Exercise to Lose Butt Fat

Having a little excess poundage on the backside is favorable for filling out an hourglass body shape. However, when this fat gets out of control, it can cause self-consciousness and embarrassment. Exercise is an integral component of losing this fat. The most important thing to consider is that you cannot lose weight in only one area. That is the false concept known as spot reduction.

Exercise Selection

The best way to lose butt fat is by doing cardiovascular exercise. This is performed by moving your limbs for an extended period of time with little added resistance. When you do cardio, you burn calories and lose weight through your body as a whole. Choose a type that you like and will stick with throughout the weeks or else you will not feel motivated to continue. Running, brisk walking, biking, stair climbing and elliptical training are all effective.

Weight-Loss Effect

Cardio is only going to be effective if you work out long and often enough. In similar fashion to yo-yo dieting, yo-yo exercising will yield sub-par results. The American College of Sports Medicine notes that you may need to do 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity five days a week to promote weight loss. If you find it difficult to exercise for 60 to 90 minutes straight, opt for multiple bouts accumulated through the day.

High-Intensity Effect

Doing cardio at a steady pace is efficient for losing weight, but you can turn your efforts up a notch by doing interval training. According to MayoClinic.com, interval training causes you to burn a higher amount of calories than steady-pace training. Start your workouts with a light warm up for five to 10 minutes, then break out into an all-out effort for 20 to 30 seconds. Slow your pace down to a low intensity for 40 to 60 seconds, then increase it again. Bounce back and forth like this for the rest of your workout and finish with a light cool down.

Notes About Weight Training

The theory of spot reduction leads people to do exercises like glute kickbacks to reduce butt fat. Working your butt with weight-training exercises while doing cardio will improve your definition, but a better approach is to work your entire body. Muscle is metabolically active which means it burns a high amount of calories when you are at rest. The more muscle you put on, the higher you will boost your metabolism.

Tips with Diet

If you exercise regularly, but do not take your diet into consideration, you will not lose your butt fat. A smart way to boost your progress is to cut back on your daily caloric intake and only eat foods that have a high nutrient value. A reduction of 500 calories a day will lead to about 1 lb. of weight loss a week.