Every woman I know wants to improve her rear view (butt). Some of you may think you have too much padding and some of you think you don’t have enough. Genetics plays a big part in how your butt is shaped. Fortunately, you can make improvements to the cards that genetics dealt you. Proper diet, exercise and lifestyle can improve the shape of your butt and body.
Just as it makes a difference in what and how much you eat, exercising a certain way can improve the shape of your butt faster. Some of you may have been exercising the same way for years (i.e., at the same intensity). For example, if you have been doing 60 minutes of slow-paced cardio for years, it will be more difficult to change the shape of your butt or body.
I will assume you know that you must eat a healthy diet to burn fat and lose weight. I will also say that if you will walk as much as possible, it will help you reach any fitness goal. Walking helps you maintain an active lifestyle.
First, increase the intensity of your workouts and it will quickly give you good results with fat loss and weight loss. Remember, you want to always do full body strength training and target problem areas (such as your butt) with extra work.
I will discuss one way to increase the intensity of your workout: Speed it up! A faster, 20-minute cardio session will give you better results than a slower 1 hour workout. Research and my experience proves that high intensity cardio will give you better body toning and better heart health. Increase the intensity of your weight training workouts too. Circuit weight training with lighter weights is a proven fat burner and metabolism booster.
Here are 4 great exercises that will shape your butt (notice that all of these exercises are done on your feet to give you better results):
1. Sprinting. This is a very under-used form of exercise. You don’t have to be fast, just run as fast as you can. Sprinting will shape and tone your butt and overall body. Try sprinting intervals for 20 minutes. Running on ground instead of on a treadmill will give you even faster results.
Sprinting activates and shapes the bulkier, shapely fast-twitch muscle fibers. Just check out the sprinters at the next track meet you attend and see how toned their butt, hips and thighs are. You may not go to that extreme, but you get the idea!
2. Jump Training Exercises. Exercises like squat jumps, box jumps and jump rope will shape your butt fast. Be sure to learn proper jumping and landing techniques before progressing to full speed jumps. If you have knee or low back problems, you may be limited with this type of exercise. Jump training also activates the fast-twitch muscle fibers in a big way.
3. Bodyweight Squats. You must have bodyweight squats in your workouts. There are many varieties such as one-legged squats, split squats, sumo squats, Y squats and prisoner squats. The squat exercise really targets the glutes and upper legs in a huge way. Lunges are similar. Include squats as part of a leg circuit and you will get even better results.
4. Front and Side Step Ups. If you can, do your step ups on a knee-high platform. Step ups work one leg a time and really isolate your hip, butt, thigh and hamstring muscle groups. Do all of the repetitions with one leg (such as 10) and then switch to the other leg.
Do these 4 exercises on a regular basis and your butt will have its best shape!
Mark Dilworth, Certified Personal Trainer
Her Fitness Hut http://herfitnesshut.com