Exercise is generally a good thing. If you want things tight and toned, almost any form of exercise will be beneficial in some way. However, if you’re looking to achieve a juicy, round booty, some parts of your workout may be doing more harm than good.
To start with, if you’re working out with a trainer, you should specify your fitness goals so he or she can customize a workout for you, however if you’re going the DIY route, here are 5 moves you’re better off skipping.
Instead of jogging all your fat off – try alternating jogging with higher intensity sprints to jumpstart muscle formation without having to burn through all the fat in your glutes.
Lower intensity forms of cardio are great news if you’re looking to get rid of some unwanted fat. However the stress on the lower half of your body means that the fat burning is more concentrated on the legs and butt. While muscle eventually forms, it also means that you lose the fat in your posterior that makes your booty Nicki Minaj-worthy. Instead of jogging all your fat off – try alternating jogging with higher intensity sprints to jumpstart muscle formation without having to burn through all the fat in your glutes.
Here’s another example of high repetition low intensity training that focuses the fat burn on your butt. The way high-repetition exercises work is that they make your capillaries more dense, therefore improving the circulation of blood to your muscles. Since the muscles now have more access to nutrients, they burn off fat faster.
To avoid burning all the fat in your butt in an effort to develop muscle, slightly modify your squats. Keep them short (not too many reps) but intense by sinking deeper into your squats, holding your squats longer, and even challenging yourself with some of the more advanced squat workouts. And if you haven’t already, seriously consider adding in a kettlebell or dumbbells to make your squats more challenging.
Muay Thai most likely to build your arms and maybe even legs…but not your bum.
Muay Thai has been getting a lot of love from gym-goers. After all, punching and high kicking in a ring sounds a whole lot more fun than the usual exercises. However for those gunning for a rounder behind, don’t ditch your traditional routine just yet. The bad news is Muay Thai is better for overall weight loss than serious booty boosting. You’ll be doing a lot of warm-up exercises like sit-ups and push-ups but the body parts you’re most likely to build with Muay Thai are your arms and maybe even legs…but not your bum.
4. Aerobics
Sure the thought of wearing sparkly leggings and leotards sound fun, and might even bring out a nostalgia trip, however think twice about enrolling in an aerobics class if you want to keep a luscious behind. Most of the Jane Fondaesque aerobics routines feature high kicks, lunges and squats without the use of weights. Like the exercises I mentioned above, putting too much of the muscle work on your glutes means less fat storage which translates to a harder, flatter behind (again think Jane Fonda). If aerobics seems too much fun to pass up, try switching to water aerobics instead. It causes less fat burn and focuses on developing strength.
