'square butt' syndrome

K

kellyj

Member
Hi Cathe,
In the Open Discussion there was mention of this high hip protrusion thing that results in the butt looking kind of square. Most people thought it had to do with tall box work. Are there other exercises that could be responsible for this? How about standing (with moderate/heavy resistance) during spinning? I tend to have a bit of this and am curious as to what is causing it. I run, do Tae Bo, and spin for cardio and for legs I do LL mostly (sometimes PS Legs) - though I don't use a tall step for the leg presses just a normal step with a couple of risers.
Your thoughts - or any one else's would be welcome! Thanks.
Kelly
 
Here's my 2 cents worth. I had overdeveloped outer thigh muscles and just stopped doing any exercises for that area. It's been 6 months now, and I see an improvement. I really don't think it's always necessary to work that area. Your inner thight usually need the work more. A trainer also told me that (an ACE certified one I went to last winter), so I'm not the only one.

Just an opinion, take it or leave it.
 
Hi honeybunch, just jumping in here - how could you over-work the outer thigh - would squats be over-doing that area? I was told I have to concentrate on my inner thigh too (because of knee tracking problems), but I do a lot of squats too.

ps - what does this 'square butt' look like? LOL - I don't recall ever seeing a square butt.
 
It's where the top of your hip/butt in the back gets overdeveloped and sticks out a little on each side. Instead of your butt being smaller at the top and then gradually getting a little wider at the bottom (the widest part of your hips) it is wide at the top and bottom.
There are definitely a couple of exercises that really isolate this area (specifically any machine that works the outer thighs) that I am aware of when I'm working out, but I'm thinking that perhaps there are other activities/exercises that may be contributing - like Spinning or squats. As you squeeze your butt on the way up in a squat you can feel that area for sure as well. I guess for now, I'll lay off the outer thigh machine - though I only did that 1X a week - for a while and maybe not squeeze as hard during squats and see what happens.

And good for you if you don't know what it looks like - that means you definitely don't have to deal with it!
 
Regarding the protrusion on the back of the hip, are you sure it is muscle and not fat?

This is a common place for women to store excess fat. Plastic surgeons call it the "violin shape" and it is usually an excess of fatty tissue. Some people are genetically predisposed to this look. So before blaming the tall box (which may indeed be the culprit anyway) I would check this area if you have it and see what's under there. Muscle or fat?

Just my 2 cents too.

Marlene
 
It's not really the outer thigh, but the hip muscle that is worked when you do outer thigh leg lifts especially with exercise tubing. I feel it most there, and I stopped that exercise altogether.
 
RE: To Honeybunch`

IN MY CASE, and I must highlight that, I do not need them. I get the results I need from kickbox tapes on my "saddlebags." I've always favored Taebo, and those tapes have a LOT of kicks, which worked wonders on the outter thigh area.

So, I only do inner thigh work.
 
RE: the conclusion is????

My case is I don't have saddlebags(luckily), but I do have a genetically flat butt(unluckily), so do I do squats to get a bubble/poofy butt, or do I not - to eliminate the high hip protrusion problem which I do have. I do step wearing wts 4-5 times a week and do Firm Vol 1(which has lots of outer thigh work) or Cathe's Strong Legs once a week.

Thank you, all.
 
Hi Kelly

I used to Spin at least 3 times a week for about 2 years. It leaned me out at first, but the more advanced I got, the more resistance I had to put on the bike to get my heart rate up. So as I upped the resistance, my hips and thighs got bigger. It was muscle, not fat, but it wasn't a look I wanted. I have since quit Spinning and my hips and thighs look much better. I know run, kickbox, hi/lo and step. I can do standing and floor leg work without the same problem. For me, it was the Spinning that caused the bigger thighs. Hope this helps.
 
I have this too, only those upper "ledges" on both sides are pure lard, not muscle. It's fat that used to sit lower and blend in with my rear, but now that my medial glutes are stronger, that pulls in the saddlebags from the sides, and pushes the fat up higher. I consider it an improvement and will let weight watchers take care of the fat aspect.

On the other hand, I am finding that, as much as I love heavy lifting, there is a point at which I have to stop increasing my weights or my lower body gets too big. I'm learning not to go beyond certain poundage for each exercise.
 
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