Joel Epstein: Super Bowl Sunday and the Elixir of Fat
The Ultimate Arms And Abs Workout
Elliptical vs. Stairmaster: Which Is Best for Butt-Toning?
Posted on Mar 3rd 2010 12:00PM by Joe DowdellFiled Under: Fitness, Your Personal Trainer: Joe Dowdell
Which machine is best for toning your butt, an elliptical or the stairmaster?
To be honest, neither choice is worthwhile if your goal is to "tone" your butt. When most people refer to toning, what they really are trying to say is that they want to make the muscles in an area more dense and/or slightly larger and most importantly, more visible. In other words, without stripping away body fat, you're not going to see much muscle definition in any area of your body. In fact, many people already have a six-pack that appears when you strip off the layers of fat that is covering them through proper nutrition, high intensity energy system training and total body resistance training.
So, getting back to your butt toning goal, you are better off using resistance training exercises, such as Glute Bridging, Deadlifts and Low Pulley Cable Pull Throughs, which I explain in detail in earlier posts.
If you like you can try out a variation known as the Unilateral Glute Bridge (shown above). This move targets the glutes, hamstrings and erector spinae muscles on the side of the body where your foot is in contact with the floor. In addition, it requires greater overall core strength because you will be less stable since only foot will be in contact with the floor. The tendency will be for the side of the body where the knee is pulled in toward the chest to want to rotate and dip toward the floor. Try to keep your hips level (i.e. parallel to the floor) throughout the movement. Try performing three sets of 8-10 reps per side. Raise up on a one-second count, hold for a one-second count and lower on a two-second count.
Also, you can try an even more advanced hamstring and glute developer, known as the Single Leg Romanian Deadlift, also known as Single Leg RDLs (shown below). Like the previous movement, the hamstrings, glutes and erector spinae muscles of the leg which remains in contact with the floor are the primary movers throughout the exercise. Also, as with the Unilateral Glute Bridge, there will be a tendency for the shoulders and hips to want to rotate -- so make sure that your hips and shoulders remain parallel throughout the movement. Make sure that you keep a slight arch in the lower back throughout the entire exercise. Try performing three sets of 8-10 reps per side. Lower on a three count, hold for a one-second count and raise up on a one-second count.
In addition, one of the best methods of cardio for glute development as well as getting lean is actually outdoor sprinting. When we run outdoors as opposed to sprinting on the treadmill, we are propelling ourselves across a stationary surface, which requires the glutes and hamstrings to work synergistically as hip extensors. When we are running on the treadmill, we are trying to catch up to a moving surface. In this scenario, the glutes do much less work and the Hamstrings have to work overtime to decelerate the leg as it makes contact with the moving treadmill belt.
I'll leave you with a final thought, if you look at the butt of a world-class sprinter, you can probably sit a glass of water on top of it compared to the butt of a world class marathoner, many of whom look like the need a belt to keep their shorts up. But, don't be afraid to add outdoor sprints into your training program provided you are fit enough to run, as your butt will not grow to that size, but it will still benefit greatly from them.
Now that you know how to get the best boost for your bum, find out which weights -- light or heavy -- are best for toning up.
Whether you're looking to bulk up, slim down, or get fit for a particular match or race, That's Fit has you covered. Joe Dowdell, personal trainer, strength coach and co-owner of one of Men's Health's top 10 gyms in America, is available to answer all of your training questions. Please send your questions to personaltrainer [AT] thatsfit [DOT] com.
To be honest, neither choice is worthwhile if your goal is to "tone" your butt. When most people refer to toning, what they really are trying to say is that they want to make the muscles in an area more dense and/or slightly larger and most importantly, more visible. In other words, without stripping away body fat, you're not going to see much muscle definition in any area of your body. In fact, many people already have a six-pack that appears when you strip off the layers of fat that is covering them through proper nutrition, high intensity energy system training and total body resistance training.
So, getting back to your butt toning goal, you are better off using resistance training exercises, such as Glute Bridging, Deadlifts and Low Pulley Cable Pull Throughs, which I explain in detail in earlier posts.
If you like you can try out a variation known as the Unilateral Glute Bridge (shown above). This move targets the glutes, hamstrings and erector spinae muscles on the side of the body where your foot is in contact with the floor. In addition, it requires greater overall core strength because you will be less stable since only foot will be in contact with the floor. The tendency will be for the side of the body where the knee is pulled in toward the chest to want to rotate and dip toward the floor. Try to keep your hips level (i.e. parallel to the floor) throughout the movement. Try performing three sets of 8-10 reps per side. Raise up on a one-second count, hold for a one-second count and lower on a two-second count.
Also, you can try an even more advanced hamstring and glute developer, known as the Single Leg Romanian Deadlift, also known as Single Leg RDLs (shown below). Like the previous movement, the hamstrings, glutes and erector spinae muscles of the leg which remains in contact with the floor are the primary movers throughout the exercise. Also, as with the Unilateral Glute Bridge, there will be a tendency for the shoulders and hips to want to rotate -- so make sure that your hips and shoulders remain parallel throughout the movement. Make sure that you keep a slight arch in the lower back throughout the entire exercise. Try performing three sets of 8-10 reps per side. Lower on a three count, hold for a one-second count and raise up on a one-second count.
In addition, one of the best methods of cardio for glute development as well as getting lean is actually outdoor sprinting. When we run outdoors as opposed to sprinting on the treadmill, we are propelling ourselves across a stationary surface, which requires the glutes and hamstrings to work synergistically as hip extensors. When we are running on the treadmill, we are trying to catch up to a moving surface. In this scenario, the glutes do much less work and the Hamstrings have to work overtime to decelerate the leg as it makes contact with the moving treadmill belt.
I'll leave you with a final thought, if you look at the butt of a world-class sprinter, you can probably sit a glass of water on top of it compared to the butt of a world class marathoner, many of whom look like the need a belt to keep their shorts up. But, don't be afraid to add outdoor sprints into your training program provided you are fit enough to run, as your butt will not grow to that size, but it will still benefit greatly from them.
Now that you know how to get the best boost for your bum, find out which weights -- light or heavy -- are best for toning up.
Whether you're looking to bulk up, slim down, or get fit for a particular match or race, That's Fit has you covered. Joe Dowdell, personal trainer, strength coach and co-owner of one of Men's Health's top 10 gyms in America, is available to answer all of your training questions. Please send your questions to personaltrainer [AT] thatsfit [DOT] com.
