Muscle & Fitness/Hers: Rear-end remodeling: just a slight difference in your leg position creates a tough new angle on a classic hip exercise

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Rear-end remodeling: just a slight difference in your leg position creates a tough new angle on a classic hip exercise

Martica K. Heaner

tHERE'S CERTAINLY NO SHORTAGE OF ways to work your hips and glutes. If you've been training your rear view for a while, chances are you started with leg machines, graduated to more multi-muscle exercises such as squats and lunges and maybe even moved on to high-velocity plyometric moves. But there's one machine move that you should revisit: the hip abductor, where you sit and press your thighs outward against resistance. Since the exercise action is pure leg abduction, with no other joint movements involved (like knee bends), you get a true hip and butt toner and shaper. The bonus is that you also work your abs as stabilizers--and even more so with the twist we've added to this classic move. Get ready to reap your booty bonanza!

CLASSIC ABDUCTOR MACHINE

START: Select your desired weight and sit up tall on the machine's seat with your back resting firmly on the back pad. Place your feet flat on the foot plates and rest the outside of your thighs against the inside of the thigh pads just above the knees, with your knees aligned directly over your ankles. Hold on to the handgrips.

EXERCISE: Tighten your abs to anchor your hips and exhale as you press your knees against the pads to open your legs outward, contracting your hip and glute muscles as you move. When your legs are opened a comfortable distance apart--usually about hip-width--hold for two slow counts, then inhale and slowly bring your legs together. Avoid returning too quickly; pause just before your knees touch, the foot plates come together or the lowered weight touches the weight stack, then move immediately into the next rep until you've completed all reps.

TIPS

* Keep your chest lifted and abs tight throughout. Staying tall and stable makes the upper hips work harder.

* Draw your shoulder blades back and down to help stabilize your upper torso.

* Relax your feet and ankles and tighten your glutes as you move.

* Don't force your back against the pad to help complete the reps. If you need to do this, then the weight is too heavy.

* Avoid bouncing when you press outward. If you find yourself doing so, slow the movement down and use more muscle than momentum.

SUSPENDED ABDUCTOR MACHINE

START: Start in the same position as the classic version: Select your desired weight (for this version, you'll probably need to reduce weight by 10 to 20 pounds to start) and sit up tall, aligning your hips with the back of the seat and your knees directly over your ankles. Hold on to the handgrips, maintaining alignment, and lift both legs a few inches so that your feet are suspended slightly above the foot plates, then place your lower legs against the thigh pads to maintain the lifted position. This position doesn't look too different from the classic version of the exercise, but you'll feel the extra challenge right away.

EXERCISE: Contract your abs and thigh muscles to keep your legs suspended as you exhale and press your thighs against the thigh pads to open your legs until they're about hip-width apart. Hold for two slow counts in the open position, then inhale and slowly bring your legs together. Pause just before your knees touch or the lowered weight touches the weight stack and move immediately into the next rep until you've completed all reps.

TIPS

* Focus on your abs during both phases of the movement to help keep your feet lifted off the foot plates and to help anchor your torso in place.

* If your hip flexors fatigue before your glutes do, rest and either work with a lighter weight or complete fewer reps.

* For a double challenge, release the handgrips and just rest your hands on the handles for balance, not support.

* To get the full benefit of overloading these muscles, try drop-setting this exercise. The abductor is an easy machine to do this with: As your muscles reach fatigue and you can't maintain form, "drop" the weight by 10 pounds and do a few more reps; repeat one to two more times.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

Both moves target the glutes, particularly the gluteus medius that forms your upper hip, and the upper fibers of the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle of your glutes. Your abs kick in to stabilize your torso during both exercises, and your hip flexors also work statically to hold your legs firmly in a bent position as you press your knees outward. By keeping your legs in a suspended position in the updated version of this move, you eliminate the built-in support that the machine provides, so your ability to perform the exercise with good form depends on your body's own balance and stability and requires an extra effort from all involved muscles, including the stabilizers. You'll feel the difference.