Bodybuilders and casual gym-goers alike are no strangers to a good exercise machine. Even those who typically focus on free weights tend to at least dabble in machine exercises to isolate certain muscle groups during their workouts. And of course, who doesn’t love hopping on machines to knock out cardio without setting foot on the pavement?
But right now, things are a bit different. We’re in the middle of a pandemic and, in many places, heading to the gym is out of the question.
Enter a workout machine and accompanying workouts aptly called “The DB Method.” If you’re wondering, DB stands for dream butt, which is what the machine is designed to build. I was given an opportunity to test it out, and I have to admit, it truly surprised me.
The basic premise is that the machine sets your body up in a way a typical squat can’t. With your heels high on two slanted foot rests, you gently hold two handles at the front, extend your arms, and let your weight shift back onto a seat that provides 220 pounds of resistance as you squat down. In theory, the posture shifts your center of gravity away from your legs and lets you really channel your glutes, according to the company.
What’s more, the DB Method is supposed to get you results in just 10-15 minutes a day. The focus is glutes, but you can work the rest of your body with the machine, too — more on that later.
At first glance, yes, it’s gimmicky. And as someone who’s been training fairly consistently for years, I realistically wouldn’t expect a massive change in my physique to happen in a few weeks. But the machine had rave reviews, and I had to find out whether it really made my lower body feel any different than a traditional weighted squat.
Once I got it set up (which was super easy, and it folds up neatly for storage), ran through the basics with Sydney Wollman, the company’s Head of Brand, and tried it out for a few weeks, here’s what I found.
Finding the proper position is key, but it can be tricky
Getting set up on the machine properly will take a bit of trial and error, but it’s a process you have to be patient with and pay attention to to really feel the intended benefits of the workout.
The video above is a great guide, but for me personally, keeping my core active and paying attention to my posture were the things I had to focus on the most, especially mid-workout.
According to Wollman, some of the most common mistakes people make are keeping their butt in very center of the seat instead of slightly toward the front if it, placing their heels too low on the foot rests, and letting their knees cave in.
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Carmen Emmi
The mind-muscle connection comes into play to isolate the glutes
You can’t expect to do any squat movement without feeling it in your legs, but once I was properly set up and really focused on keeping tension in the glute area, the machine definitely helped keep it there.
Again, the seat offers 220 pounds of resistance, so I felt it as long as I was in the zone where my muscles stayed active. The mind-muscle connection and time under tension are big factors.
As long as you keep checking in on your form, t’s a safe way to add resistance to squats without loading your spine the way you would with a regular back squat. That’s not to say it could replace hitting your squat max, but it’s a good option when the gym is out of the question for whatever reason, and it really does target the glutes.
There are also accessories, including DreamBands (resistance bands that clip around your legs to accommodate the machine) and a 10-pound weighted hip belt, that can make workouts more difficult. The bands were also a good way to make sure my knees were constantly pushing out, not caving in.
It’s actually taxing, and left me sore as hell after the first few times
The combination of cardio and resistance that the five to 15-minute DB Method workouts offer makes them tough. You’re squatting for minutes at a time, and my glutes and hams were exhausted after the first few times I tried the machine. There’s also more core involved than you’d think as you maintain your posture.
If you’re a hardcore lifter, this could be more complementary to whatever your current routine is, but for beginners, the workouts — which cover lower body, upper body, and total body routines — would be fairly difficult. The squat workouts involve sumo, plié, and traditional squats at various rates and depths, and adding accessories also really ups the burn.
Since gyms in my area are still mostly closed due to the pandemic, I ended up stacking different workouts from the DB Method’s Instagram to create longer workouts whenever I made that my main activity for the day. They also post challenges each month to keep followers motivated.
Glutes might be the main focus, but it did work as a total-body piece of equipment
It may look like a machine exclusively useful for strengthening and sculpting glutes, but it works surprisingly well as a total-body piece of equipment. It’s especially effective for adding resistance to core exercises, and it was great for biceps and triceps. The exercise options for upper body are more creative, but they’re effective as long as you focus on time under tension.
Overall, the machine’s effectiveness surprised and impressed me. I didn’t take before and after photos, but I did feel the DB Method working in the right places and felt like I’d gotten a good workout in when I was sore the days after.
At $229, it’s not the cheapest piece of equipment you can get a home workout in with (that would be your own body weight), but it’s not outrageously expensive, either. And if you make it a point to get the most out of the machine, doing total-body workouts and staying consistent, that makes the price seem more reasonable.
As always, consistency is the biggest key with making fitness progress. And if you’re the type of person who feels more motivated to use something if you’ve spent money on it, investing in your booty might not be a bad idea.
