The butt blaster machine (or donkey kick machine) is a machine designed to work the glutes with a donkey-kick type of backwards pushing motion. If you’ve been trying to build your glutes, you’re probably familiar with it. It’s a very effective machine and a very effective movement pattern. The butt blaster exercise is the purest example of isolated hip extension. If you’ve been trying to build your glutes, you’re probably familiar with it. It’s a must if you really want to build a massive butt. It’s nearly impossible to do isolated hip extension at home with enough resistance to build serious muscle.
Now. squats and lunges (and variations of those) will generally be your best bet for really building the glutes. But there are times when those just don’t get the job done, and you need a few more tools in your toolbox to really get at the glutes and activate them, e.g. if you feel those exercises in your thighs more than your glutes.
Exercise instructions – proper form for booty blasters
Butt blaster exercise using “donkey kick machine” is easy to perform. Simply follow the instructions below to get the most out of this great movement.
STARTING POSITION:
- Select the weight with the machine’s pins.
- Begin by getting down on all fours and placing one foot up on the force plate. Hold on to the handles at the front of the machine.
MOVEMENT (ACTION):
- Slowly and under control lift your right leg up behind you, keeping it bent at a 9o-degree angle. If the machine has a platform, place the sole of the right foot against the platform.
- Press the weight up until your leg is just about straight.
- Hold, lower, and repeat.
- Repeat for the recommended number of repetitions, then switch the working leg and repeat.
Performance pointers for butt blaster exercise
Here are some useful tips for the machine butt blaster exercise.
- Once you are in the starting position, exhale and press your right leg up as you simultaneously squeeze your gluteal muscles.
- When you reach the top position, hold for a count or two before lowering almost to the start position.
- Do not allow the platform to come entirely down to the starting position. This makes sure you are maintaining tension in your muscles as you begin your next repetition.
- If you feel any pain in your lower back, lighten up on the weight or select a different exercise for the gluteals.
- Always remember to keep your abdominals pulled in and resist arching your lower back while doing butt blaster exercise on the machine.
Muscles engaged
The butt blaster exercise isolates your gluteals and works the hip extenders and the back of the upper leg.
Furthermore, the butt blaster machine adds extra resistance to the soles of your feet to render the exercise more intense and more effective. Note that there is a difference in the movement because the knee joint is mobilized. As a result, in addition to recruiting the glutes and the hamstrings, the quadriceps also come into play.
Exercise variations
So what do you do if you don’t have a butt blaster machine to use?
- Ankle-weight all-fours hip extension. Wrap 5- to 25-pound ankle weights around your ankles. Get into an all-fours stance with your head up and back straight. Extend one leg back until it is almost straight. Slowly return to the start position, keeping your knee off the floor.
- Kneeling hip extension with straight (or bent) leg and with or without the use of a resistance band. By kneeling, you increase both the resistance and the range of motion. When you bend the leg (often called a donkey kick variation), the exercise becomes easier. When you straighten it, it becomes harder. However, if you perform the exercise kneeling, you should bend your leg to 90 degrees so that you can bring it under your torso to increase the range of motion. Straighten the leg out again as soon as it is no longer underneath you. at that point, the knee joint comes into play. Using an elastic band places extra weight on the glutes.
Replacement exercises
This glute & hip exercises category contains detailed descriptions of all major single-joint (isolation) exercises that focus on the muscles that act on the hip (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, hip abductors, hip adductors, iliopsoas, and tensor fasciae latae).
- Cable Pull-Through Exercise
- Basic glute bridge and its variations
- Mini Band Lateral Walk
- Reverse Hyperextension
- Standing Hip Flexion
- Cable Hip Adduction
- Cable Hip Abduction
- Standing Hip Extension
- Machine Hip Adduction (Standing)
- Standing Machine Hip Abduction
- Seated Hip Abduction (Machine Hip Abductions)
- Seated Hip Adduction
Closing thoughts about butt blaster exercise
Although not just for ladies, you’ll seldom if ever catch a guy on this machine. The squats alone may not induce an intense muscle burn in the glutes, but by moving to the butt blaster after, your glutes will soon be on fire. This machine is designed to target that all-important gluteus maximus.
Performing this exercise is straightforward. After selecting your weight, begin by getting down on all fours (get your mind out the gutter) and placing one foot up on the force plate. From there it’s just a matter of pressing the weight up until your leg is just about straight. Hold, lower, and repeat.
