Buns of Steel

A young woman at muy gym follows the buns of steel video. In it, you would be lying down the entire time and bend your hip and knees in differnt positions and speeds to get a burn. Is there any evidence that this works. I have my opinion but what is your? Thanks

If you’ve ever read any of the stuff by Russian strength coach Pavel somethingorother, he believes that going for a burn in any exercise is useless. He backs it up with some pretty good evidence in his books so I tend to agree with him on most points.

Well, look at her ass…is it working???

Seriously, I’ve never tried one, but that disgusting word ‘toned’ usually comes up way too often in the video jacket text. I guess if she has a good rear then it’s working for her!

I wonder how much hip flexor stress this type of workout causes…it sounds like it is being used the entire time.

A hard ass is a matter of not having much fat on it combined with building some muscle, so diet comes first. You can’t have “buns of steel” and a belly of cottage cheese after all. Then for training, a person would need more than the bodyweight being lifted off the floor as in those videos. Lunge variations (static and alternating), squats, one leg squats with the back leg thrown up on a bench, step-ups, good mornings, stiff-leg deads etc. all hit the butt nicely.

This is how I get newbies to train their legs by the way (many don’t). I remind them that most good leg exercises hit your ass too and women (or men, whatever the case may be) like a great ass. That gets them in squat rack!

My favorite: Start with explosive lunges, but train one leg at a time. Step forwards, go down, then push yourself back up hard until your feet are side by side again. Do 6 to 10 reps with that leg, rest, then do the other leg. On the last set, when you can hardly throw yourself back up to the start position, revert to static lunges where the forward leg stays in one spot while you go up and down. All of this is done with a barbell on the back, not dumbbells, which aren’t as effective in my book though a beginner may use them first before moving to a bar. Expect massive ass soreness the next day.