Then, take another step with your left foot, bringing your feet back to hip-width apart. Stand tall, engage your abs, and take a controlled step out to the side with your right leg. Quimbo says you should feel tension in the band when standing with feet hip-width apart. Place or tie the band around your calves. Start with lateral walks using a resistance band. Mallett suggests some rear leg extensions to target the back of your upper legs - the spot where your leg meets your derriere (aka your hamstrings). 'The best exercises to perk up the heart shape and round it out a bit are lateral movements that attack the gluteus medius, which sits higher, closer to your waist,' Quimbo says. The key is to work the hamstrings and the gluteus medius to lift the area. Heart-shaped bottoms are not lacking in the gluteus maximus area. Then, pulse your leg up and down at hip height for 10 counts. Then, keeping your leg at the same height, send it back straight behind you. With your foot flexed, lift that leg up to hip height. Stand bent over with a flat back, legs stacked under your hips and one forearm resting on the chair with the shoulder directly over the elbow. Then, Mallett recommends pulsing up and down at the bottom of your last plie for 10 counts.įinally, find a countertop or chair for Pilates sidekicks. Lower into a deep bend in your knees, and then straighten your legs to stand up again. Stand with your feet a little bit wider than hip-width apart, and externally rotate your legs at the hips so your toes are turned out. Once you've done 12 reps of each exercise, switch legs. Then, staying on the same leg, do 12 curtsy lunges.Ĭurtsy lunge: Cross your left leg behind your right at about a 45-degree angle and lunge, come back to centre, and repeat. Lunge with rotation: Hold a dumbbell right in front of your chest, do a forward lunge - dropping deep into a 90-degree bend in both legs and keeping your knee aligned with your ankle on the front leg) - and then rotate your trunk and the dumbbell toward your front leg. Other than hitting your butt, these will target your waist, abs, obliques, and lower back as well,' Quimbo said. Two of my favourite exercises are a forward lunge with rotation and a reverse crossover lunge (or a curtsy lunge). 'When you add rotation to your lunges and legwork, you're working your waist as well, which will help to trim down the love handle area. And to really eliminate that muffin top, Xavier Quimbo, co-founder and expert trainer at Speedplay, says you need to add rotation.

To lift your bum, Tracey Mallett, the program creator for the 24 Hour Fitness responsible for Bootybarre, says you should focus on the gluteus medias - the lateral muscles that sit higher on your booty, closer to your waist.

Square shapes fall a little on the bottom and hold excess volume up top, which can create a muffin top.

Heart shaped butt