3 More Butt Exercises For A Better Butt!
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Flabby... Loose... Tubby... Saggy... Frumpy... Dumpy... Flat...
No, they aren’t Disney's rejected names for the Seven Dwarfs. They are the seven unflattering ways to describe a butt! Perhaps you know the kind of can we are talking about. One with a life of its own -- you walk one way, it jiggles another.
If you’re under 40, maybe you’ve yet to feel the effects of gravity. Maybe your butt is still tight and toned. Well, according to Look Great Naked: Slim Down, Shape Up and Tone Your Trouble Zones in 15 Minutes a Day (Prentice Hall Press) author Brad Schoenfeld it's never too early (and certainly never too late) to concentrate on toning your tush.
According to Schoenfeld, it takes more than just a healthy diet to keep your derriere looking dynamite. His motto: use it or lose it! After the age of 30, women start to lose muscle mass. Even if the butt doesn’t have much fat, it will sag. That’s why it’s imperative you start a suitable exercise regimen.
“When you’re 18, you have all the muscle fibers in place and gravity hasn’t taken its toll," notes the in-demand personal trainer. "But as you age, it’s going to happen. It’s better to head it off at the pass. If you’re already 40, you have to work with what you’ve got.
“On the other side of the coin, no matter how old you are it’s not too late to get your glutes in shape. I have women in their sixties who’ve made incredible progress. They’ve toned up their glutes and all other part of their body using toning exercises.”
For women, the glutes are one of the hardest muscle groups to whip into shape. Schoenfeld says that’s because the butt is generally a storehouse for fat. It isn’t that it's necessarily hard to tone the glutes, but it is harder to see the muscles when they are blanketed by a layer of fat.
That’s where the 1-2-3 punch comes in. To best firm a butt, you must follow a healthy diet, perform regular cardiovascular exercises and do weight training several times a week.
“Weight training is going to shape the butt -- it’s going to give you that round, firm look so the butt doesn’t droop or sag," Schoenfeld says. "It’s also going to develop underlying muscle. In addition, by developing underlying muscle, you are increasing your metabolic rate, which gives you the benefit of fat burning.
“Cardio is going to strengthen the heart. It’s going to help burn body fat. It will directly use fat for fuel.”
For many people who haven’t exercised on a consistent basis in the past, getting started can be the hardest part. When it comes to specific weight training exercises, you can turn to books and videos by experts like Schoenfeld. Finding a suitable cardio workout is as easy as popping a video into the VCR, hopping on the treadmill or taking a brisk walk/jog.
Toning exercises should be done a maximum of three days a week with 48 hours rest between each session. You can do cardio and weight training on alternate days, or you can do both workouts on the same day, using the in-between days as a rest.
You don’t need a gym membership. And while a treadmill or stationary bike may come in handy, there are other things you can do that cost next to nothing. Jogging, jumping rope, walking up and down stairs or riding a bike all fit the bill. The key element to an effective cardio workout is keeping your heart rate elevated.
“Look for any activity that gets your heart rate up for a consistent period of time for 20 to 40 minutes a session," Schoenfeld says. "Do the talk test. During the activity you should be breathing hard, but still be able to carry on a conversation. If you can talk while doing the activity, you’re at a good level.”
As for a routine that’s sure to give you the best butt, Schoenfeld has just what you need. Use the following three exercises from his best-selling book Look Great Naked and you'll be on your way to a buffer butt in no time.
To get the most out of the workout below, do the proper amount of reps of the first exercise -- 8 to 10 using heavy weights, 15 to 20 using light weights. After completing the first exercise, move on to the second and third exercises without resting. When you have completed all three exercises, rest for 30 seconds and repeat the entire set. After the second set, rest 30 seconds and repeat a third and final set.
Unilateral hip extension
Begin by placing your left knee
on the bottom of an incline bench. Bend your elbows and place your forearms
across the top of the bench so they support your body weight. Slowly raise your
right leg as high as comfortably possible, keeping it straight throughout the
move. Contract your glutes and then reverse direction, returning back to the
start position. After performing the desired number of repetitions, repeat the
process on your left.
Standing leg curl
Begin by attaching an ankle weight to
your right ankle. Grasp onto a stationary object and slowly curl your right
foot upward, stopping just short of touching your butt or as far as comfortably
possible. Contract your right hamstring and then reverse direction returning
back to the start position. After performing the desired number of repetitions,
repeat the process on your left.
Lying abduction
Begin by lying
down on your left side. Bend your left leg at a 90-degree angle and bring your
left foot to rest underneath your right knee. Keeping your right leg straight,
slowly raise it as high as possible. Contract your glutes and return to the
start position. After finishing the desired number of repetitions, turn over
and repeat the process on your left.
From Look Great Naked: Slim Down, Shape Up and Tone Your Trouble Zones in 15 Minutes a Day
