold standard, but they aren’t required. You can do trap bar deadlifts, kettlebell deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, or sumo deadlifts. What matters is that you hinge at the hips and maintain a neutral spine using proper technique.
It’s important to not max out. In fact, if you’re deadlifting to address back issues, start light. Going for a PR with back pain is not the ticket. Stick to 6-10 rep sets—enough to provide resistance and build strength gradually.
youtube
Planks for Lower Back Pain
The plank is about as simple and accessible as it gets. You don’t need any equipment but the ground. You can modify them to be as easy or as hard as you like.
Do ’em on the knees if you can’t manage the toes. Do them on your hands if the elbows are too much.
Get in the pushup position, only put your forearms on the ground instead of your hands. Your elbows should line up directly underneath your shoulders. Toes on the ground.
Squeeze your glutes and tighten your abdominals.
Keep a neutral neck and spine.
Create a straight, strong line from head to toes – a plank, if you will.
Hold that position.
Repeat.
Tips and cues for best results:
Don’t let your hips sag down to the ground. Sagging hips makes the exercise initially easier, but it takes your posterior chain out of it and defeats the purpose of the exercise.
Look down at the ground. This is a good prompt for maintaining a neutral neck and thus spine position.
When your form begins to suffer, pull the plug. You’re only benefiting from the plank by actually doing the plank.
Does it work? In subjects with chronic lower back pain, 8 weeks of planks improved lower back pain and improved low back strength.11
Planks can be done just about every day. They’re a great way to start the morning or break up sedentary time.
youtube
Kettlebell Swings for Lower Back Pain
These are not to be taken lightly. Whereas planks and deadlifts are relatively linear and non-dynamic, KB swings take a lot of precision to get right, especially if you have lower back pain. A lot can go wrong with a poorly-done kettlebell swing.
This is a hip hinge and hip extension exercise. All the power should be coming from your glutes and hamstrings with your lower back a stable lever for transferring the force. If you use your arms to “swing” the kettlebell, you’re doing it wrong. Arms should be passive.
Keep the weight on your midfoot/heel. If the weight gets “in front” of you and you start going onto your toes, your lower back will bear the brunt.
At the height of the swing, maintain upright posture and a straight torso. Do not lean back—this takes the emphasis off the hips and places it on the lower back.
When the weight is coming back down, accept it by sticking your butt back and hinging your hips. Don’t “bend over”; get those hips back.
Stick with a weight you can swing for 20-30 reps at a time. You’re not going for any records here. You just want to get the blood flowing and the hips moving. One effective method is to keep a kettlebell in your office and do a minute of swings every hour.
There are other posterior chain exercises you can do to improve lower back pain, but these give the biggest bang for the buck. They should serve as the foundation for your journey back to pain-free life.
youtube
Do you have lower back pain? What worked for you? What didn’t work?
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References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20533901
https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0032-1312656
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3143481
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1901193
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3533616/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7332312
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8274363
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4939568/
https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/bmjosem/1/1/e000050.full.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25641309
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26864586/
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Posterior Chain Training: Exercises for a Strong Lower Back published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com
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Posterior Chain Training: Exercises for a Strong Lower Back
There is an epidemic of chronic lower back pain.1 It’s one of the leading causes of “Years Lived with Disability” (YLD), is responsible for over 7 million ER room visits each year, and costs us both time (hard to do much of anything when our lower back is hurting) and money (people with lower back pain end up spending thousands of dollars a year on average to treat it). I can’t think of anything that degrades overall quality of life more than persistent lower back pain.
And as is so often the case, our attempts to treat the condition often make it worse. What does the average person do when their back hurts?
They avoid using their back altogether. They tiptoe around and craft a cocoon of comfort for their lumbar spine. Chairs that recline. Slouching. Leaning on their arms. It’s only natural to avoid the pain, but it is also our undoing. In order to reduce low back pain, we must make our backs stronger by training it.
But that’s not how the average person trains.
They’re doing pushups and bench presses. They’re curling (sometimes in the squat rack). They’re doing leg presses and squats. They want strong chest, biceps, quads, and they have them, but they also have the rounded shoulders of the bench press addict, the “folded in hulk” look. Those are the parts that pop in the mirror. They’re the easiest to monitor and see grow before your eyes. They’re what you see when you flex.
