Top form: how to get a perky upper butt

August 15, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

Is your booty routine falling a bit… flat?

I hear ya. A while ago, I picked up a few great exercises to de-pancake my derriere. And, while they worked at making my fanny tauter, less floppy, and stop hanging halfway down my hamstrings (okay – exaggerating a bit), something was missing. Sure the bottom bit didn’t look like a Bloodhound’s face anymore. But the upper part left much to be desired. I wanted that top butt action. Thus, I recruited a few expert moves about a week ago. And, while it’s still too early to detect visible results, I go by the “feel estate” mantra: “location, location, location!” In other words, if a certain somatic region feels like it’s been ignited when I wake up the next day, then my azz is doing something right. Literally.

So, without any further gabbing, here are a few new moves I’ve added to my glute popping routine:

1. Side squat kick

What you do: after coming into a squat (remember, children, keep the knees behind the toes and feet hip width apart), you rise out of the squat (keeping your weight toward your heels). And on that up phase, you kick your leg out to the side as shown. I’ve begun with doing ten to fifteen on each side, alternating, and repeating though I aim to work up to 30 apiece.

2. Curtsy lunge

This isn’t as complicated as it looks. The only difference between this and a run-o’-the-mill backward lunge is that you’re coming diagonally behind yourself. Again, you’ll wanna keep your knees behind the toes on this one. Banging out 30 reps on each side is a good starter. I’m already working up to between that and 50 now.

3. Kneeling side leg circles

And now for one of those Barre style exercises that looks super simple and is exactly the opposite of that. While it just looks like this chick’s levitating her leg and being lazy, she’s actually rotating that leg in tiny circles there in the air. (Or, she would be, if this were a gif.) This one’s tough to show with “A and B” picture sequences, because you’d actually need 360 for each degree of micro-movement you do in this difficult exercise. For these, I’ve started going for time in lieu of reps. 20 to 30 seconds is a good beginning goal per gam. When that starts getting easy, just add more reps of those same time increments.

But you wanna know what the key to any of these is?

Form and focus.

If you want a sumptuous rump, you mustn’t just go through the motions. Any slight deviation from optimal form (like letting your knees come in front of your toes on squats and lunges) can take you from perky progress to a painful waste of time. Likewise, somatic focus if paramount. I’m not special. I don’t like pain. But, as I’ve come to associate that deep, muscular ache with being one schmexy step closer to my gluteal goals, I seek that out. That’s why, whenever I’m doing these, I go for that fiery feeling with every rep. While “no pain, no gain” isn’t always true (sometimes legit injuries mean we need to sit on our derrieres – not work ’em out), most of us are well aware of the disparity between lactic acid filled azz meat, and a pull or tear. (Protip: the safe kind kinda aches in general, while the other typically twinges with certain movements and feels more debilitating.) So, go for form and focus on every single rep. Think of it as a sweaty meditation where you focus on feeling – not escaping – discomfort for all of fifteen minutes. And, in the end – when your end looks delectable and perkier – you’ll thank me.

’cause when it comes to a stunning rump, you gotta burn to earn.