Cardio Exercises and Glutes

Besides the usual exercises for working on glutes, I was wondering which is ideal for this in regards to cardio:

Power-walking on a steep incline
Elliptical / spinning class
Stairstepper
Other… ?

I must admit that cardio isn’t my all time favorite activity to do (and it’s included by default with various weekly classes I do), but I know that its important for my general physical/mental health,
SO it’s not a priority as far as endurance training for me but if I can maximize it to help my glute gains, I’m all for it. That said, I don’t want it to disrupt muscle gain (idk if I explained that well!)

Would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Prowler/Sled work 100%. You can build killer legs and glutes with both, and it’s an incredible tool for cardio.
(Prowlers are push-only, but sleds (like this one) can be pushed and pulled)
image

Stairmaster is pretty good too IMO, but it tends to get in the way of heavy leg work like squats.

Incline treadmill is good for low intensity steady state (LISS) cardio. It’s better than doing nothing for cardio, but is easily beaten by other methods if you’re looking for higher heart-rate cardio training.

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Not necessarily true. I have an old E-Prowler from EliteFTS that has a place on the front where I can attach a rope for pulling.

But yes, love prowlers and sleds.

You’re correct that prowlers aren’t always push only, but traditionally this is the case; likewise for sleds in that traditionally they were only built to be pulled. Thankfully, better, more modern versions have combined the two so only one tool can be used for both =)

You’re asking how to combine glute hypertrophy and strength with CV work? Very niche. But if that’s what will keep you going.

KB swings. Dan John has the 10,000 swing challenge. You do not have to do all of it. But each work out was 500 swings. Doing this 2-3 times a week will increase your CV and do your glutes size/strength no end of good!

There’s not really a “which one” as far as legs and glutes go. For cardio or strength. Your legs and glutes are monstrous in terms of the capacity they hold for just work in general.

I say this because essentially there’s not “ideal” movements. You should employ a variety of things. Make it heavy, make it light, slow it down, speed it up, push, pull, walk, run, squats, bands, deads, stairs, machines, body weight, cardio, endurance, etc. like all of it.

This was…2019-2020? Ish? I don’t really consider my legs that big concerning my proportions but I do like them and notice the work I put in. During that time I mostly did biking in terms of cardio/endurance stuff.

These are my leg this morning. (Flattering lighting)


As of this year I hammer my legs with everything.

So hopefully this may help?

The best Cardio Exercise to target glutes is StairMaster. Stepping continuously on the StairMaster engages your glutes, calves, quads, and hamstrings, helping to burn fat while simultaneously building lean muscle mass.