And don’t get me wrong. Those exercises and those muscles are incredibly important for health and performance (and aesthetics). But they neglect perhaps the most vital musculoskeletal complex in the human body: the posterior chain.
Stay on track no matter where you are. Instantly download your Primal and Keto Guide to Eating Out
Posterior Chain Muscles
Think of your posterior chain muscles as the muscles that hold up your back, starting at your waistline. Posterior chain muscles include:
The butt, including the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, gluteus maximus
The hamstrings
The lower back muscles (erector spinae)
Some sources include the calves or latissimus dorsi (aka lats, or side back muscles) in the posterior chain, but the primary ones are lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.
How Can Posterior Chain Training Reduce Lower Back Pain?
In movement, the posterior chain controls hip extension—the hip hinge we perform to lift heavy objects, jump great distances and heights, make explosive movements like throwing punches or fastballs, and run sprints. When you swing a golf club or baseball bat, most of the power comes from the hip extension performed by the posterior chain.
In everyday life, the posterior chain maintains posture. It’s the foundation upon which the torso rests, moves, and stabilizes. It provides safety and security for smaller upper body movements and power for larger lower body movements.
When we neglect the posterior chain, our lower back suffers. It bears the brunt of the work. Its primary role is to resist motion, to provide stability as the rest of the body moves, to be a lever. But when the hips aren’t moving and the posterior chain isn’t engaged, the lower back must move—for which it is ill suited.
Can’t hinge at the hips to pick up that Lego or move that bag of mulch? You’ll hinge with the lower back. Easy way to tweak it.
Can’t engage your glutes to hold up your torso? Your lower back will cover for them. Easy way to develop an overuse injury.
When you’re working at a laptop or scrolling your phone, hunched over, head jutting forward, your lower back bears the brunt of the weight. It’s not a lot of weight. You may not even feel the pain or strain in your lower back muscles. But it’s a low level chronic stress applied to your lower back that reduces its overall work capacity. So when you go from your desk job to the gym and try to deadlift, your lower back can’t tolerate as much resistance. It’s more likely to fail.
When we sit, the posterior chain is “turned off.” The glutes are inactivated, the hamstrings are slack, and the lower back muscles assume the role of posture stabilizer.
When we’re inactive, the posterior chain atrophies. If you’re not throwing balls, lifting barbells, jumping, sprinting, or heck, dancing and playing, you are not using your posterior chain.
Worse still, lower back pain often dissuades people from training the posterior chain. So many of the most effective posterior chain exercises require the lower back to resist forces acting on it that it scares people — and the medical professionals treating them. The last thing the average doctor will tell his or her patient with low back pain to do is swing a kettlebell or do Romanian deadlifts. This is understandable—you can hurt yourself and make the problem worse — but it’s also unfortunate because proper posterior chain training is one of the best allies we have in the fight against low back pain.
Do involve your doctor, though. You’ll want to rule out any small injuries that could become significant or debilitating injuries before you jump into posterior chain exercises.
Deadlifts for Lower Pack Pain
Wait a minute, Sisson: are you saying that deadlifts can actually improve lower back pain?
Yes.
In a 2015 study, 39 men and women with chronic low back pain underwent a 16 week free weight training course.2 They did deadlifts, goblet squats, lunges, planks, and step-ups. This was a progressive program, meaning they started with lower weights and added resistance as they progressed in strength. Loads were between 6 and 10-rep max.
After 16 weeks, they were stronger, their pain had dropped by 72%, their disability score had improved by 76%, and their overall quality of life (every 4 weeks they completed a self-assessment) had skyrocketed.
Another study from the same year had similar results.3 Both the deadlifting group and the group who did more traditional back pain exercises saw major improvements in pain and functionality.
The key with the deadlift is it’s very safe and indeed beneficial for the lower back as long as you maintain proper form. In the two studies I mentioned, researchers didn’t just tell the patients to start deadlifting their 6 rep max. They coached proper technique. If a subject couldn’t maintain a flat (neutral) spine, they raised the barbell until they could.
Neutral spine is everything. You’re not bending your lower back to move the weight. It must stay flat.
Hinge at the hips. Lift with your hips (glutes and hamstrings), not your back.
