Is it just me or are booty-selfies or “belfies” taking over Instagram? Have you ever tried to take your own belfie and ended up taking the worst picture ever? Are you frustrated by having a flat or saggy butt or a bloated look?
Or do you experience back, knee, or foot pain? If you do, the culprit may be weak or undeveloped glutes.
That’s why I’ve worked with the LadyBoss® Personal Results Coaches to create Booty Bootcamp, a 30-day butt challenge designed to help you get the ASSets you’ve always wanted. These are the same techniques I learned when doing my fitness competitions so get started and say hello to glorious glutes, buns of steel, and best.belfie.ever!
Focus on Your Bottom Line
As having a plump rump got popular, many women sought quick fixes like surgeries, fillers, and fat transfers. But quick fixes won’t build muscles and your booty does much more than make your leggings look fabulous!
The glutes are one of the largest muscle groups in your body and they have an important job. They help stabilize your hips, knees, and back. That’s why a regular butt workout is so important. This LadyBoss challenge not only gives you a guide to use now, but you also can incorporate some of these butt lift exercises into your exercise routine. For example, consider adding two or three butt lift exercises to your warm-up or cool down.
If you spend most of your time sitting, it’s likely your glutes shut off, which causes other muscles in your legs and back to compensate. That compensation causes instability, injury, and chronic back pain. You need to strengthen and build your booty with butt lift exercises.
A Pain in the Glute
Weak or underdeveloped glutes cause:
- Bad posture
- Lower back pain
- Unsteady balance
- Poor gait, for example dragging your feet, waddling from side to side or walking on your toes
- Plantar fasciitis or heel pain
Completing a 30-day butt challenge will strengthen your glutes and help prevent pain and injury.
Most people don’t think about their glutes contributing to poor posture or back pain. But if you find yourself slouching, weak glutes could be the culprit.
When other muscles have to step in and do the job reserved for your booty, the added stress on your lower back can cause soreness, muscle spasms, and injury.
If your knees are creaking and cracking with every step, an under-active Gluteus Medius could be in play. The 30-day butt challenge will strengthen this muscle in the glute trio and help you stabilize your knees as you walk, stand, and chase after your pets or kids.
Feel like you need a safety net just walking around? When it comes to balance, your core usually gets all the attention. Truth is, your posterior chain of muscles (the muscles that run down the backside of your body) are part of the core, and can you guess what muscle group is part of your posterior chain? YOUR BOOTY!
Your glutes provide a stable base for your core from which your arms and legs can move. When that base is weak and unstable, your limbs become weak and unstable as well. Strengthening your glutes will help improve balance.
Strengthening your glutes using a 30-day butt challenge also improves your mobility. If you’re dragging your feet when you walk, waddling from side to side, or walk on your toes then under-active glute muscles in your booty may be to blame.
Feeling pain in your heels when you walk? You may be suffering from Plantar Fasciitis. Weakness in your glutes can cause a chain reaction of soreness, instability, and pain. Building up your glute strength is the first step to preventing and correcting the weaknesses and imbalances that can eventually lead to Plantar Fasciitis.
Focus On Your Form
Remember five key things to make the most of your butt lift exercises.
- Keep your weight in your heels when you do squats. That allows for a greater contraction of all the gluteus muscles. It also prevents the hip flexors and quadriceps from taking over.
- Work all the muscles of the gluteal group. If you want strong glutes you need to work all of them, including the deep muscles.
- Make the mind to muscle connection (MMC). Simply thinking really hard about the muscle you are working, improves the MMC and your results.
- Tactile touch. Put your hand on the muscle you want to work. This also helps improve the MMC and is one of my favorites. Why? Because you get to touch your own booty and feel the muscle working!
- Use an exercise band to add resistance and force your muscles to work harder so you can make the most of your butt workout.
Perky Peach: Butt Lift Exercises
Banded step-outs from a mini squat
Start in a slight squat with the band just above your knees. Keep weight in heels and tighten glutes. Step to the right, just past shoulder width. Then pull your leg back to the center. Do 20 reps on each side.
