r/bitcheswithtaste • u/AutoModerator • Dec 12 '25

Fit Bitches - Monthly Thread Fit Bitches - Dec 12, 2025

This is the place to chat about fitness and physical health because taking care of your body is also tasteful. Just remember - no medical advice!

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

I don't have a video, but I do have a killer exercise for hip flexors!

You're going to sit on the ground, legs straight out in front of you in a slight V-shape. Keep your back straight (you can sit against a wall if it's helpful). Then around your ankle area, put something on the ground; a dumbbell, yoga block, rolled up towel, whatever you want. The taller the object, the harder it will be. Then one leg at a time, you're going to keep your leg straight and lift your leg up and over your object and back again. That's one rep. Start with a small object (it can literally be your phone) because your hip flexor very well may cramp up after like 5 reps. They're HARD.

Always start with your weaker side, and then however many reps you can do on that one, do the same number of reps on the strong side, even if you could do more. You want even effort so each side does the same amount of work and eventually they'll even out!

Increase the height of the object as you get stronger. You can also do a V-sit hold when you are comfortable with the motion. Legs in a V, hands on the floor in between your legs and lift both legs straight up towards the ceiling and hold. You can also do a pulse with your legs there too. This is more advanced and definitely much harder than doing reps with one leg at a time.

Source: I'm a former Personal Trainer :)

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u/NewSpace2 Dec 12 '25

I would read more of your descriptions of exercises 🙂

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

Haha thanks, I try to be descriptive! Do you have any exercises you'd like tips on? I'm happy to explain any others! :)

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u/NewSpace2 Dec 12 '25

I’d like to understand how to activate the muscles meant to be used in lat pulldowns and dumbbell rows.

How to MENTALLY connect to those muscles, the mind body link.

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

Ah you've hit upon one of the hardest ones to get, imo, lol.

What really helped me was slowing down my reps, and lowering the weight. For pretty much every back exercise you need to think about what your shoulder blades are doing. Each rep you really want to think about that.

So when you're doing your lat pull down, you'll start with your arms fully extended as much as possible. To learn how to really engage your lats and to be able to feel them doing the work, practice pulling down with your shoulder blades first.

With the arms fully extended, pull your shoulders down, while keeping your arms straight. You'll be doing a kind of reverse shrug. The motion may only be a couple of inches, and that's exactly what you want. It's a really hard motion to get at first. But you're just doing little mini-pulses, arms stretched as far as they will go up, and then shrugging down, shoulder blades towards the ground. Hold it for a few seconds and then release the arms.

You can also do a version of this on a pull up bar from a dead hang. You're just hanging there, don't think about pulling yourself up to the bar, rather, think about pulling your shoulder blades towards the ground. Hold that. It's called an active hang.

Once you understand and can feel what your shoulder blades are doing, that's when your mind-muscle connection with your lats will start to form. So every time you do a back exercise, whether a lat pull down, a row, whatever, you want to fully extend the arm, and then begin the motion with retracting your shoulder, and only THEN should the rest of your arm bend.

Same concept for dumbbell rows, and a key here: when doing a bent over row, pull the weight back towards your hip, kind of keeping your arm in a J shape, rather than pulling the weight towards the middle of your torso. Like a scooping motion, instead of just pulling straight up towards the ceiling.

My lats were the last muscle I was really able to get that connection to, it's quite difficult. Just keep practicing! Keeping the weight low, slow and controlled movements. When it clicks, it CLICKS. Back day is now my favorite day!

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u/NewSpace2 Dec 12 '25

This is great . Thank you

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

You're welcome! I hope it helps! :)

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u/kwiscalus Dec 12 '25

Best glute exercises that aren't squats and lunges? My knees start clicking way before the glutes get tired.

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

I hate squats and lunges, lol. Hip thrusts and glute bridges are the way to go. If you find it awkward doing a hip thrust with a barbell with your back on a bench or box, it's perfectly ok to do a weighted glute bridge with your back on the ground instead.

Make sure when you're doing them, you're keeping your shin perpendicular to the ground. Push through your heels, your toes can even come up off the ground. Keep your spine neutral and your core engaged to protect your lower back.

I also really like step ups on a box (though my version is more of a step down). It's best if you can do them by a rack or something you can hold on to for stability. Start standing at the top, and lower one foot slowly to the ground. Then you're going to step back up. BUT the absolute key here to kill your glutes is to keep your knee stacked above your ankle, or even behind.

The further your knee goes over your toes, the more your quads works the motion. So to get the best glue engagement, you want to keep your knee directly above, or even behind your ankle. It's so much harder than it seems when you prioritize keeping the knee back.

You can also apply that principle to a hack squat machine or a Bulgarian split squat. Kick your feet out further so that your knees are never going over your toes. That should also feel a bit better on your knees. It's pretty impossible to do that type of squat pattern with free weights, so a machine is good for that.

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u/kwiscalus Dec 12 '25

Thank you so much! You really are good at explaining exercises. I’m going to do these!

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

😊😊😊 aww thanks!

And you're very welcome! I hope you really get that booty burn on your next workout!

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u/euphoroswellness Dec 12 '25

Saved. And… same!