Barbell deadlifts are the gold standard, but they aren’t required. You can do trap bar deadlifts, kettlebell deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, or sumo deadlifts. What matters is that you hinge at the hips and maintain a neutral spine using proper technique.
It’s important to not max out. In fact, if you’re deadlifting to address back issues, start light. Going for a PR with back pain is not the ticket. Stick to 6-10 rep sets—enough to provide resistance and build strength gradually.
youtube
Planks for Lower Back Pain
The plank is about as simple and accessible as it gets. You don’t need any equipment but the ground. You can modify them to be as easy or as hard as you like.
Do ’em on the knees if you can’t manage the toes. Do them on your hands if the elbows are too much.
Get in the pushup position, only put your forearms on the ground instead of your hands. Your elbows should line up directly underneath your shoulders. Toes on the ground.
Squeeze your glutes and tighten your abdominals.
Keep a neutral neck and spine.
Create a straight, strong line from head to toes – a plank, if you will.
Hold that position.
Repeat.
Tips and cues for best results:
Don’t let your hips sag down to the ground. Sagging hips makes the exercise initially easier, but it takes your posterior chain out of it and defeats the purpose of the exercise.
Look down at the ground. This is a good prompt for maintaining a neutral neck and thus spine position.
When your form begins to suffer, pull the plug. You’re only benefiting from the plank by actually doing the plank.
Does it work? In subjects with chronic lower back pain, 8 weeks of planks improved lower back pain and improved low back strength.4
Planks can be done just about every day. They’re a great way to start the morning or break up sedentary time.
youtube
Kettlebell Swings for Lower Back Pain
These are not to be taken lightly. Whereas planks and deadlifts are relatively linear and non-dynamic, KB swings take a lot of precision to get right, especially if you have lower back pain. A lot can go wrong with a poorly-done kettlebell swing.
This is a hip hinge and hip extension exercise. All the power should be coming from your glutes and hamstrings with your lower back a stable lever for transferring the force. If you use your arms to “swing” the kettlebell, you’re doing it wrong. Arms should be passive.
Keep the weight on your midfoot/heel. If the weight gets “in front” of you and you start going onto your toes, your lower back will bear the brunt.
At the height of the swing, maintain upright posture and a straight torso. Do not lean back—this takes the emphasis off the hips and places it on the lower back.
When the weight is coming back down, accept it by sticking your butt back and hinging your hips. Don’t “bend over”; get those hips back.
Stick with a weight you can swing for 20-30 reps at a time. You’re not going for any records here. You just want to get the blood flowing and the hips moving. One effective method is to keep a kettlebell in your office and do a minute of swings every hour.
There are other posterior chain exercises you can do to improve lower back pain, but these give the biggest bang for the buck. They should serve as the foundation for your journey back to pain-free life.
youtube
Do you have lower back pain? What worked for you? What didn’t work?
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References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4939568/
https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/bmjosem/1/1/e000050.full.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25641309
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26864586/
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How To Grow Your Glutes Naturally – 5 Ways To Get A Bigger Butt Without Injections Or Implants
The popularity of big fake butts may cause unintended results
According to Google Trends, during the past 12 months, search phrases like “How to grow your glutes” have risen 500%. The search engine giant also reports up to one million queries coming in about the buttocks region, including questions about how to make the gluteus maximus area bigger – by any means necessary.
However, certain women are so desperate to get bigger butts these days that they are taking unhealthy measures to get them. As reported by VH1, singer K. Michelle cried as she updated her fans on the surgeries she has undergone during the arduous process of getting her painful butt fillers removed and dissolved.
Although Kim Kardashian professed to never get butt implants, she did not prove that she has never had her own fat transferred into her backside. Kim famously had her butt x-rayed on television in order to prove that she did not have silicone implants or other implants in her butt. Many years later when Kim was captured in photos on a Mexico beach that showed her butt looking disproportionate to her thighs and the rest of her body, the effect was comical. The photos sent Kim on a quest to try the ketogenic diet to lose weight.
At least those women who can afford to have the expensive fat transfer surgery, performed by doctors like the famous Snapchat star Dr. Miami, probably are not doing themselves any harm. They only may end up regretting getting fat transferred into an area where they might prefer muscle reside instead. As such, here are five ways to grow your glutes naturally:
Tip #1: Don’t give up cardio, but turn your focus to strength training and touch your own muscles
Do whatever you can to start building muscle in your backside, no matter how big or small you are. As long as your doctor has given you the go-ahead to start strength training, hitting the weight machines is one of the essential ways to start building your backside.