Standing banded side leg lifts
Place band just above knees. Put all your weight in your left leg, then lift your right leg up to the side while turning your toe in slightly to focus the effort on your glutes more. Go slowly. Try to limit the amount of time your right foot lands on the floor. The more balance, the better. Keep your left knee slightly bent. Do 20 reps on the left leg, then switch sides.
Banded clamshell
Lie on your side with the band just above knees. Plant bottom leg and don’t let it move. Keep feet together. Lift top leg like a clamshell opening, then close. Do 20 reps on each side. Tip: Touch your glute to feel it working.
Mini-plie squats
Place your feet just past shoulder-width apart. Turn your toes outward. Bend your knees, lowering your body slightly. Focus on tightening your glutes and do 20 small squats.
Curtsey lunge
Begin in a curtsey lunge position with one leg backward on a diagonal. Keep your weight in your forward heel (not toe box). Bend both knees lowering your body toward the floor, then stand back up keeping your feet in the curtsey position. Do 20 reps on each side.
Balance Your Booty
For a strong, beautiful booty, stretching is just as important as building the muscle. Focusing on both strength and flexibility builds stronger muscles and helps with performance.
Focus on stretching these areas helps ease sore, tight booty muscles.
Hip flexors
Women tend to have tight hip flexors from sitting and from the genetics that create their natural child-bearing shape. Put your hands in your front pockets. The hip flexor group is found under your hands.
To stretch your hip flexors, lunge forward while placing your left knee on an exercise mat or towel. Position your right foot slightly forward of your knee. Place your hands on your knee and straighten your left leg by pushing your hips forward. Hold stretch on each leg for 30 seconds.
Hamstrings
When you do butt lift exercises you also work your hamstrings. You need to stretch those muscles to provide a better separation between the lower glutes and your hamstrings to help create a more defined derriere. To find your hamstrings, place your hand on the back of your upper leg. This muscle group extends from your booty to the back of your knee.
To stretch your hamstrings, stand with feet hip-width apart. Bring your left leg forward heel down, toes up, and leg straight. Keep your back straight and abs engaged, then bend your right knee as if sitting back with both hands on your thighs. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds, then repeat on the opposite leg.
Glutes
When you build muscles in a butt workout, you’re actually causing small micro-tears. Stretching into those tears promotes healing. Muscles that are too tight and inflexible don’t have room to grow.
To stretch your glutes, start on all fours. Keep your wrists in line with your shoulders and tuck your toes. On an exhale, push your hips up and back as you straighten your legs. Press through your heels and pedal your feet back and forth. Continue for 30 seconds to ease tightness.
Picture Perfect
You’ve put in the work during the 30-day butt challenge, so you’re feeling confident and noticing the booty gains. Now it’s time to show the world! The perfect booty pic is like a work of art but it takes time and practice to determine your best positions and lighting.
Use these tips to capture your best bootie selfie or belfie.
Accentuate Your Assets
Put on a pair of shorts or leggings that make your booty pop! Saggy shorts are never flattering, so if you’ve recently lost weight or added to the booty gains, consider rewarding yourself with a new pair. Psst! LadyBoss® has some great styles!
Use the Right Light
Lighting is everything! The wrong lighting can highlight all the wrong areas of our body. Shadows can be your best friend or your worst enemy, find the angle that works best for you. Start with soft, natural lighting for the best results. Open up the curtains or blinds and let sunlight brighten the room.
Strike a Pose
Angle your body away from your mirror so it’s in a partial side/back view of your full-length mirror. Arch your back and stick your butt out slightly. Play around with foot and leg positioning to find your best pose. Once you find your pose, turn your upper body back toward the mirror and snap a bunch of booty pics!
Beyond Bootylicious
Building your booty by strengthening your glutes using butt lift exercises during the 30-day butt challenge will not only give you a posterior worthy of Instagram’s explore page but also will help prevent pain and injury.
And, it will make you happy!
So what are you waiting for? Get started with the LadyBoss® Booty Bootcamp today.
