Heather Picken

One of the most asked questions from women are what are the best butt exercises to firm my butt? This area seems to be a problem area for most women, and if you do the right exercises, you can see some great results.

Here are the 3 top exercises that every woman needs to know if they want a slim and sexy butt:

1. Squats- This exercise not only targets the glutes and depending what position you are in they can activate your upper thighs.

To perform a squat you would pretend as if you are going to sit down on a chair, with feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, and hold weights at your side. It’s important to keep your head up and back straight and keep your feet pointed straight ahead. If your feet are pointed outward it may cause your hips to be tight.

The deeper you go, the more you feel your glutes activated. Do anywhere from 8-15 repetitions.

Another version of the squat is called a pop squat. This is similar to a squat, using no weight. Simply stay in a squat position with knees bent and jump up and pull your feet together and jump out with feet apart and repeat this movement.

Perform 15-30 repetitions.

To make this more challenging swing your arms all the way up when you jump up and try jumping up as high as you can off the ground. A few sets of these and you will be seeing your butt looking slim and sexy in no time.

2. Single Leg Deadlift- This exercise requires balance. Start out with a lighter weight until you get the hang of it. Stand on one leg, with a slightly bent knee and the other leg off the ground and straight back.

Bend at your waist and hold a weight on the same side that you are going down on. As you bend at your waist, make sure the weight is in front of your leg.

The idea is to touch the weight to the ground or as close as possible, then come back up and repeat. Perform 8-15 repetitions and switch legs. Since you are doing this exercise on one leg at a time you are actually doing twice the work, which means twice the burn towards a slim and sexy butt.

3. Lunges-These are great for shaping the whole leg all the way up to your butt. You can perform what is called a walking lunge with weights or without. If you are doing this with weights, you would hold the weights by your side and walk. Make sure as you walk you are bending your knee and lunging forward. Keep you head up and back straight. Also, make sure that your knee doesn’t go over your toe.

Count on each leg moving forward about 16-20 steps and back, this is equal to 1 set. There are other ways you can perform a lunge. Another way is to do them in place and alternate between each leg.

Doing these top 3 exercises are the most effective for a slim and sexy butt, and also burn a lot of calories. Forget about doing leg lifts, these just don’t produce the results to a firm butt, since they do not activate the glute muscles as they should. If you stick with these simple exercises you will get results.

Posted by Heather Picken at 9:12 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

If you are looking to get leaner and thinner thighs, there are a few exercises that are a must for women to shape up whether they want to fit into your skinny jeans or a bikini.

There are also exercises that many women seem to do, but are not effective in achieving their results. Such as the following:

Abductor and Aductor -these machines are the ones that you "squeeze in with your inner thighs" and then push away. You may feel the burn, but essentially it doesn’t do anything to shape and tone your thighs. A better exercise would be squats, these target the thighs and glutes.

To perform these there are several different ways. Simply stand with your feet shoulder width apart with dumbbells and go down as if you are sitting on a chair. Now it’s important that your feet are pointed forward and not out, as it can cause your hips to be tight.

Go down as far as you feel comfortable with good form and your head is up and body upright. When you come back up, squeeze your thighs and glutes.

This exercise also burn a lot more calories then the abductor and aductor machines because of the way your body is positioned. Keeping in mind as well, if you want thinner thighs you must burn more calories.

If you stick with the best thigh exercises, not only will you get results but you will save time from doing exercises that just don’t work.

Additionally, another great slimming thigh exercise is an elevated one legged squat. To perform this you would simply get up on a bench and put in close to wall. You can hold a weight in the arm that is furthest away from the wall and place your other hand on the wall for support.

While standing on the bench with one leg, the other leg will be off to the side and then the opposite hand is holding the weight as you bend at the knee and touch your foot to the ground.

This is the same motion you are doing when performing a squat. You can also do this exercise without any weight. Do anywhere from 8-15 repetitions on each leg.

Leg lifts- This is a very old school approach that was presented in the days when aerobics were popular. You lie on your side, and raise your leg up and lower down and squeeze your thighs and glutes. Again, you may feel it working but it doesn’t do anything to get the results you want.

You may have perceived that to be true, because the women that were doing them in the classes were already in shape to begin with, thus giving you the illusion that it works to create slimmer, thinner thighs.

Again, if you are looking for only the best exercises to firm your thighs. Side to side lunges are the ones to do.

For this exercise you need a set of dumbbells. Use weight that is challenging. Stand with your feet together, holding the dumbbells to your sides.

Then take a step out to the side and as you do that move the dumbbells so that one is to the inside of your inner thigh, and the other is to the outside of your thigh.

As you step to the side, you also bend down, much like you would as a squat. Then step back to the middle. Perform each side at a time, then move to the next.

Stick to doing what works, and you will see your thighs getting slimmer and sexier in just a few short weeks.

Posted by Heather Picken at 9:14 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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Posted by Heather Picken at 10:24 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Performing a squat is one of the most effective exerices
a woman can do to firm the glutes and tone your legs
to make them more attractive.

Perform the squat with your weight on your heels
Head up and shoulders back
Sit back like you would on a chair

-Begginers start with no weight
-Advanced use weight that is challenging enough 8-15 reps

If you would like the best toning exercises to reshape legs,glutes,and arms

Check out Fat-Burning Workouts For Women:

http://www.feelinglikeamillion.com/workoutbook.html

Posted by Heather Picken at 2:52 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)