Even if you don’t have the money to join any type of gym, at least start lifting weights at home, with anything that can give you some type of tension on your backside. Perform motions like kickbacks, even if you don’t use any weight at all and are just using the weight of your own body to do them. You can brace yourself against a dresser or a wall and literally slowly start kicking your straight leg back until you see or feel your glute muscle tensing or doing some type of work.
This is called “glute activation,” and it helps to literally touch your glutes with your fingers or palm as you perform each exercise safely, in order to make sure you are working the butt muscles. This can help build your “mind-muscle connection” as you build your glutes.
If you can only do 10 kickbacks per leg each day, that’s a start. You’re putting yourself on the right path to beginning to build your butt. Take it slowly and remain consistent because strength grows over time. Before long you can find yourself doing plenty of butt exercises that have a serious effect upon your shape and stamina, like back extensions on a Roman chair, glute extensions, hip adductors, squats and a plethora of glute exercises that can be viewed on YouTube.
Whereas many memes on social media compare cardio-only flabbier butts against weight-training firmer butts, these two forms of exercise can both help the glutes.
Find whatever gym you can that has an old-style Stairmaster or the newer rolling stairs type of step mill or “Power Mill” machine and work up to doing 45-minute to one-hour stints if your heart can handle them. The large muscle glutes tend to respond well to steppers that challenge them – and all that fat burning can help the buttock muscles lift skyward and stand out more.
Tip #2: Lift light weights with many “feeder” super-set reps
Don’t shy away from lifting lower weights with lots of reps, also called supersets. Play around and do 50 to 100 reps on the leg press machine if you would like to build that booty, those legs, and your calves.
Remember to touch the muscles you are working if safe to do so and flex hard to make sure you’re really hitting it and getting great muscle activation. The famous bodybuilder Rich Piana used to call them “feeder reps” when he described pumping his muscles full of blood like blowing up a balloon by performing lots of reps.
Tip #3: Lift heavyweights
Whereas performing 50 to 100 reps of a butt exercise generally requires lighter weights, make sure to challenge your body with heavy weights, too, but with lesser reps.
If pushing back 50 pounds on the back extension machine for three sets of 12 reps begins to no longer challenge you, by all means, kick it up to 70 pounds and keep going so you’ll keep growing.
Tip #4: Follow the “Glute Guy,” as well as Instagram hashtags all about the peach
The Glute Guy, Bret Contreras, has tons of videos and knowledge about growing glutes, with a Ph.D. and loads of client testimonials to prove it. His work can be seen on The Glute Lab on Instagram, as well as other locations found via his website.
Social media itself can be a wellspring of data about building the backside, especially since Instagram now allows users to follow hashtags, just like users, to get updates. Therefore, hunt down tags like #glutes, #peach, #GluteExercises, #GluteWorkouts, #ButtGainz, #BootyBuilding and all manner of related labels to be inspired each day with a new way to increase glute growth.
Tip #5: Supps, supps, supps – and food
Exercises and squat challenges and lunges are only a part of the glute-building equation. If abs are made in the kitchen, butts are built there, too. Add tons of protein to your diet via protein-rich foods like salmon, cod, chicken, steak, whey protein powders and more.
Along with feeding your glutes protein-rich foods, play around with plenty of supplements or “supps” like BCAAs, creatine and all manner of things found in GNC to discover the ones that your buttocks love.
The post How To Grow Your Glutes Naturally – 5 Ways To Get A Bigger Butt Without Injections Or Implants appeared first on MegaVogue.
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7 Moves To Get A Shapely And Well-Rounded Butt
New Post has been published on http://www.healthgoesfemale.com/7-moves-to-get-a-shapely-and-well-rounded-butt/
7 Moves To Get A Shapely And Well-Rounded Butt
Looking good is not the only role your glutes have to do. You need to have well-shaped and strong butt muscles to carry out daily activities without burdening your lower back. Your booty is made of the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and minimus. If you are keen on having a curvy and tight butt, you need to work on all of these muscles. Here are 7 exercises that will fire up every muscle fiber in your glutes.
