Often when people exercise, especially women, they worry about losing their butts. Let’s face it, the butt is a tricky part of the body to model exactly. If you need to trim some fat off your body, you may not want to trim inches off your caboose either.
That was my initial question when I started seeing a personal trainer a few months ago. Can I lose weight but make my butt rounder? The coach admitted that it was a legitimate question, but he wasn’t quite sure how to answer it. He told me that strength training and cardio would get me in the best shape of my life, however, my butt would get toned and smaller as a result. “It’s normal,” he told me.
“Speak for yourself,” I thought. “My husband likes my round butt.” He was worried about me working out, because he didn’t want me to look muscular.
The gym coach knew a lot about working out, but apparently knew very little about being a woman. My goal was not the same as a man’s, or even a female bodybuilder. She wanted to get fit and build muscle but not lose my curves and femininity.
I started to think that my goal was ridiculous and impossible until I thought about Victoria’s Secret models. You could bounce a quarter off each of those girls, and yet they’re still the ideal of the sexy, feminine woman. Their physiques appear long and flexible, but they are also very fit.
That’s when I began my quest to figure out how to get in shape without losing my feminine form.
Here are some things I’ve learned:
Yoga
I know it seems that Yoga has been exaggerated. Before I tried it, it didn’t seem like it would change my body shape, just improve flexibility and relaxation. Then I started noticing that almost all the women with the body type I wanted mentioned yoga as part of their exercise routines. Apparently, it really tones the muscles and at the same time lengthens them, to finish off that long, lean look that I had admired so much. Yoga is also low-impact and easy to start at any age or fitness level.
you have to eat protein
Dietary protein is necessary for building muscle. If you try to lose pounds of fat through cardio or cutting calories without getting enough protein, you’ll start to look gaunt, with sagging skin and bare bones. Also, your head will seem too big for your body. We’ve all seen the photos of female actresses and models who have “boggling heads.” This is exactly what it looks like when you lose fat and don’t build muscle.
Specific muscle development or body reshaping
There are shades of different body shapes. She had slightly larger-than-usual breasts, too many fat rolls in the middle, narrow hips, and tiny calves. He needed to target different muscles than someone with a different body proportion. And it doesn’t just matter what body shape you START with, but what body shape you hope to END up with. I needed to build muscle in my abs, glutes, hips and calves areas and at the same time lose fat all over, especially my abs and thigh areas. But I didn’t want to lose so much fat that I ended up with no boobs, no butt, and a tired face. I know it sounds complicated, but with a combination of the RIGHT muscle-building exercises, the right diet, and the right amount of cardio, the body shape you want is within your reach. Even if you think your body “just won’t do that.”
