Ah, the butt. Forever the subject of rap music, film clips, Instagram posts and fitness culture. Our fixation with the booty has become almost obsessive in recent years, with pop princesses and fitness models sporting perky posteriors and spurring #fitspo #goals the world over.
Our posteriorly preoccupation has led us to everything from apps to arabesques; all in the name of that perfect booty. One such means is Functional 45, or F45. A worldwide phenomena, it is a phenomena for good reason; it works.
Athletic director of F45 Double Bay in Sydney, and all round fitness superstar (he has almost 300k followers on Instagram thank you very much), Dann Conn, is the proof in the (fat-free, sugar-free) pudding. The man with they-can’t-be-real abs knows a thing or two about training and results, and we were privy to an exclusive workout he devised for le derriere.
Here, five easy moves to get your butt firmer, perkier and lifted.
Did someone say J-Lo?
Do 12-15 reps of each of the following exercise. Complete three rounds and on your fourth and final round go until you reach maximum exertion.
1. Hip raise and leg extension
On your hands and knees with the pelvis tucked and breath in, raise your knee at 90 degrees then extend your leg without rotation of the shoulders. Then refold the leg back to the start.
2. Power Banded Glute Extensions
With a power band over the same shoulder as the leg, lock the leg out while on your hands and knees with a straight posterior chain. Once the leg is locked, squeeze your glute. The thicker the band, the harder your butt works!
3. Single Leg Pulse and Reach
In a single leg balance, lean forward into a single leg dead lift. Then go back to the start position but into a semi-pistol squat. This is a quick movement and builds up the lactic acid in the biggest muscles in the body, the Hamstrings!
4. Single Leg Hip Thrusters and Doubles
Lay on your back, knees bent and feet flat. Keep your heels pushing hard into the ground and push hips to the sky, squeezing your butt. Then keeping your hips nice and still, lock out a single leg, squeeze again, then return and do the same on both legs. To make this harder add a weighted object like a sandbag on those hips!
5. Box step over sprinter hurdles
This one is about NOT locking the leg and quickly stepping over the box. Quickly toe touch in front and then pulse it back to start. Do NOT let the foot fully plant, keep on those toes like a sprinter…and we know what kind of bodies they have!
