Do Leg Lifts Make Your Butt Bigger?

Building size in your butt takes weight training workouts that consist of numerous exercises, sets and reps. Leg lifts, while having their benefits, are not effective at increasing size in your butt because they target other muscle groups. You’ll want to construct a battery of exercises that are more effective at targeting your glutes if you want to build size in your butt.

  1. A Look at Leg Lifts

    • Leg lifts involve either standing, lying on your back or hanging from an overhead bar and lifting a straight leg up until it’s perpendicular to your torso. These exercises target your iliopsoas, which are a collection of two of your major hip flexor muscles that are located at the front of your hips. Your major butt muscle, the gluteus maximus, isn’t recruited during leg lifts.

    Exercises for the Butt

    • Exercises that are effective at targeting your gluteus maximus involve some type of hip extension, which occurs when you’re coming up out of a squat or driving your leg backward. According to ExRx.net, lunges, step-ups, deadlifts and squats require your butt muscle to handle most of the load. Lunges involve getting into a staggered stance and then bending your lead knee to drop your back one to the floor. Step-ups are performed by stepping up onto a plyo box or bench. Squats place you in a square stance and involve pushing your hips back and bending your knees to lower your hips toward the floor. Deadlifts require the use of a barbell or a pair of dumbbells that are held at the front of your thighs and involve pushing your hips back and bending your knees to lower the weight toward the top of your feet.

    The Right Workout

    • Your butt-building workout not only needs to include exercises that target the glutes, but it should consist of an appropriate number of sets and reps. For your butt muscle to grow, it’s got to be overloaded at the end of each workout. Schedule two workouts per week with two days of rest in between and complete three to five sets of eight to 20 reps of lunges, step-ups, deadlifts and squats. Take about 60 seconds to rest in between sets.

    Argument for Leg Lifts

    • Leg lifts may not help you build size in your butt, but strengthening your hip flexors can provide an array of benefits. According to Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Kevin O’Neill, hip flexor strength helps improve your sprinting speed and also prevents injury in your hamstrings. If you’re involved in sports, whether competitive or recreational, leg lifts are a beneficial exercise to incorporate into your leg workouts.