Is Your Back End Bootylicious Or Butt Ugly?

Ladies, I don't mean to alarm you, but not since the days of Marilyn Monroe has our posterior gained so much attention. It was hard enough to try and keep our bellies flat and our arms toned but with the celebrity likes of Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce, our back sides are again in becoming center of attention..

Whether you have a rear that's too big, too small, or one that's lets just say a bit saggy, the following exercise will firm and shape up your gluteus maximus.

Squats

Squats are known as the king of butt exercises, and for one good reason - they work. Standard squats however can be hard on the knee joints so if you have weak knees you may prefer to perform chair squats as explained here.

• Place a standard kitchen or dining room chair about six inches behind the heels of your feet.
  
  

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
  
  

• Now suck in your abs and hold them in while you bend your knees and begin lowering your butt towards the chair. Making sure to keep your knees directly behind your toes and not at a side angle.
  
  

• Now sit on the chair for a few seconds, then use your butt and hamstring muscles to pull yourself up and off of the chair until you are back to a full standing position.
  
  

• Complete this exercise 15 times. If possible, and your legs are not shaky, try to complete 3 full sets of 15 repetitions.
  
  

A few key things to remember during this exercise
Although you are pulling in your abs during this exercise remember to breathe normally and do not hold your breath at any time.
To get the best possible benefit from chair squats perform them slowly and don't try to rush through them.
If you have not exercised for a while you may not be able to complete the full 15. That's ok, every day you will try to do a few more until doing 45 in one day becomes easier. Once you are able to complete 45 repetitions, try lowering your body until you almost touch the chair, then lift without sitting.
Don't lift with your knees, but use your butt and hamstrings to do all the work.

If you continue to do your squats or chair squats five times a week, you should start seeing a shapelier caboose in only a few weeks. One major benefit of doing squats is that they also help to exercise the thigh muscles at the same time and if you remember to hold in your abs, your working three areas of the body at once. Now if squats could only get rid of my bat wing arms...but that's another story.

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