Best Butt on the Beach!
Summer’s here, and that means BEACH! If you are like many people, no matter how good you might look, summertime also unfortunately means bathing suit stress – especially about your rear view. Fear not. Just read on to learn how to develop the best butt on the beach.
First, commit this to memory: For maximum results, work your maximus! To develop a round, firm, and shapely behind, you must target all three butt muscles: the gluteus maximus, which is mostly responsible for the shape and appearance of your butt, and the smaller gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, which lie just below the gluteus maximus.
Let’s begin with a leg squat and hamstring curl and get warmed up:
1. Squat-Curls
Stand with feet a bit wider than hip width apart, feet slightly turned out. Squat down as if you’re going to sit onto a chair. Keep your back straight, and put your weight into the heels of your feet. Try to squat deep (parallel to the ground if possible!) to isolate your butt muscles the most. As you ascend from your squat, simultaneously kick your right heel back toward your butt, curling and contracting your hamstring muscle, the thigh muscle behind your upper leg. Squat again, but this time, curl your left leg back as you come up. Try 10 squats, alternating leg curls on each one.
(Click on the photos to see them enlarged)
Your next exercise is the lunge, which in my opinion, is one of the best leg and butt exercises of all for women! There are many variations of lunges, but to target the glutes (and protect the knees), let’s do reverse lunges.
2. Reverse Lunges
Stand with feet parallel and hip width apart. Step one foot back into a lunge position; both knees should be bent at 90 degrees. Keep your back straight and abdominals tight. Push through the heel of your front foot to step back to starting position. Do 10 on each leg. (see Debbie doing lunges at the beach)
3. Butt Blasters
Now drop down onto your hands and knees. Place your hands just below your shoulder joints with elbows locked, and knees below your hip joints. Straighten your left leg behind you, and kick it up and down firmly15-20 times like Debbie, my client, is doing in the photo. Now bend that same leg, and continue kicking it up and down another 15-20 times, as if you were trying to kick your foot through the ceiling. Point your foot when you do the straight-legged kicks, and flex your foot when you do the bent-legged kicks for best butt isolations. Also, lock your torso/CORE by gently tightening your abdominals to protect your back. Switch sides.
Almost finished. Feeling the burn? Time for hip lifts or bridges.
4. Bridges
Turn over onto your back with knees bent and feet flat on the mat. Feet should be turned out just a bit and just wider than hip width apart. Lift your glutes and hips off the mat, pushing through the heels of your feet and drawing in your abdominals gently at the same time. Squeeze your glutes as you lift. Do ten repetitions and then hold your tenth repetition for 10 seconds. Before you roll back down from this last hip lift, do ten more small range butt pulses and burn baby burn!
Unfortunately you can’t develop the perfect butt with my butt exercises alone. You must also eat healthy and do aerobic exercises too.
The good news is that summer time brings tasty, seasonal, fiber-rich fruits and vegetables like, berries, melons, mangoes, avocados, cucumbers, and corn, that fill you up and keep you hydrated too. Add lean proteins to your food plan too, like: fish, chicken, lentils, low fat cheeses, yogurt and tofu, whole grain breads, pastas and cereals, and at least 8 glasses of water a day, especially on hotter days. Eat desserts, sugary foods and starchy carbohydrates like potatoes, white flour and breads in moderation.
Now that you’ve got your diet under control, think of something you like to do that is active, and add at least a half an hour of that activity to your daily routine too. Swimming is wonderful exercise for the whole body, and summer’s the best season to hit the waves or lanes at the local pool. If swimming’s not your thing, walk, hike, bike, or just garden or play with the kids at the park. Don’t forget to stretch to keep your body flexible and safe from injury, ideally both before and after you exercise, but especially after you exercise when your body is warm and pliable.