Butt Kicks: Understanding It’s Correct Form and Benefits

Want to level up your lower body exercise routine? If yes, consider adding butt kicks to your workout. Also known as butt kickers or bum kicks, this plyometric bodyweight exercise targets muscle throughout the lower body and helps stabilize the core as well.

Although exercises featuring butt kicks are mostly popular among athletes and runners, it can be done by anyone who wants to strengthen their lower body muscles, particularly their hamstrings and glutes. This exercise can be added to a warm-up session or done as an individual workout to target the glutes, calves, hamstrings, and hip flexors.

Butt kicks target the hamstrings and glutes. (Photo via Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)

The best part about this lower body exercise is that it can be modified to suit people with different fitness levels. For example, beginners can do butt kicks as a bodyweight exercise, however, advanced exercisers can make it more challenging by adding weights, a resistance band, or a cable to the exercise.

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How to Do the Butt Kicks Exercise?

Butt kicks are an easy exercise that can be done anywhere – at home, gym, or outdoors. The key is to perform the exercise correctly to target the right muscles and prevent strains and injuries.

Follow these steps to complete this exercise in the right form:

• Start by standing with your feet positioned at a hip-width distance and your arms by your sides.
• Bring your left heel to your buttocks by engaging your hamstring muscle and then move it back to the floor.
• Repeat the same on the opposite side by bringing your right heel to your buttocks.
• Repeat the movement a few times more while alternating heels and increasing your speed.
• Continue the exercise for 30 seconds and gradually increase the time as you build your strength.
• You can also grab a dumbbell in each hand to activate your forearm muscles during this exercise.

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Quick Tips to Keep In Mind

To get the most out of butt kicks, it is important to perform the exercise correctly. While this exercise may seem simple, practicing it incorrectly can lead to muscle strains and also won’t give you the results you're aiming for.

So, pay attention to the following things as you perform this exercise:

• Always start slow and keep your movements under control to avoid any kind of discomfort.
• While doing this exercise, be sure to keep your abs engaged and your spine in a neutral position at all times.
• As you lift your heels, make sure your thighs remain straight and don’t move.
• Engage your hamstrings more while lifting your leg.
• Do not land on your heels, instead land softly on the balls of your feet.
• It's okay if your heel doesn’t touch the butt. Do not force or push yourself hard as this can lead to muscle injury.

Keep your spine and abs engaged throughout the exercise. (Photo via Pexels/Scott Webb)

If you want to add variations to your butt kick exercise, you may start with weighted donkey kicks and see how it works for you.

The weighted donkey kicks particularly target the glutes and help tone your backside. In addition to glutes, however, donkey kicks target the abs, strengthen the thighs, and improve hip stability as well.

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What Are the Reasons to Add Butt Kicks to Your Workout Routine?

Here are some of the top reasons you should definitely consider adding this effective exercise to your lower-body strength training routine:

It builds strong muscles

Butt kicks are an amazing plyometric exercise that helps build strong muscles. Not only does it target hamstrings and glutes, but it works equally well on the thighs and core as well.

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It is a great cardiovascular exercise

When performed regularly, this exercise helps elevate your heart rate and improves your overall cardiovascular health.

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It is a versatile exercise

The best thing about this cardio exercise is that it can be done almost anywhere without requiring any fancy equipment. It is an easy exercise to add to your home workout routine.

Butt kicks build strong muscles. (Photo via Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)

To include butt kicks in your workout routine, try adding this plyometric exercise to your full-body or lower-body workout sessions and combine it with other plyometric exercises, such as box jumps, push-ups, and jumping jacks. You can also do this exercise as a warm-up before starting your strength training workouts.