I have a great butt burner workout for you today. Different from usual, this is a low intensity workout. The great thing about it is that you can do pretty much anywhere. You don't necessarily break too muck sweat when you do it, but you will still set your glutes in fire. All you need for it is a small resistance band.
The idea to put together a simple low intensity workout actually came from my friend. I was sick last week and wasn't able to do my regular workouts. When she heard that I was sick, she said that she's sure that I'm not sitting around motionless because I can't do that 🙂 and recommended me to put together a workout that I do when I can't do anything too intense.
Well, she was kind of right. I am always trying to do something and finding ways to move, even if it's just picking up kettlebells for ten shoulder presses or a 15 minute walk around the block. It's a nice way to break up a workday, too.
So, I thought her idea was really good, especially now when flu seems to be in a full swing, and put together this butt burner that is low intensity, but still burns great.
When You Are Sick: Move, But Be Careful With Working Out Hard
I'm not encouraging anyone to workout hard when sick. I assume that many of us have done it and know that it's not right, yet do it again.
Here's why you shouldn't workout hard when sick:
First of all, you are not able to give your all when we are sick – pushing yourself hard is just not going to happen.
Second, working out hard being sick slows down the recovery. Better give yourself a week off if you need to and come back then, instead of desperately trying to do a intensive HIIT. You will only make yourself sicker and may end up having to take two weeks off.
Be honest with yourself and know what you should and shouldn't do. One half-assed workout is not worth two weeks break.
Why Moving Your Butt Matters
But keeping yourself moving is a different thing. I actually think that unless you are absolutely awfully sick, a little bit of moving, especially a walk outside, is a great thing to do. Fresh air and sun do miracles.
I get anxious and feel like my legs get numb if I'm stuck inside. Cabin fever is a real thing, so unless I'm down with high fever, I still do out for a little walk.
Another super important thing to do when we are sitting or lying down all day is to give our glutes some work every once in a while. If we don't activate the glutes often enough, the kind of “go to sleep”. Of course they do, if we put our whole bodyweight on them and stay motionless for hours!
That doesn't only happen when people are sick, but that's the reality for most of us sitting in front of our computer all day (hello and welcome standing desks!).
All that can lead to several issues, like muscle imbalances and bad posture that in turn, can cause bad pain in the back, hips and knees. But you can keep yourself way healthier if you consistently add simple glute activation exercises like these ones below into your daily routine.
4 Simple Exercises Butt Burner
Ok, let's get to the four movements that you could do, even if you are feeling a little off because of flu and especially if you are sitting all day long. Take ten minutes to fire up the gutes with these four exercises. For one exercise you will need only bodyweight, for others, grab a small resistance band.
I did those exercises outside, but you could absolutely do them without leaving the house at all.
1. Single Leg Hip Thrust
For the Single Leg Hip Thrust, use a bench or a bed for support. Lean our upper body against the bench or bed and sit down, legs bent and feet on the ground. Then, push the hips up and lift up one leg at the same time. When the hips are up, really squeeze the glute muscles. This is super important to do and will make this exercise way more efficient than when skipping the squeezing part.
Work one leg first, then change, instead of alternating on every rep. That way you fatigue one side completely before moving on to the other side – and that's where the burn really starts to kick in.
2. Seated Leg Abduction
If you have gone to a gym, you have probably done something very similar on the machine. This exercise here requires no gym or machines though, but you need a resistance band.
Sit down and wrap the band around your legs above or below your knees. Keep the back neutral. Then push the knees outside and bring them back in. Keep the tension in the glutes all the time, also when you are bringing the knees back in.
3. Monster Walks
Wrap the resistance band around your ankles. Then, bend the knees – the lower you sit, the more you work. Start walking, taking steps to one direction and then back. Keep the core supported and tight all the time. Take long enough steps so you can actually feel the resistance of the band.
4. Kicbacks
Stand close to a wall, table or something else that you can hold on for balance. Wrap the resistance band around your ankles. Standing on one leg, kick the other leg back. Go as far as needed to feel the resistance. Work one side first, fatiguing the muscles of that side. Then, move on to the other side. Be sure to hold upper body upright – leaning excessively forward is one of the common mistakes when doing this exercise.
Putting It All Togeter
Here is the whole “Wake Up Your Glutes” workout. You will be doing three rounds of the following:
10+10 Single Leg Hip Thrusts
20 Seated Leg Abductions
12+12 Monster Walks
20+20 Kickbacks
See the video for the full workout:
Conclusion
Ideally you want to do something for your glutes every day to balance out all the sitting or lying down. When you are not moving enough, you'll soon be facing problems like muscle imbalances, wrong posture and back pain.
If you are sick like I was last week, you can still do those four exercises just shown. Sitting or lying in bed makes me crazy and my body numb, so I just had to get out at least for a little bit. But as said, these exercises are doable anywhere and you don't have to leave your house to do them.
Do you feel like that being motionless all day is more exhausting for you than working out?
I sure do!
*Disclaimer: This post has a link in it, but it's for a product that I totally trust and use in my own workouts.
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