The opening lines of the song “She got a body like an hourglass/But I can give it to you all the time/She got a booty like a Cadillac/But I can send you into overdrive” gives us an indication to the obsession surrounding women’s derriere. Never before in history has there been so much focus on the rear than when Kim Kardashian led the way with ‘booty-flaunting’ snaps on her Instagram account.
Sashaying down red carpets aren’t the low cut dresses of yore. Rather, peekaboo dresses that left little to the imagination showcased celebrities’ perk bottoms and shapely thighs. “Buttock is the new cleavage” says Dr Low Chai Ling, founder of aesthetic clinic SW1 in Singapore.
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Lest anyone thinks that a perky derriere is the work of God, Dr Low says women still have to work to keep it in fighting shape. The only way for buttocks to go as one ages is down, so to defy this inevitable ‘downturn’ of fortunes, celebs have turned to a combination of buttock-firming workouts and clever little aesthetic fixes.
“It’s awesome that healthy, hard-earned curves are being celebrated” says Dr Low. “A great butt is a totally attainable feature. I love that with the right moves you can sculpt your perfect derriere”.
So how does one get a backside à la Bey?
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Work it
Yes, Kim and Beyoncé are naturally blessed with booty, but that doesn’t mean they get to skip the gym. Your butt is comprised of three major muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus. All of these muscles need to be worked out, built, shaped, and tightened. The fact is, if you want a great butt, you have to exercise—and I am not talking about endless squats. You want to work your butt from all angles so that you look great from all angles. The key here is to sculpt and tone while burning off the surrounding layer of fat.
Bridge
Begin by lying on your back, knees bent and feet planted hip-width apart just below your glutes. Squeeze your glutes and drive through your heels to lift your hips high. Lower down with control. Repeat 30 times.
All Fours Turnout
Begin on all fours with a flat back. Stack your wrists below your shoulders and knees below your hips. Hover your right knee to start and cross your right thigh behind your left thigh. Then lift your right leg out and up, keeping a slight bend in your right knee. Return to cross. Complete 30 reps on each side.
Single-Leg Bridge
Begin by lying on your back, knees bent and feet planted hip-width distance apart just below your glutes. Squeeze your glutes and drive through your heels to lift your hips high. Balancing on your left foot, extend your right leg straight out and parallel to the ground. Kick your leg up to the sky while keeping your hips lifted and level. Lower the leg down to a hover with control. Repeat 30 times on each leg.
Plié Jump
Begin standing, facing forward with feet wider than hip-width distance apart, knees and toes pointing out in a diagonal. Squat low, sitting your butt down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Extend your legs with force and explode up into a jump. Return to your plié squat position. Complete 15 reps.
All Fours Leg Kick
Begin on all fours with a flat back. Stack your wrists below your shoulders and knees below your hips. Hover your right knee out to your right side so that it is parallel with your hips. Then kick to extend your leg straight out to the side. Keep your right leg parallel to the ground as you draw it back in. Complete 30 kicks on each side.
Rotating Squat Jump
Start with feet hip distance and your hands together at center. Bend your knees and sit back into a deep squat. Brace your core and twist the left rib cage to your right thigh, then place the left elbow gently outside the left thigh. This is your start position. Now, press into your feet to jump off the floor while rotating the waist to the opposite side. Land lightly and lower into a squat, twisting the right ribcage to the left leg and placing the elbow outside the thigh. Complete 15 reps.
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Shape it
Coolshape recently gained attention when it was rebranded as as a non-invasive alternative to liposuction. This year it’s the hot ticket on the cosmetic circuit, but how does it actually work?
“Put simply, Coolshape adopts cryolipolysis technology to freeze unwanted fatty deposits beneath the skin which are then processed and flushed out naturally by the body” says Dr Chua Han Boon, aesthetic doctor at SW1 Clinic.
The application is through rounded paddles which suction your skin and fat like a vacuum – all you have to do is sit back and try to ignore the mild discomfort. There is no pain, no downtime and no scarring, earning Coolshape the moniker of the ‘lunchtime lipo.’
Although ideal for those who carry small pockets of stubborn fat (such as your upper and inner thighs) and are looking for an effective alternative to liposuction, it is not a substitute for healthy diet and exercise. Results are noticeable but subtle which means this procedure is used most effectively for body contouring rather than significant fat loss.
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Smooth it
Even the skinny women worry about cellulite, a beauty problem so pervasive that it’s the same word in French and English. It is a word that sounds no better in a French accent.
With our obsession with bums seemingly never ending, cellulite is the only thing standing in the way between most women and the nudist beach. Once an uncurable affliction, grouped with the likes of herpes, cellulite is now a treatable condition with Onda Body Magic.
This new technology harnesses the power of microwaves that will go deep to disrupt the fibrous bands that cause the dimpling appearance of the skin. Study shows that multiple weekly treatments over a two month period yielded significant improvements in the tone and texture of the treated areas.
Now that’s one smooth butt.
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