- Katie Neeson, a trainer in Los Angeles, shared her glute training tips on TikTok
- She recommended focusing on hip thrusts, squats and single-leg movements
- READ MORE: Women only need to exercise half as much as men, research shows
When it comes to working out, Americans are obsessed with getting a better backside.
Tutorials on how to get ’rounder’ and stronger glutes have taken over social media, with searches on TikTok racking up more than 130 million views in total.
However, fitness experts have revealed that many of these exercises are likely a waste of time.
Katie Neeson, a personal trainer in Los Angeles, posted a TikTok video last month in which she knelt on the floor as she moved and clenched her backside while holding a small pair of dumbbells.
‘Stop doing things like this to grow your glutes. It doesn’t do anything,” Neeson said in the video, which has been viewed more than 3.6 million times.
Ms Neeson, who has almost 60,000 TikTok followers, also showed off walking on a stair master and kicking one leg behind her at a time – noting that this won’t strengthen your glutes either.
Katie Neeson, a personal trainer in Los Angeles, revealed that kickbacks and other punches may not strengthen your backside. ‘Stop doing things like this to grow your glutes. It doesn’t do anything,” she said in a TikTok video, which has been viewed more than 3.6 million times
Social media searches for butt workouts have exploded in recent years as Americans become obsessed with toning their butts
Instead of thrusting from behind, Ms Neeson told her followers that ‘you should focus on some form of hip thrusting, i.e. pushing the cheeks together.’
In the video, Ms. Neeson sat on the floor and leaned her back against a weight bench. From there, she lifted her hips slightly above the ground and placed a dumbbell on her lap, thrusting forward repeatedly.
“You have to do punches and you have to add some extra weight to this bar and focus on getting stronger over time,” she said.
If you’re just starting out, limit the amount of weight you have on the bar to get used to the movement and reduce the risk of injury. Then, as your body gets used to it over a few weeks, add a little more weight each time.
Ms. Neeson also recommended deadlifts, where you hinge your hips back and bend your knees to lower your body and pick up a barbell or kettlebell.
“It targets your glutes a lot more,” she said.
Ms Neeson told her 58,000 followers to focus on hip thrusts and gradually increase the weight over time
The trainer also recommended squats and deadlifts, as well as single-leg movements
Additionally, Ms. Neeson suggested doing squats while holding the barbell behind your head.
“You want to add some form of squats,” she said, noting that these can include either high-bar or low-bar squats.
In a high-bar squat, the bar rests just above your shoulders, while in a low-bar squat, the bar should be closer to your shoulder blades.
Ms. Neeson’s final recommendation was to incorporate movements that focus on one leg at a time. “We want to do some form of single-leg movement,” she said.
These include lunges, single-leg squats and single-leg deadlifts.
“Ladies, try it,” she said.