Sunday, June 6, 2010

Best Butt

Lisa Raleigh, personal trainer on ‘The Biggest Loser” TV show, and owner of VO2Max Private Gym, and the Lisa Raleigh Wellness and Weight loss Clinic shares her tips for getting your ‘best butt’...

So many of us women today have constant dissatisfaction with our lower bodies – especially the “butt”. Do you look at yourself in a pair of jeans, a dress or a bathing suit, see your butt looking back at you and think “Oh no”? Although there are definitely people out there with smaller and larger butts than yours, do you will still feel yours is terrible? Regardless of the envy of friends and family, are you the woman crash dieting, running on a treadmill and looking for some quick-fix pull-me-in magic pants whenever there is an important event coming up? If this is you and you want to make the changes necessary to feel more comfortable in your skin then carry on reading!

The Three Butt Types
There are three types of butts out there. If you are one or more of them then let’s get moving to get you feeling awesome when you look at your butt. If you feel none of these apply or you don’t know if you where you fit in then you probably have no problem, but should then work at keeping it that way! Reasons for having any of these butt types could have something to do with your genetics or hormone abnormality. The three types are: droopy, flat and ample.

Droopy: if you feel you have a droopy butt and that nothing will give it the lift it needs, it hangs in line with your hamstrings, makes your legs look shorter and your body look wider then this is you! This may be because your pelvis is rotated upwards and this means that normal butt exercises do not challenge your gluteus maximus muscles enough to get them lifting. You need to up your resistance of your exercises and incorporate explosive training into your training plan.

Flat: if you think that you have NO butt, you have to wear a belt with everything or your pants will slip off and you look like one straight line when you stand sideways then this is definitely you. Your pelvis may be rotated downwards, which can shift your bum exercise training to your back and hamstrings. This means that you do not get any gluteus maximus muscle training, they therefore do not get a chance to develop, and you as a result have no booty.

Ample: this is when you have enough butt for more than one person. You don’t really have a shape except for too much shape, and you feel that there are no clothing sizes that fit your butt. This does, however, mean you will build gluteus maximus muscles more easily than the average person – you therefore have the tools to work with and just need to make a few changes. You will need to eat more healthily and lose a little weight so you can create a nice toned butt.

How to round, lift and reduce your butt
Explosive training for the droopy butt: you need to get those gluteus working!! Take what you are doing and make it explosive. Running up and down on a step needs to be quick sprints. Make the step higher to increase the intensity and to implement explosive training while doing cardio. Do all cardio exercises in half the time but double the intensity. Sprint or run, but don’t walk. Explosive training is like a sprinter, not a long distance runner. Squat with the dumbbells in your hand - let your hands go between your legs and then throw them up and repeat. This causes the exercise to become explosive. Increase all forms of power training.

Increase intensity for the flat butt: your hamstrings are doing all the work. You need to increase the intensity of your workout. Glutes fall under one of the stubborn muscle groups. You need to work them every second day and, especially because of your strong helper hamstrings, you need to tire out the hamstrings a bit before working the gluteus. Increase your weights, reps and sets to get that butt working.

Eat well and do butt exercises for the ample butt: you have the tools, but now you need to use them to get your butt. Get your diet on track and start training hard. Set yourself goals and reach them. Make yourself a 12 week plan and stick to it. Include a detox diet and get a proper eating plan from a dietician so that your eating is 100% perfect. Then set up a few sessions with a trainer so that you have a set program, you know what you are doing and you are training 6 out of 7 days! Try living by the 80/20 rule - be good 80% of the time, and don’t make changes you can’t keep. Remember, this is a LIFESTYLE change and needs to be for life!
Hip-flexors affect your butt-shape: hip flexors are the opposing muscle group; when they contract, your brain tells your butt it’s ok to relax. Most of us sit all day, causing hip flexors to stay contracted and therefore keeping our butt’s relaxed. This can unfortunately cause them to be in lunge mode all the time - even during a workout! Make sure you stretch your glutes before a work out and do a few warm up sets to wake them before you start training.

So which ever butt you may have, get it working!!! Make a change to your programme and see the difference. Winter is almost here and that means lots of comfy track pants and baggy jerseys, let’s not let the ample butts grow but get our bikini butt in shape!

Executive Wellness: Weigh loss and Fitness Centre is the only outlet in the Western Cape to offer the Lisa Raleigh weight loss and wellness programme.
Contact Executive Wellness
Tel: 021 674 2790 082 464 8911
Email:
joy@executivewellnesscentre.co.za
Physical: 7 Moss Street Fernwood, Newlands, Cape Town
Contact Lisa Raleigh
Email:
lisaraleigh@vo2max.co.za

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