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Without a doubt the number one area that I get asked to shape up is the hips and butt. It is the area of the body woman typically least admire. So much of my time is spent trimming and reshaping this part of the body it's almost funny. As you probably know, women carry most of their fat in the hips and butt. Add in a couple of kids, work, life, and you can get a train-wreck real quick. Fortunately, it is fairly easy to fix, not a lot of fun, but very fixable. Your results will depend on how much weight you need to lose and how hard you work.

I will let you know now - the road we will be taking is not the nice new highway with rolling hills, green grass and colorful trees. It is going to be the unbeaten path that few want to venture. However, once you reach the end, life is wonderful, confidence is up, and heads will turn. The first thing we need to do is lose the fat and that means cardio. This isn't happy talking cardio either. That's for Starbucks when you have finished. I'm talking about cardio that makes you sweat, legs burn, and your heart beat like a drum in an 80's rocker band. The next phase will be sculpting. This is the unbeaten path part, where your legs feel like they will actually fall off and you are calling me, or another trainer, foul names and wishing the unthinkable upon us. But when all is said and done, you will be very happy with the work you have put into your body. Many of the woman that I work with talk about how good they feel when they hit the beach or can fit back into their jeans, or favorite outfit. So hear is a very basic routine that you can do to get the process started:

CARDIO
Time to sweat, glow, glisten, or whatever you want to call it. Either way, there should be sweat coming down the side of your face and it shouldn't be tears (at least not in the first 15 minutes anyway). Stair climbing is the best; Step class or cardio Kick Boxing is next; after that it is a toss up between 6% incline on a tread mill or elliptical. If you are a beginner, cardio should last about 30 minutes tops, anymore and you will overdo it and burn out. For the intermediate and advanced future buns of heaven, cardio needs to last at least 45 minutes.  This is why - the longer the leg muscles are working the more calories burned, more calories burned, the more fat that leaves the body.


SCULPTING
These have been the most effective shaping exercises that I have used with my clients. Important! Don't overdo it with the legs. Between the cardio and these sculpting moves, more is NOT better. These exercises can be done every 2 days. For example, Monday do legs and cardio; Tuesday and Wednesday do cardio and upper body; and Thursday do cardio and legs again.

    Group 1
    1) Bench Step Ups
    2) Hip Circles
    3) Front and Back Kicks

    Group 2
    1) Single Leg Box Touches
    2) Squat Jumps
    3) Butt Machine with a Twist

HARDENING
Now that you have sculpted it is time to make sure the jiggle
is out of the wiggle.
  
    1) Double Half Squats
    2) Standing Butt Squeezes with Cable Machine
    3) Squat Jumps with Medicine Ball

    Set and Reps

    Beginner: 2 sets 15 reps for the first 2 weeks.
                      Then move to 3-4 sets of 15 reps or the next 4 weeks.
   
    Intermediate: 4-5 sets of 20 reps of either group 1 or 2

    Advanced: 4-5 sets of 20-25 reps of both group 1 and 2