1. All Fours Leg Kick
This exercise engages not only your glutes but also your upper and lower body along with the core.
Steps:
Start by bending down on all fours with a flat back.
Place your wrists stretched below your shoulders and knees below your hips.
Lift your right leg and extend it sideways by kicking it outwards.
Bring back the right leg to the initial position.
Do 20 kicks on one side.
2. Jump Squats
Squats are unrivaled as the best exercise for glutes and lower body. Jump squats are more advanced than the standard ones. They focus on your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
Steps:
Stand with your legs spread wider than your hip-width and the feet pointing outwards.
Start your downward decent by squatting low.
Keep descending until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
From this position, throw yourself up in the air and return to the standard squat pose.
Do it for 15 reps.
3. Bridge
Although the bridge pose looks like an easy-peasy exercise, it’s one of the most efficient moves for the entire body and especially the glutes. It strengthens the midsection, butt, hips, and lower back and can be included in any fitness routine.
Steps:
Begin by lying on your back with knees bent and feet planted hip-width apart.
Squeeze your glutes and push your heels to lift your hips up high.
Hold for 10 seconds.
Lower down slowly.
Repeat 20 times.
4. Weighted Walking Lunges
Lunges are effective in working the booty just like squats. Weighted walking lunges would need you to have two dumbells in both hands to make them more intense. However, if you have problems with balance, avoid using weights and instead use your own body weight.
Steps:
Stand straight holding two dumbbells in your hands by your sides.
Put your right leg 2 feet ahead of your left leg and lower your upper body down.
Keep your core engaged and your spine straight while descending.
Your knees should be placed behind your toes and your right thigh parallel to the ground in this position.
Now push up and go back to the starting position.
Switch sides and do it for 3 sets of 5 lunges each.
5. Mountain Climber Exercise
A terrific exercise that’s a combination of both cardio and strength training, mountain climber exercise fires up your heart rate, deltoids, biceps, triceps, chest, obliques, abdominals, quads, hamstrings and hip abductors.
Steps:
Start in a plank position and keep your core engaged.
Now pull your right knee towards your chest while you feel your abs tighten.
Squeeze your glutes and pull your shoulders away from your ears.
Quickly pull the left knee in as you stretch the right leg back.
Increase the pace at which you switch and pull the legs in.
You should appear like a mountain climber on his ascent.
6. Barbell Deadlift
Deadlifts are the most important and efficient weight lifting exercise. It not only increases the rate of fat burn but also strengthens your body from within. It’s best to try this under the supervision of an expert though.
Steps:
Load the barbell and keep it against your shins.
Grab the bar while you bend at your hips and knees.
Your hands should be at shoulder-width on the bar for a better range of motion.
Without allowing your lower body to round, pull up the torso as you stand with the barbell.
Keep your glutes squeezed during this movement.
Lower the bar and repeat the exercise 5 more times.
7. Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
The single-leg Romanian deadlift builds flexibility and strength in the gluteus muscles, hamstrings, and adductors. All you need is a dumbbell or a kettlebell.
Steps:
Stand upright with your arms on your sides.
Hold the dumbbell in your left arm.
Now start bending forwards at the hip.
Your right leg should be firmly placed on the ground while the left leg is extended backward.
Keep the back straight and return the original standing position.
Repeat this 5 time and change sides.
Incorporate these belly fat blasting moves and you will find your butt getting more curvaceous and toned with practice.
Disclaimer: The content is purely informative and educational in nature and should not be construed as medical advice. Please use the content only in consultation with an appropriate certified medical or healthcare professional.
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Posterior Chain Training: Exercises for a Strong Lower Back
There is an epidemic of chronic lower back pain.1 It’s one of the leading causes of “Years Lived with Disability” (YLD), is responsible for over 7 million ER room visits each year, and costs us both time (hard to do much of anything when our lower back is hurting) and money (people with lower back pain end up spending thousands of dollars a year on average to treat it). I can’t think of anything that degrades overall quality of life more than persistent lower back pain.
And as is so often the case, our attempts to treat the condition often make it worse. What does the average person do when their back hurts?
