5 moves to tone your backside

If you want the strength and stamina to power your workouts—whether it's walking, running, biking, or lifting weights—you need a strong posterior. Not to mention, having a strong gluteus maximus (aka, glutes, aka butt) muscles help stabilize your back. Here are simple moves to help strengthen your body's largest and most powerful muscle.

Seek the stairs everywhere you go, says exercise expert Tina Vindum, author of Outdoor Fitness. Here's how to make them work for your backside: Fully plant your foot on each stair and firmly press through your heel and tighten your glutes as you straighten your leg with each step. 

Give your butt an even better stair workout by lifting your free leg straight behind you as you take each step. Raise it to a 45-degree angle, and squeeze your glutes as you lift, says Vindum. This is just like a rear leg raise, which is great for your bottom and lower back. 

Do your bodyweight squats on a hill for extra backside firming. You should be facing down the slope. According to Outdoor Fitness, this causes you to push your hips and butt back more than if you were on a flat surface, activating the glutes better. 

You might think you’re getting a break with this exercise since you’re lying down, but don’t be fooled. This move works your butt, your quads and your core. Lie face-up with knees bent and soles of your feet on the floor. Squeeze your abs and raise your hips up. Hold there for a few seconds and then bring your hips back down. For an extra challenge, extend one leg outward while you’re doing these bridges, keeping it in line with your back.

Why walk when you can lunge? Lunges are a great lower body exercise, hitting everything from your calves on up to your quads, inner thighs, and glutes. Try the walking lunge version. Step forward with your right foot and drop your left knee down to the floor. Stand up, step forward with your left foot and repeat.