The Best Workouts To Lose Weight In The Butt

Any fitness program to lose weight in your butt should include aerobic and strengthening exercises. You burn the highest number of calories during aerobic workouts. However, strengthening exercises build muscles, which fire up your metabolism and help you burn more calories even when you're inactive. If you haven't exercised for a while, get a physical before starting an exercise program.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic workouts help burn off butt fat, especially if you combine high-intensity training with low-intensity training. This approach is called interval training. In a 2006 study conducted at Guelph University in Canada, researchers found that interval training increased fat burning by 36 percent and cardiovascular fitness by 13 percent. Toning muscles in your buttocks won't be as noticeable if you don't also burn fat. Some of the best aerobic calorie-burning workouts are running at 8 miles per hour, jumping rope, rollerblading, jogging and using the stair treadmill.

Stair-climbing

Another quick and effective way to target your buttocks muscles is stair-climbing. Stair-climbing provides both aerobic and strength-training benefits. It also tones your hips and thighs, which will allow your newly toned butt to stand out even more. One of the best features of stair-climbing is that you can do it in so many places --- at home, work, in the mall, in the gym or at a nearby stadium.

Lunges

Lunges are effective body-weight exercises for increasing muscle mass in your lower body. In a study for the American Council on Exercise and published by it in 2006, researchers at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, found that the lunge ranked as one of the most effective exercises for the buttocks. This exercise generated significant activity of the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Also, because you can vary lunges in several ways, the exercise challenges your muscles more. For instance, you can do forward or side lunges, or do lunges with resistance bands around your ankles or dumbbells in your hands for increased strengthening and toning.

Single-Leg Squat

To build even more muscle in your buttocks, try single-legged squats instead of the two-legged variety. A study published in the "Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy" in July 2009 revealed that single-limb squats were very effective for targeting the gluteus maximus and medius. An easy way to do a single-limb squat is to start by standing in front of a desk with a chair behind you. Hold onto the desk and bend your left knee. Sit in the chair keeping your knee bent and then stand up. Repeat eight to 12 times and then switch legs.