Get Your Butt in Gear

Who among us wouldn’t like to redo their rear view? Even my celebrity clients, such as Heidi Klum, Liv Tyler, Linda Evangelista, Anne Hathaway, Karolina Kurkova and Kerry Washington want to know how to shape and tone their backsides. Whether your butt is too big or too small, flat or fallen, it’ll benefit from the exercises outlined below. They can be done anytime or anywhere without expensive cardiovascular machines or cumbersome strength training devices.

So let’s get started!

The "good morning" exercise is suitable for all body types and levels of fitness. Taught to me by my father when I was trying out for the football team in high school, this exercise is perfect for warming up your lower back, glutes and hamstring muscles. Do three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions of all of the exercises.

The moves: Stand upright, feet shoulder width apart, with hands locked behind your head. Bend forward from the hips.

Modification: Cross your hands over your chest and bend your knees only slightly.

• If you really want to get serious about your rear view, check out The Butt Book, my how-to manual for getting your best butt ever!

Now that you are warmed up, let’s move on to that classic lower body exercise, the basic squat. It will work your legs, butt, hamstrings, hips and thighs. 

The moves: Stand upright with your feet shoulder width apart. Bend at the knees, keeping your weight over your heels until your thighs are parallel to the floor.

Modification: Leaning against a wall will help you balance. Your feet should be 10 - 14 inches from the wall, and shoulder width apart. Squat as deeply as your knees and back allow. If you're looking for more of a challenge, add a pair of hand weights.

To get the most out of this move, put your brain in your butt! Focus your mind and energy on the place you want to change. In this case, that would be your butt. Although squats are a basic, fundamental exercise, pear-shaped figures (think of Jennifer Lopez and Klum) who are a little curvier and tend to carry more weight down low (“junk in the trunk”) respond better to plie squats, which tone the inner thighs and the lower part of the butt muscles. For pear-shaped women, the goal is to keep it high, round and firm. 

The moves: Begin with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and your feet turned out. Concentrate your weight in your heels. With your weight still in your heels and your knees turned out, squat down and up.

Modification: Lift your heels up as you squat. This places added emphasis on your inner thighs, butt and core.

Now that you have mastered these two basic exercises, you’re ready to step up your game. Let’s try one of my combination moves, a reverse crossover lunge into a lateral lunge.

The moves: Begin with your hands on your hips, with your feet turned out and shoulder-width apart. Lunge forward across the opposite leg, then turn the front leg out, and straighten the back leg as you sweep it to the side.

For those who are ready to increase the difficulty of the exercises but not quite prepared for the previous exercise, I suggest trying the reverse lunge into a high kick. This moderately challenging exercise is a great glute and hamstring toner and will also get your heart pumping.

The moves: Begin with your legs shoulder width apart. Step into a reverse lunge, then move directly into a high kick, keeping your leg straight.

To firm up your form and boost overall wellness, check out some of the free fitness tools on MSN Health & Fitness:

• The Fit Zone: Exercises and workouts
• Train by Type: Find your fitness personality
• Weight Loss Calculators

My exercises, combined with these tools, are a powerful one-two punch that will leave you feeling so confident that you will want to walk into a crowded room butt first.

• VIDEO: MSN celebrity fitness trainer and author of "The Butt Book" David Kirsch shows the TODAY hosts simple exercises to tighten your behind.

Want more? Pick up a copy of David Kirsch’s Butt Book at www.davidkirschwellness.com. The book will soon be available nationally at Barnes and Noble stores. Affordable, accessible and portable, it’s the first in a series of “how to” manuals for every part of the body. Keep it in your purse or gym bag and use it at the beach, backyard or office. You can redo your rear with these few exercises that can be done anytime or anywhere and be the best that you can be--front and rear.