How Long Does It Take To Get A Toned Butt?

The journey to obtain a defined derrière will be different for everyone. The time it will take to strengthen and shape your glutes will depend on your current health, fitness level, weight, diet and physique. There is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to building and sculpting lean muscle in any part of your body. It will take hard work, dedication to a fitness routine, the knowledge of how to work out correctly and time.

Anatomy

The butt, one of the largest muscle groups in the body, is composed of several different muscles: the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the butt; the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, which are smaller and located directly beneath the maximus; and the iliotibial band, a band of connective tissue which attaches the maximus to the femur bone of the leg. Your goal is to target each of these muscles together to maximize fat-burning and muscle-building capabilities.

Exercises to Sculpt

According to the American Council on Exercise, to help get your butt into tip-top shape choose from a wide variety of hip flexibility and strengthening exercises including glute bridges, BOSU lateral jumps and more. Therefore, in order to obtain a toned tush you will need to target your gluteal muscles from different angles with a variety of different exercises. For instance, a variation of lunges, squats, leg press, glute extensions, bridges, kickbacks and leg lifts can help tone those glutes while also working the muscles of your thighs.

The Plan

The key is consistency. Through strength training you can build lean muscle and strength, which can help sculpt your butt. However, you will also need to focus on burning calories through diet and cardiovascular activity in order to see your defined booty. Otherwise, your toned glutes will be hiding under a layer of fat. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, aim at completing strengthening exercises for your glutes two to three times a week. Focus on performing six to 12 repetitions to exhaustion. Lifting to exhaustion means that the last rep must be a challenge and if you are able to complete another rep past your goal you will need to increase resistance. Choose a variety of eight to 10 exercises.

Tips

When performing exercises to tone your butt, focus your attention on all of muscles of your glutes. However, keep in mind that there is no such thing as spot reduction and you need to focus your efforts evenly throughout your entire body to see the most success. Contract or squeeze your glute muscles even when you are not working out to help build definition in your buttocks. This can even be performed when you are sitting at work. Since, the glutes is a large muscle group, give it the proper amount of time to recover from an intense workout. This may mean that you are only performing your exercises every three to four days.