If a flabby booty has your smile drooping as much as your derriere, it's time to make some changes to your exercise program. A combination of fat-busting cardio that engages your glute muscles and strength-training exercise equipment to tone and lift them will give you a better rear view. Do your strength-training exercises every other day so your muscles have time to recover.
Treadmill
Working out on a treadmill helps you burn fat to lose weight all over, including excess flab on your butt. It also engages the muscles of your legs and behind for a tighter, toned tush. Alternate intervals of moderate to brisk-paced walking with spurts of jogging to challenge your glute muscles and burn more fat. Use the incline feature on the treadmill while walking at a moderate pace to really fire up your glutes to lift and sculpt your butt.
Climbers
Using a climber varies the movement of your body, leading you to go up and down instead of forward. Whether you use a regular stair climber or a versa climber, which requires you to move your hands and feet up in a wall- or rock-climbing sort of motion, your glutes will help power your movements as you burn calories and get leaner, toned muscles. When you're not officially exercising, continue reaping the benefits of climbing by taking the stairs instead of the elevator. This type of motion is excellent for getting your butt and lower body mini skirt-ready.
Leg Press
The leg press machine tones your thighs, and it will also help you lift and tone your butt. Sitting on a leg press machine is similar to sitting on a recumbent bike. Your legs and feet will be out in front of your upper body, instead of below it. You might be surprised to find that you can leg press a lot more weight than you can lift with your arms. If you're new to the leg press, which involves pushing the weights out and away from your body, and then slowly releasing them, have a gym trainer show you how to use it properly and help you determine a good starting weight.
Leg Curl
As you lie face-down on the leg curl machine, you'll use the muscles of your calves, upper thighs and butt to lift the weights up toward your derriere before lowering them with control. Focus on squeezing and tightening your butt muscles as you bring the weight closer to them. Then, as you lower the weight, do so slowly to challenge the muscles a little more. The weight on the leg curl machine should be heavy enough to make it challenging for you to perform the last of 12 reps. As the weight begins to feel lighter and you find you can do 12 reps with ease, increase it by 1 to 2 pounds to maintain a level of challenge that will help tone your butt muscles.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Physical Activity
- Fitness Magazine: Walking Workout--A Firmer Butt in 30 Minutes
- Ask the Trainer: Top 5 Cardio Machines You've Never Tried Before
- American Council on Exercise: Seated Leg Press
- Georgia State University: Lower Body Strength Training Exercises--Leg Curl
Writer Bio
Mary Ylisela is a former teacher with a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education and mathematics. She has been a writer since 1996, specializing in business, fitness and education. Prior to teaching, Ylisela worked as a certified fitness instructor and a small-business owner.