Military Muscle: Body-weight exercises to help shape your glutes - Military Health, military health and wellness, military physical fitness - Military Times

Military Muscle: Body-weight exercises to help shape your glutes

These exercises can be done anywhere and target oft-overlooked areas. Start with a small number of reps and work up to bigger numbers. Under no circumstances should you think that you’ll be considered a wimp if you don’t start with a big number. Gym floors are littered with the bodies of people who, on their first day, let their ego get in the way of common sense.

Glute leg raise

I got this from Rob Shaul at Military Athlete. It’s one of the best exercises I’ve found for shaping and tightening the sides of the glute area. Setup and execution must be followed exactly. Beginners’ reps for this are 25 for each leg, with a goal of 50 per leg.

• Lie on the floor on your side, legs straight without bending the hips or knees. You may rest your head on your arm. Roll forward halfway to the floor, keeping your body straight. This is important in getting the side glute muscle engaged.

• Lift your top leg and turn the toe of that foot toward the floor.

• Lower that foot so the toe touches the floor behind the heel of your bottom leg foot.

• Raise the leg in a controlled manner until it’s at a 45-degree angle to the floor.

• Repeat the sequence for the desired number of reps, then change sides and repeat.

Single-leg squat

Five to eight reps on each leg is a good starting target, working up to 12 to 15 per leg. You’ll need either a bench or a chair. If you use a chair, pick one that doesn’t have wheels so it stays put.

• Place either your right or left foot on the chair.

• Move the foot that is on the floor forward far enough so that your raised knee lines up behind the instep of that foot. Execute a test squat to ensure the knee of the standing leg stays behind the toes.

• Squat to a 90-degree position and return to the up position. Repeat for the desired number of reps, then switch legs.

Nutrition tip

One of the easiest ways to eat better is portion control. When you go through the food line at big family events, take a normal-size spoonful of what you want — and go through the line only once.

Another trick is to use the inside circle of your plate to limit your dinner quantity. You’ll go outside that circle, but you’ll still end up with a smaller portion than if you filled up the entire plate.

Finally, fill half your plate with “good vegetables” — beans, peas, corn, etc. And no, this does not mean the casserole kind.

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Bob Thomas is director of the Navy Wellness Center in Pensacola, Fla. You can e-mail him.