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Fabulous as they may be for strengthening your butt, squats can get old fast. Sure, there are plenty of squat variations that make the move a little less boring, but squats just aren't for everyone. Luckily, there's a butt-strengthening exercise that's just as easy and effective, but doesn't involve bouncing up and down. It's called a wall sit.
"In a wall sit, you're basically sitting without a chair," says Holly Rilinger, a certified personal trainer and former professional basketball player. But, unlike plopping in a chair, when you do a wall sit, you have to use your butt and quads to support and hold your body up. Exercises that involve holding your body in one position, instead of doing several repetitions, are called isometric exercises. Even though you're supposed to stay totally still, when you hold isometric moves, like a plank or glute bridge, it requires the maximum amount of effort from your muscles, she says. "An isometric exercise requires the full exertion of the muscle," Rilinger says. "And that's key for building strength."
The beauty of wall sits is that anyone at any fitness level can do them, Rilinger says. If you're rehabbing an injury or don't have a ton of space to work out (because, for example, you're at the airport or in a small gym), wall sits are a great option, she says. And because it's a static move, you can be done in a matter of seconds or minutes. Ahead, Rilinger explains the right way to do a wall sit.
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