iVillage logo
Diet & Fitness 
Advertisement
Topics
Hot stuff
Newsletters
Sign up for FREE!




 
Promotions
Be good to yourself with Tetley green tea

Get your bum in shape

by Terry King

question
My bottom is completely flat and I want to perk it up a bit. What is the best exercise for this?

answer
Squats are the time-honoured way of training your gluteus maximus (the muscles in your bottom). Check out great bottom toners. You can intensify a squat by holding dumbbells in your hands or putting a bar across your shoulders to add extra weight. If you opt for the latter, make sure you have a spotter unless the weight is very light. Or if you have access to a gym, the leg press machine may be easier to use than doing squats with a bar.

Varying the width of your feet will change the emphasis of the exercise. The closer together your feet are, the more you will work your quads (the muscle on the front part of the thighs). As you move your feet further apart, you'll feel the exercise more in your hips and bottom. Doing lunges is another exercise that works the same areas. If you try them, make sure when you are in the lunge position your front knee doesn’t move past your front toe.

Some people complain that steppers make their bums bigger. It could be that those people are eating more than they admit and not working out as hard as they could. Nevertheless, if you use the stepper at a slower frequency and take normal steps—as opposed to leaning on the machine with your arms and stepping on your tiptoes—you can get a great bottom workout.

iVillage TV - Diet & Fitness

View video in larger player
Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon
iVillage Features

iVillage Competitions

Win £500 of M&S Shopping Vouchers


Message Boards