Warm-Up and Strengthening With Butt Kicks: 3 Different Variations
Running is truly a natural expression of vitality, strength and optimism.
Running is a complete activity that gives enormous benefits to the circulatory system, tones the muscles of the whole body and ensures a significant increase in physical endurance, whatever our favorite sport may be.
It is also an activity we can do anywhere: on the street (with a little care), in the park, on the beach.
It is also easy to increase the intensity or difficulty of our run if, for example, we decide to use it to climb a flight of stairs or tackle a moderate hill.
Just think that, at the base of many sports where power also needs to be expressed, running is fully part of athletic conditioning.
Today we are talking about butt kicks, a particular variation of running that can be done in place or on the move.
Thanks to its characteristics, butt kicks can be done by anyone as an excellent warm-up before any sport or even as a way to build muscle strength.
Butt kicks: benefits
The most interesting thing about butt kicks is that, depending on how they are performed, they can give different benefits. For example, if, after warming up, we do three different butt-kick runs in succession over a few meters – about ten – we amplify the warm-up function of this technique.
If instead the butt-kick stretch becomes longer (about 50 meters) and we repeat the exercises several times, we will be doing “technical repeats” with a strengthening effect on the hamstrings and calves.
In any case, let’s focus on the movement, the foot strike and the posture. That way we can improve our technique and make our running more efficient.
Execution tips
As for posture, all butt-kick exercises share a forefoot strike, ankle-hip-shoulder alignment and an accentuated arm movement to improve running technique.
It is also very important to note that the foot’s contact with the ground must not be dragged but crisp and precise and that, in forward butt kicks, when the foot is suspended in front it should be in a “hammer” position, that is, bent at 90° to the leg.
Let’s now look at butt kicks in three variations, ideal for a warm-up in the form of dynamic stretching or for real muscle strengthening.
VARIATION 1 – WARM-UP
From a standing position, in place or moving slightly forward, we will lift and bend the legs backward bringing the heels toward the glutes.
To make the movement more dynamic we can move our hands away from the glutes, thus performing freer, more dynamic butt kicks.
VARIATION 2 – WARM-UP
Again from a standing position, we will do butt kicks like the previous ones, this time adding the upper limbs as well. It becomes an ideal exercise for warming up the body even more completely.
VARIATION 3 – STRENGTHENING
The third variation of this exercise is work whose primary goal is muscle strengthening.
It is butt kicks + squat jump.
In this variation, after every 10 heel touches to the glutes, we do a single squat jump.
To conclude, let’s always remember that training is essential, but for a proper lifestyle it is vitally important to maintain a balanced diet.
Sport puts our muscles to the test, and repair and performance gains come from a careful choice of foods.
That is why Eathlon® personalizes our diet taking into account our habits, our tastes and our lifestyle.
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