They avoid using their back altogether. They tiptoe around and craft a cocoon of comfort for their lumbar spine. Chairs that recline. Slouching. Leaning on their arms. It’s only natural to avoid the pain, but it is also our undoing. In order to reduce low back pain, we must make our backs stronger by training it.
But that’s not how the average person trains.
They’re doing pushups and bench presses. They’re curling (sometimes in the squat rack). They’re doing leg presses and squats. They want strong chest, biceps, quads, and they have them, but they also have the rounded shoulders of the bench press addict, the “folded in hulk” look. Those are the parts that pop in the mirror. They’re the easiest to monitor and see grow before your eyes. They’re what you see when you flex.
And don’t get me wrong. Those exercises and those muscles are incredibly important for health and performance (and aesthetics). But they neglect perhaps the most vital musculoskeletal complex in the human body: the posterior chain.
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Posterior Chain Muscles
Think of your posterior chain muscles as the muscles that hold up your back, starting at your waistline. Posterior chain muscles include:
The butt, including the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, gluteus maximus
The hamstrings
The lower back muscles (erector spinae)
Some sources include the calves or latissimus dorsi (aka lats, or side back muscles) in the posterior chain, but the primary ones are lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.
How Can Posterior Chain Training Reduce Lower Back Pain?
In movement, the posterior chain controls hip extension—the hip hinge we perform to lift heavy objects, jump great distances and heights, make explosive movements like throwing punches or fastballs, and run sprints. When you swing a golf club or baseball bat, most of the power comes from the hip extension performed by the posterior chain.
In everyday life, the posterior chain maintains posture. It’s the foundation upon which the torso rests, moves, and stabilizes. It provides safety and security for smaller upper body movements and power for larger lower body movements.
When we neglect the posterior chain, our lower back suffers. It bears the brunt of the work. Its primary role is to resist motion, to provide stability as the rest of the body moves, to be a lever. But when the hips aren’t moving and the posterior chain isn’t engaged, the lower back must move—for which it is ill suited.
Can’t hinge at the hips to pick up that Lego or move that bag of mulch? You’ll hinge with the lower back. Easy way to tweak it.
Can’t engage your glutes to hold up your torso? Your lower back will cover for them. Easy way to develop an overuse injury.
When you’re working at a laptop or scrolling your phone, hunched over, head jutting forward, your lower back bears the brunt of the weight. It’s not a lot of weight. You may not even feel the pain or strain in your lower back muscles. But it’s a low level chronic stress applied to your lower back that reduces its overall work capacity. So when you go from your desk job to the gym and try to deadlift, your lower back can’t tolerate as much resistance. It’s more likely to fail.
When we sit, the posterior chain is “turned off.” The glutes are inactivated, the hamstrings are slack, and the lower back muscles assume the role of posture stabilizer.
When we’re inactive, the posterior chain atrophies. If you’re not throwing balls, lifting barbells, jumping, sprinting, or heck, dancing and playing, you are not using your posterior chain.
Worse still, lower back pain often dissuades people from training the posterior chain. So many of the most effective posterior chain exercises require the lower back to resist forces acting on it that it scares people — and the medical professionals treating them. The last thing the average doctor will tell his or her patient with low back pain to do is swing a kettlebell or do Romanian deadlifts. This is understandable—you can hurt yourself and make the problem worse — but it’s also unfortunate because proper posterior chain training is one of the best allies we have in the fight against low back pain.
Do involve your doctor, though. You’ll want to rule out any small injuries that could become significant or debilitating injuries before you jump into posterior chain exercises.
Deadlifts for Lower Pack Pain
Wait a minute, Sisson: are you saying that deadlifts can actually improve lower back pain?
Yes.
In a 2015 study, 39 men and women with chronic low back pain underwent a 16 week free weight training course.2 They did deadlifts, goblet squats, lunges, planks, and step-ups. This was a progressive program, meaning they started with lower weights and added resistance as they progressed in strength. Loads were between 6 and 10-rep max.
After 16 weeks, they were stronger, their pain had dropped by 72%, their disability score had improved by 76%, and their overall quality of life (every 4 weeks they completed a self-assessment) had skyrocketed.
Another study from the same year had similar results.3 Both the deadlifting group and the group who did more traditional back pain exercises saw major improvements in pain and functionality.
