-
The best part about belonging to a fitness club is the access to all the equipment, giving you a wider range of exercise options for achieving your goals. In the case of developing a tight butt, a few straightforward exercises will help develop the muscles of your backside.
If you're only going to do one exercise to tighten and develop your butt, chain yourself to the squat rack and perform back squats. Squats work the entire leg, lower back and hip muscles. Make sure to learn the movements correctly, as proper technique in any lift will greatly lessen the chance of injury.
The second best option is to do lunges, which will additionally work all of your leg muscles and the muscles of the lower back as well. You can perform these either holding dumbbells in each hand or with a barbell across your upper back. Again, make sure to keep your back straight and learn proper technique so that you execute the movement properly and avoid injury.
If your gym offers them, the leg press, hip sled or hack-squat machine will also work the muscles of your butt. No matter what you do, to increase mass in any area, try performing at least five sets per exercise, doing 5 to 8 reps per set, with enough weight that you're struggling to perform the last 2 repetitions. -
If you own a barbell and a squat rack, again, squats are your best choice. However, if you only own a barbell or dumbbells, you can still develop and tighten your butt at home.
With dumbbells you can perform lunges, and with a barbell only, you can do a lift called a Romanian Dead Lift, which is a modified straight-leg dead-lift. The latter exercise in particular will work your hamstrings, butt and lower back. You can also perform a type of squat with dumbbells, either by holding one in each hand and squatting down (like you're sitting into a chair that's behind you), or with your legs spread wider than shoulder-width, hold one dumbbell in both hands between your legs, and squat down, lowering the weight between your legs until your thighs are parallel to the floor. -
If you can only work out at home without any equipment at all, you can still tighten your butt using any of the following exercises. You can do lunges just using body weight (or holding a full paint can or gallon jug of water in each hand). You can replace squats by doing one leg step-ups on a set of stairs or a bench, and you can also try doing wall squats, which involves squatting against a wall (your back up against it). Keep your thighs parallel to the floor and try and hold this position as long as possible.
Jumping up onto a box of a certain height (say 20 inches), will also help tighten your butt, as will doing "squat jumps," which involves jumping down into a squatting position and then springing up as quickly and with as much force as possible. You can also perform all of these movements at a gym, adding them into your training as you see fit.
