Time to get ahead on your behind

By: MICHELLE ROTELL - For the North County Times | Saturday, October 29, 2005 12:08 AM PDT ∞

Almost every woman wants a rear like Jennifer Lopez and almost every man would like to walk away with a Brad Pitt goodbye. But it takes work. It takes specific exercises and cardio to get this kind of firm bottom.

The key to firming your gluteus maximus and gluteus minimus muscles (glutes) is through cardio and leg days.

Glutes and legs are your largest muscle groups. By working them you will also notice your heart rate increase during exercise.

Leg days are a good way to get a cardio workout while lifting weights and increasing your muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the quicker your metabolism will be. The quicker your metabolism is, the more calories your body will burn at rest and during exercise. The more calories you burn, the more fat you will burn off your body and the more calories your body will require to maintain its look.

Therefore, strong glutes and legs could only be beneficial to your health and your back end.

Leg days can be split two ways: front and back or complex exercises (exercises that work multiple body parts) on both days. Along with working your lower body, there needs to be a balance of upper body as well. That is why we are going to incorporate a few upper body motions into our workouts.

This fat burning, booty strengthening workout is going to be a combination of cardio on Days one, three and five and complex strength training on days two and four.

Your cardio workouts are going to vary each day but the mission will be the same. Gradually incline your equipment to work against gravity. Keep your intensity at a moderate seven or eight using a scale from one to 10. If you feel as though your heart rate is getting too high, slow down instead of changing the incline.

Start with a warm up for five minutes. Walk for five minutes with a one to two percent incline. Increase your speed or level every five minutes until you are at a jog or a run. As you increase your speed, you will also increase the incline by one percent until you are at a five or six percent incline.

Cool down by decreasing the incline back down to a one percent and walk for five more minutes. Your cardio workouts should not take longer than 35 minutes. A treadmill, elliptical or stair stepper could all be used for this kind of training. Alternate your cardio equipment for each workout to get more variety and to prevent boredom.

Our training days will be done in a circuit. Perform each exercise for one set of 15 unless specified. Then repeat the entire workout again. If you are feeling up to it, work up to three sets of each workout.

Make sure to put your whole heart into each workout. If you are not sure if you are doing an exercise properly and safely, ask a fitness trainer to help you.

A good butt and bad back or knees is not a healthy combination.

Day one of leg/glute day

Make sure that for all exercises you are not bending your knees past a 90-degree angle.

Walking lunges: Step forward with your right foot and lunge down. Bring your left foot to meet your right. Then step forward with your left and lunge down. Bring right foot in to meet the left. Repeat up and back for a stretch of distance at least 20 feet long.

Leg presses: Put feet in the middle of the foot pad and push up.

Squat/jumps: Squat down to a 90-degree angle with your feet hip distance apart. Arms are at your chest. Then jump up into the air throwing your arms up and softly landing toe/heel. Repeat.

Single-leg dead lifts: Arms at your side with or without hand weights. Balance on one leg, hinge your hips forward, lifting one leg back behind you. Keep your back straight and your supporting leg slightly bent. Slowly hang your arms down and pull them up toward your chest. Lower arms then hinge back up. Repeat. Then repeat on the other side.

Planks: Start in a push-up position. Hold for 30 seconds keeping your body straight and your abs in tight.

Day two of leg/glute day

Step ups: Using a bench or step (no higher than knee height) step up with your right leg. Bring your left knee up to your chest, then step down with your left leg. Repeat right side. Repeat on left side.

Glute leg presses: Using the same leg press machine, put your feet higher on the platform. Your range of motion will be smaller but you will feel the exercise more in your glutes.

Ball wall squats: Place the ball against the wall and lean against the wall. Squat down, hold for five seconds then push back up. Repeat.

Rotating planks: Same as Day 1, but this time you will lift one arm to the sky twisting your body to one side. Return arm back down to push up position. Reach other arm, twisting the opposite direction. Repeat both sides.

Contact certified personal trainer and fitness instructor Michelle Rotell at info@30minexpressworkout.com or mrotell@adelphia.net or visit her Web site at 30minexpressworkout.com. The Fitness column appears every other Saturday.