The key with the deadlift is it’s very safe and indeed beneficial for the lower back as long as you maintain proper form. In the two studies I mentioned, researchers didn’t just tell the patients to start deadlifting their 6 rep max. They coached proper technique. If a subject couldn’t maintain a flat (neutral) spine, they raised the barbell until they could.
Neutral spine is everything. You’re not bending your lower back to move the weight. It must stay flat.
Hinge at the hips. Lift with your hips (glutes and hamstrings), not your back.
Barbell deadlifts are the gold standard, but they aren’t required. You can do trap bar deadlifts, kettlebell deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, or sumo deadlifts. What matters is that you hinge at the hips and maintain a neutral spine using proper technique.
It’s important to not max out. In fact, if you’re deadlifting to address back issues, start light. Going for a PR with back pain is not the ticket. Stick to 6-10 rep sets—enough to provide resistance and build strength gradually.
youtube
Planks for Lower Back Pain
The plank is about as simple and accessible as it gets. You don’t need any equipment but the ground. You can modify them to be as easy or as hard as you like.
Do ’em on the knees if you can’t manage the toes. Do them on your hands if the elbows are too much.
Get in the pushup position, only put your forearms on the ground instead of your hands. Your elbows should line up directly underneath your shoulders. Toes on the ground.
Squeeze your glutes and tighten your abdominals.
Keep a neutral neck and spine.
Create a straight, strong line from head to toes – a plank, if you will.
Hold that position.
Repeat.
Tips and cues for best results:
Don’t let your hips sag down to the ground. Sagging hips makes the exercise initially easier, but it takes your posterior chain out of it and defeats the purpose of the exercise.
Look down at the ground. This is a good prompt for maintaining a neutral neck and thus spine position.
When your form begins to suffer, pull the plug. You’re only benefiting from the plank by actually doing the plank.
Does it work? In subjects with chronic lower back pain, 8 weeks of planks improved lower back pain and improved low back strength.4
Planks can be done just about every day. They’re a great way to start the morning or break up sedentary time.
youtube
Kettlebell Swings for Lower Back Pain
These are not to be taken lightly. Whereas planks and deadlifts are relatively linear and non-dynamic, KB swings take a lot of precision to get right, especially if you have lower back pain. A lot can go wrong with a poorly-done kettlebell swing.
This is a hip hinge and hip extension exercise. All the power should be coming from your glutes and hamstrings with your lower back a stable lever for transferring the force. If you use your arms to “swing” the kettlebell, you’re doing it wrong. Arms should be passive.
Keep the weight on your midfoot/heel. If the weight gets “in front” of you and you start going onto your toes, your lower back will bear the brunt.
At the height of the swing, maintain upright posture and a straight torso. Do not lean back—this takes the emphasis off the hips and places it on the lower back.
When the weight is coming back down, accept it by sticking your butt back and hinging your hips. Don’t “bend over”; get those hips back.
Stick with a weight you can swing for 20-30 reps at a time. You’re not going for any records here. You just want to get the blood flowing and the hips moving. One effective method is to keep a kettlebell in your office and do a minute of swings every hour.
There are other posterior chain exercises you can do to improve lower back pain, but these give the biggest bang for the buck. They should serve as the foundation for your journey back to pain-free life.
youtube
Do you have lower back pain? What worked for you? What didn’t work?
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References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4939568/
https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/bmjosem/1/1/e000050.full.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25641309
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26864586/
The post Posterior Chain Training: Exercises for a Strong Lower Back appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
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How To Grow Your Glutes Naturally – 5 Ways To Get A Bigger Butt Without Injections Or Implants
The popularity of big fake butts may cause unintended results
According to Google Trends, during the past 12 months, search phrases like “How to grow your glutes” have risen 500%. The search engine giant also reports up to one million queries coming in about the buttocks region, including questions about how to make the gluteus maximus area bigger – by any means necessary.
However, certain women are so desperate to get bigger butts these days that they are taking unhealthy measures to get them. As reported by VH1, singer K. Michelle cried as she updated her fans on the surgeries she has undergone during the arduous process of getting her painful butt fillers removed and dissolved.
Although Kim Kardashian professed to never get butt implants, she did not prove that she has never had her own fat transferred into her backside. Kim famously had her butt x-rayed on television in order to prove that she did not have silicone implants or other implants in her butt. Many years later when Kim was captured in photos on a Mexico beach that showed her butt looking disproportionate to her thighs and the rest of her body, the effect was comical. The photos sent Kim on a quest to try the ketogenic diet to lose weight.
