Shaping Your Butt

Your butt muscles include the largest muscle in the body, which makes them the number one area to focus on if you want to build a stronger, leaner lower body. Any exercise that involves the glutes (including cardio and strength training) will not only help you burn more calories, but contribute to overall fat loss for your body - providing you're watching your diet. Butt exercises alone won't necessarily burn fat from your backside, but they contribute to your overall calorie expenditure, which is how you lose weight. Your first step is to understand what muscles you're working and how

to target them.

Your butt is composed of 3 main muscles:

Gluteus maximus
Gluteus medius
Gluteus minimus

The gluteus maximus, is the largest muscle in your butt, so that's where most of your focus will be. The other two (the gluteus medius and minimus) are important too, though--they lie under the gluteus maximus and hold your pelvis upright every time you take a step. Not only that, your butt muscles are in charge of all the movements of your hips, including:

• extension (moving the thigh backward)
• external rotation (turning the thigh or pelvis outward)
• transverse abduction (moving the thigh outward with hip bent)
• adduction (moving the thigh inward with hip straight).

Targeting your Gluteus Maximus
If you have extra fat around your backside and want to get rid of it, you want to focus on overall fat loss. The safest and healthiest way to do that is with cardio exercise, weight training (for your entire body, not just your butt) and a healthy diet. Cardio is a must if you're trying to drop fat, so choose activities that allow you to burn the most amount of calories in the least amount of time, like these:

• Interval training - Check out these interval workouts for some ideas.
• Doing something completely different than usual to work your body in a whole new way. If you're a runner, try swimming...a walker, try cycling, etc.
• Adding intensity to your workouts - Working harder means burning more calories overall, which can help you lose weight.
• Lift heavy weights regularly - Challenging your muscles will help them grow stronger, raise your metabolism and lose body fat
• Target your butt by trying these activities: Hiking, stair-climbing, cycling, and step aerobics.

RC