Everyone wants a great butt. (If that weren’t true, social media never would have blessed us with the ridiculousness of the #belfie.) And everyone knows squats—which fire up your glutes, along with most of your lower body—are one of the fastest ways to get a great butt. That said, just doing squats on squats on squats isn’t enough to sculpt a tighter, curvier, perkier butt.
The real MVPs in building a better butt are actually your hamstring muscles. Yes, muscles—there are three: the semitendinosus, the semimembranosus, and the biceps femoris. “If your butt is the roof of your house, your hamstrings are the walls—and you can’t have a nice house without good walls,” says Kira Stokes, a NASM-certified personal trainer. “Your hamstrings are a key factor to functional movement, and they deserve as much attention as your butt.”
The hamstrings cross both your knee and hip joints, explains Stokes, and they allow you to bend your knees, draw your hips backwards, be effective with explosive movement, and shift weight from your knees to hips. “That transition zone between the glute and the hamstring, you want to be able to see definition there,” says Stokes. “And to see that, you need to make sure your hamstrings are defined.” Translation: If you don’t have strong hamstrings, it drags your whole backside down (womp, womp).
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Most butt moves do also exercise the hamstrings—“the glute and the hamstrings are partners in crime,” says Stokes—but a little hammie fine-tuning goes a long way. “When you bend or contract your hamstring, it helps you accelerate and develop power; when you straighten the muscle, you’re actually lengthening it,” says Stokes. “You need that kind of symmetry to be stronger and more efficient.” Underdeveloped hamstrings, for example, can lead to lower back pain and tightness.
Next time you’re at the gym, put a hold on the squats and show your hamstrings some love with these targeted exercises. (Just don’t forget to stretch dynamically before your work these muscle to avoid any strains or tears!)
