These 5 Moves Will Lift and Sculpt Your Butt — Using Only a Resistance Band

Updated on 10/27/2018 at 7:00 AM

Resistance bands are cheap, portable, and a game changer for your butt. None more so than booty bands, the smaller resistance bands you've probably spotted on Instagram — they're typically used around the thighs to fire up the glutes. While the name may sound more like a toy than a fitness phenomenon, there's nothing that will lift and strengthen those muscles faster.

And firming your butt may be more crucial than ever. "Glute amnesia is becoming more and more of an issue because our jobs literally keep us sitting on our butts behind a desk all day," trainer Sarah Chadwell, NASM, CPT, told POPSUGAR. "One way to counteract glute amnesia is to use glute-focused exercises combined with bands two to three times per week. Not only are you keeping your glutes strong and healthy, but you'll also sculpt the most sought-after fitness asset: a round booty."

Chadwell shared her favorite and most effective banded glute exercises, and here's how she suggests using them:

You can do two of the following exercises as a warmup before you hit the weights on legs day.
You can simply swap your legs-day workout for two to three sets of each of these exercises at 15-20 reps per set.
Or, if you sit most of the day at work, try doing three of these exercises three times per week when you get home.

Banded Standing Glute Kickbacks

Place a resistance band around your legs at the ankles. You should be able to stand comfortably with your feet shoulder-width apart and the band taut.
Place your hands on your hips. Balance on your left leg, and move your right foot so your toes are resting on the ground slightly behind and diagonal to your left foot. There should be tension in the band.
Tighten your core, and kick your right leg back about eight inches behind you. Keep your knee straight, tightly squeezing your glute.
Return your right foot to starting position, keeping tension in the band. Then begin the next rep. After your set is complete, switch legs and repeat.

Banded Half Jacks

Place the band around your thighs. Stand in a semisquat position, about a quarter of the way down, with your feet roughly hip-width apart. Clasp your hands in front of your chest.
With your hands still at your chest, begin jumping your feet out and in, as if you're doing jumping jacks. Stay in that squatted position throughout the exercise, with tension in the band at every point of the move.

Banded Booty Kicks

Get on your hands and knees, with your spine straight, as shown. Hold both ends of a resistance band, and place the center of the band around the sole of your left foot.
Tense your abs and extend your left foot behind you; hold for a one count.
Bring your knee back down, but don't let it touch the ground. Repeat for a total of three sets of 15-20 reps on each leg.

Single-Leg Glute Bridge

Place a band just above your knees. Lie on your back with your arms at your sides, your knees bent, and your feet shoulder-width apart, resting approximately 12 inches from your glutes.
Lift one leg off the ground and extend it out straight, keeping your thighs level.
Engage your glutes and press your heel into the ground, driving your hips and butt upward to form a bridge with your body. Squeeze your glutes and hold for a two count.
Lower back down to the ground, keeping your lifted leg extended. Once you finish the set, switch legs and repeat.

Banded Lateral Walk

Place a resistance band just above your knees. Get into a squat position.
Begin by stepping to the right 15-20 paces, landing each step with your feet hip-width apart, which keeps tension in the band. Keep your body as low in the squat as possible throughout the exercise.
Change direction and move to the left 15-20 paces. That completes one set.