Katie Wildhagen, CEO and founder of theBAKESHOP, wants you to have the best booty you can. The fitness instructor founded a boutique fitness studio focused on glute and core strength to empower women to get stronger and find their inner power. Her unique approach has made her an expert in developing glute and core muscles, especially for women. 

Her exercise regimens center hypertrophic training, or building mass, for the glutes and supplementing glute strength work with other training.

“Every other part of our workouts and training is more strength [or] cardio training, which is going to create a good metabolic burn in the body and help us burn fat. It’s going to help us keep muscle and tighten muscle, but we’re not going to build out our arms to be big,” she said.

We asked her about her workout tips for anyone wanting to build their booty. The exercises discussed below are a surefire way to get you started in “baking” your best “cake.” 

Busting the Squat Myth in Glute Strength 

Contrary to popular belief, the standard squat is not one of the best exercises for glute strength. Wildhagen said she sees this misconception a lot. Many people wonder why their squats aren’t giving them the butt they always wanted, but as Wildhagen points out, “squats are a focus for the quads.” 

“Unless you’re doing squats in a really specific way, you’re not hitting the glutes as much as you are the thighs and the quads.” 

Part of building theBAKESHOP came out of her seeing everyone talking about squats as a way to build glute strength, but she said, “This ain’t it.” 

“To get well-rounded glutes, you do need squats, but I would say the preference is 30 percent squat work to 70 percent other glute work.” 

theBAKESHOP’s Favorite Glute Strength Exercises

Wildhagen wants to see women in the gym to build their power and confidence. Her favorite glute strength exercises combine resistance training, weights, and equipment-free movement to increase muscle and tone the body. 

“Don’t be afraid of weights, because we have to remember that lifting weights helps build our muscles,” she said. 

“When I say build muscle, I don’t mean ‘grow it big.’ I mean build it so it’s strong.” 

Instead of squats, Wildhagen recommends deadlifts and hip thrusters. Hinging work, she says, should be the primary exercise focus, with squats as a secondary. 

Deadlifts

Common misconceptions about deadlifts may lead you to believe they are to strengthen your back. However, they really work to build gluteal muscle. Ensuring you follow proper form for a deadlift is incredibly important, because poor form can lead to muscle strain or other injury. 

To do a deadlift, stand with your fit shoulder-width apart and position the barbell in front of you. Next, “zip up” your core and hinge at your hips. By activating your core, you protect your back and ensure proper form. Then, bend your knees slightly to grab the bar. To lift, squeeze your glutes and core as you move to stand straight up. Pause, then lower slowly. 

Hip Thrusters

If you are familiar with glute bridges, you are well on your way to knowing how to do a hip thruster. 

To do a hip thruster, you will need a barbell and weight bench. It’s best to practice the movement without the weight before you start, just to ensure you are using proper form. 

Start by sitting on the floor, bending your knees, and placing your feet a little wider than hip-distance. When you sit, the weight bench should be centered between your shoulder places. Place the barbell over your and hold on to it, but do not use your arm strength to lift. Then, just like with a bridge, squeeze your glutes and press up until your hips are lined up with your shoulders. Lower slowly to the floor and repeat. 

Maintaining or Building a Booty? theBAKESHOP Has You Covered 

Wildhagen also shared two unique fitness regiments: one for someone who is thinner with a smaller butt, and another for someone looking to lose weight who doesn’t want to increase their overall butt size. 

Build a Booty 

To build a booty, Wildhagen recommends training so you are lifting heavy weights in low-to-mid range reps (8-10) for 4-5 sets. 

This type of workout will “tear the muscle fibers in a certain way, specifically so that when they grow back, they will take up more space.” 

She refers to this as “building volume.”

Maintain a Booty

If you are happy with the size of your booty, but want to lose weight, Wildhagen recommends focusing on strength cardio training. 

“[This type of workout] fires up the metabolism and helps maintain and create muscle in the body, but it’s not focusing on certain areas to make anything big,” she said. 

The exercises she outlined work to tighten and strengthen the muscle so it becomes a “fat burning machine.” 

This is different from more “traditional” cardio like running or cycling. Often people think long cardio sessions are the key to weight loss but, according to Hagen, only doing cardio is “working against” yourself.