Cathe--which is better for building glutes?

[Maximus]

I can't seem to build any size on my rear end no matter what I do.....right now my leg workout consists of heavy squats & lunges on the smith machine, heavy leg presses, extensions & curls.

Last night someone was hogging the leg press so I tried the glute builder (aka the butt blaster)--you know, that machine where you lean forward on forearm pads with a pad supporting your hips, your foot on a pedal behind where you push up & out? Seems to work the glutes & hams rather than glutes & quads like the leg press.

Anyway, I'm wondering if I should sub that for the leg press? A couple of trainers at my gym have told me I'm out of proportion b/c my shoulders & arms are big but my butt & legs are small. I just don't know what else I can do to increase my butt size. x( Sorry if I keep using you as my personal trainer but I'd really appreciate your input on this......

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Laura! The butt blaster is not a machine that I like to go too heavy on because it places a lot of pressure on the lower back and knees. I use this as a butt enhancer. I would definitely bring the Butt Blaster into your regular routine though. As for the leg press, I wouldn't eliminate it but find various ways to do it. For example, doing it with the high step, or do the seated leg press where legs push out vs body pushing backward (or vice versa), do one legged squats on the smith machine where the back leg is elevated about 6 to 8 inches. These new angles will recruit different leg muscle fibers to keep your legs and butt responding. By the way, I play around with the butt blaster this way too. Sometimes I do a three straight sets of 12 reps. Other times I do two sets of 30 reps with moderate to lighter weight and with high pulses at the top finishing with 8 full range reps. Good Luck!