Every woman I know wants toned glutes (butt, hips) and thighs! And, you should want that and more…..a toned, healthy body should be the goal for you. You gotta build muscle and burn fat to get that done!

GLUTES! Oxygen Magazine has special issues dealing only with SHAPING AND TONING YOUR BUTT! So, it is a very important topic to women. Problem areas for many women are the butt, hips (saddle bags) and thighs (jiggling jelly)…..

To be effective, glutes (and leg work for that matter) should be trained with cardio and strength training.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) research found that the top cardio exercises for shaping your glutes (and legs) are: lunges, walking uphill, stair climbing, jogging and running (I suggest sprinting to get better results). No big surprises here and no gimmicks!

Just hard work! And research has proven that high intensity interval cardio is superior to longer duration, slow cardio (interpretation: go hard for 20 minutes instead of slow for 40 minutes)! Do 3-4 days of cardio exercise.

As for strength training? You can’t leave out squats!

Do your squats—bodyweight squats, dumbbell squats, barbell squats, split squats, lateral squats, one-legged squats, etc. Mix it up but do them. The benefits of the squat exercise extend beyond your legs. The same can be said for deadlifts (traditional, stiff-legged or other variations). Other top glute exercises are:

1) Step ups (front and lateral)
2) Standing cable or machine hip abductors
3) Standing, prone or floor hip extensions
4) Floor lateral thigh raises
5) Glute bridges and marching glute bridges
6) Pelvic raises and posterior pelvic tilts

Do 3 days-a-week of full body strength training. If these exercises become easy for you, then increase resistance or weights.

Blast the butt, leg fat and total body fat!