Your butt may be a problem area for different reasons. You may have a smaller posterior and fear that exercise will decrease its size further. In contrast, you may wish to decrease your butt size and want to know ways to slim and tone that region effectively. Regardless of your position, knowing what exercises affect your butt size will allow you to make the right workout choices and get the results you want. Consult your doctor before beginning any new exercise regimen.
Butt Size and Aerobic Exercise
It's not possible to spot-target areas on the body for fat reduction. Therefore, if you're looking to lose fat around the butt area, you must lose weight all over. Aerobic exercises allow you to do that; they get your heart rate up and allow you to burn fat and calories. Good choices for aerobic exercises include running, jogging, bicycling, rock climbing, swimming and rowing. You can choose to do this at a high intensity or low intensity. You should do high-intensity aerobic exercise for 20 to 30 minutes a day most days of the week to burn a lot of calories. Alternately, you can perform low-intensity exercise for 45 minutes to an hour on most days to help you burn fat. The ShapeFit website recommends you alternate intensities.
Butt Size and Butt-Targeting Exercises
If you're losing weight on your butt, you might want to perform butt-toning exercises to stay shapely. Butt-toning exercises are going to firm, tone and build your butt muscles, called glutes. Effective butt-targeting exercises include weighted or non-weighted squats, lunges, step-ups and kickbacks. Leg exercises can also help, such as hamstring curls. These are done via a leg-curl machine and help tone the hamstring as well as the glutes.
Dumbbell Lunges to Work the Butt
Lunges are a popular way to tone the butt, but they also allow you to tone your upper and lower legs. To start, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, your feet pointed straight ahead and your legs slightly bent at the knee. Step your right foot forward, ensuring that your right knee does not go past your toes. Hold this stance, using your back leg for balance. Next, kick off using your heels and return to the starting position. ShapeFit reminds you to stay focused on your front leg, regardless of tension felt in the back leg, and focus on straightening your knees and hips. Perform as many repetitions as desired, with equal repetitions on each leg.
Step-Ups to Strengthen the Butt
Step-ups help tone the whole lower body, targeting the butt, hamstrings and quadriceps. To start, grab a small step-stool or bench and place it in front of you. If you don't have one, use stairs. Lift one foot and place it entirely on the step, lifting your body in the process. Then step backward into the starting position. The next time you step up, use your other leg. Continue to alternate legs throughout the exercise. Perform as many repetitions as desired, but make sure you keep your back straight throughout the exercise.
Considerations
Your butt may not be affected substantially by aerobic exercise if you are not overweight, have a low body-fat percentage or are looking to lose only a few --- five or 10 --- pounds. With these circumstances, you may not have that much fat on your butt and the fat you do lose won't make your butt look that much smaller. This is particularly true if your butt is already slightly muscular; this will lessen the affects of fat loss in that region, the NowLoss website reports.
Member Comments