At least those women who can afford to have the expensive fat transfer surgery, performed by doctors like the famous Snapchat star Dr. Miami, probably are not doing themselves any harm. They only may end up regretting getting fat transferred into an area where they might prefer muscle reside instead. As such, here are five ways to grow your glutes naturally:
Tip #1: Don’t give up cardio, but turn your focus to strength training and touch your own muscles
Do whatever you can to start building muscle in your backside, no matter how big or small you are. As long as your doctor has given you the go-ahead to start strength training, hitting the weight machines is one of the essential ways to start building your backside.
Even if you don’t have the money to join any type of gym, at least start lifting weights at home, with anything that can give you some type of tension on your backside. Perform motions like kickbacks, even if you don’t use any weight at all and are just using the weight of your own body to do them. You can brace yourself against a dresser or a wall and literally slowly start kicking your straight leg back until you see or feel your glute muscle tensing or doing some type of work.
This is called “glute activation,” and it helps to literally touch your glutes with your fingers or palm as you perform each exercise safely, in order to make sure you are working the butt muscles. This can help build your “mind-muscle connection” as you build your glutes.
If you can only do 10 kickbacks per leg each day, that’s a start. You’re putting yourself on the right path to beginning to build your butt. Take it slowly and remain consistent because strength grows over time. Before long you can find yourself doing plenty of butt exercises that have a serious effect upon your shape and stamina, like back extensions on a Roman chair, glute extensions, hip adductors, squats and a plethora of glute exercises that can be viewed on YouTube.
Whereas many memes on social media compare cardio-only flabbier butts against weight-training firmer butts, these two forms of exercise can both help the glutes.
Find whatever gym you can that has an old-style Stairmaster or the newer rolling stairs type of step mill or “Power Mill” machine and work up to doing 45-minute to one-hour stints if your heart can handle them. The large muscle glutes tend to respond well to steppers that challenge them – and all that fat burning can help the buttock muscles lift skyward and stand out more.
Tip #2: Lift light weights with many “feeder” super-set reps
Don’t shy away from lifting lower weights with lots of reps, also called supersets. Play around and do 50 to 100 reps on the leg press machine if you would like to build that booty, those legs, and your calves.
Remember to touch the muscles you are working if safe to do so and flex hard to make sure you’re really hitting it and getting great muscle activation. The famous bodybuilder Rich Piana used to call them “feeder reps” when he described pumping his muscles full of blood like blowing up a balloon by performing lots of reps.
Tip #3: Lift heavyweights
Whereas performing 50 to 100 reps of a butt exercise generally requires lighter weights, make sure to challenge your body with heavy weights, too, but with lesser reps.
If pushing back 50 pounds on the back extension machine for three sets of 12 reps begins to no longer challenge you, by all means, kick it up to 70 pounds and keep going so you’ll keep growing.
Tip #4: Follow the “Glute Guy,” as well as Instagram hashtags all about the peach
The Glute Guy, Bret Contreras, has tons of videos and knowledge about growing glutes, with a Ph.D. and loads of client testimonials to prove it. His work can be seen on The Glute Lab on Instagram, as well as other locations found via his website.
Social media itself can be a wellspring of data about building the backside, especially since Instagram now allows users to follow hashtags, just like users, to get updates. Therefore, hunt down tags like #glutes, #peach, #GluteExercises, #GluteWorkouts, #ButtGainz, #BootyBuilding and all manner of related labels to be inspired each day with a new way to increase glute growth.
Tip #5: Supps, supps, supps – and food
Exercises and squat challenges and lunges are only a part of the glute-building equation. If abs are made in the kitchen, butts are built there, too. Add tons of protein to your diet via protein-rich foods like salmon, cod, chicken, steak, whey protein powders and more.
Along with feeding your glutes protein-rich foods, play around with plenty of supplements or “supps” like BCAAs, creatine and all manner of things found in GNC to discover the ones that your buttocks love.
The post How To Grow Your Glutes Naturally – 5 Ways To Get A Bigger Butt Without Injections Or Implants appeared first on MegaVogue.
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