The Difference Between Exercises for Shrinking and Increasing Butt Size

Building Your Butt

Going for a jaunt on the treadmill will burn calories, but if you want to add size and shape to your butt, you need to focus on the big boys -- your glutes. Strength exercises like lunges, squats, hip extensions and step-ups will help you target your glutes and build a stronger, firmer and larger behind. Do strength training twice per week to get the best results. The best part about these exercises is that you can add more resistance simply by holding dumbbells during your workout, and you can do them virtually anywhere you can find the space.

Shrinking Your Butt

Maybe your first priority is trimming excess body fat to reduce the size of your butt. If so, focus on cardio. Aerobic exercises such as jogging, swimming, cycling and interval training will burn calories and help you slim down. According to MayoClinic.com, aerobic exercises have the added benefits of increasing your stamina, strengthening your heart and managing chronic conditions such as high cholesterol and blood pressure. The more intense your strength-training workouts, the less cardio you need to do. Find the right balance for you, but you should do at least two cardio workouts per week if you want to slim down.

Best of Both Worlds

It's best for you to attack your butt from all sides, through cardio training to trim and resistance training to strengthen. By alternating between cardio and strength days for your glutes, you'll build your butt muscles as you're burning the fat that's keeping them hidden away. Fitness model Obi Obadike claims that sprinting gives you the best of both worlds, burning an insane number of calories and building muscle at the same time.

Considerations

No matter what your fitness goals, it's important to recognize that exercise alone isn't going to get you maximum results when it comes to reshaping and toning your butt. You need to balance a steady workout routine with a healthy diet and clean nutrition. Be weary of exercise programs that claim to reduce fat in a specific area of your body, since this falls in line with the spot reduction myth. Cardio and strength exercises will burn calories and help you slim down by reducing total body fat.