How To Build A Fit Booty
The booty. I know, I know. For some reason, it seems like you can never escape booty talk. “I need to do something with this ...
by Erika Nicole Kendall
The booty.
I know, I know. For some reason, it seems like you can never escape booty talk.
“I need to do something with this booty.”
Not even just her hips, but her thighs - that's hard work!
“My booty is perfect – I don’t want exercise to ruin that.”
Listen for long enough, and you’ll eventually hear “I need to get off my booty and do something.”
No matter what, this topic always comes up. And while I can’t help but be tickled, I’m also a little saddened by it.
More often now, I wind up having fitness-based conversations with people who “knew” me before and “know” me now, only because they’re trying to poke and prod at my understanding of what I want for myself. Much like the people who insisted that I “should be trying to get a man” instead of focusing on myself, I get people who want to talk to me about my booty.
Let me explain – I had a “giant booty.” I mean, giant. I was a size 28 – I didn’t have much choice except to have… a “giant booty.” And while in some circles a booty that large is “just wrong,” in other circles a “giant booty” is something similar to carrying a pot of gold on your back down the street. Everyone’s looking, wondering if you’ve got more in yours than they’ve got in theirs, if yours is better than theirs, wondering if they can get what you’ve got. And depending upon who you’re talking to, it might be worth just as much AS a pot of gold, for crying out loud. I’m sure you know what circles I made sure I stayed in, then – the ones that made me feel better about me and my,well.. giant booty.
As a woman, my weight is supposed to concentrate closer to my hips and thighs – it’s supposed to help protect our reproductive system. The extra fat keeps your eggs and various other goodies warm. (This is where the notion that “women with larger hips are better child birthers” or whatever comes from.) And while I cannot completely share the history of every bloodline in existence and how their bodies adapted to their environments… I can certainly share mine.
As a woman of color, I was blessed with being predisposed to a curvaceous, well-built figure. Meaning, if I treat my body right, the curves have no choice but to come. As my ancestors come from a place where countless generations built their muscle in certain places to help their bodies do what they needed to do to tend to their villages, my bloodline adapted – full hips and an ample busom to help me deliver and care for my children; strong calf, booty and thigh muscles; powerful neck and shoulder muscles. As a woman, I was built to be… well, built. Well built, to be exact.
And in a society where everyone makes money off of making life easier, I have to go out of my way to maintain that… build. I don’t have to work as hard as my ancestors in order to accomplish basic daily tasks.
January, '10
Somewhere along the line, any “giant booty” became acceptable. And as women, I often wonder if we ignored the fact that our frames were increasing because we were getting compliments on our derrierres. I mean, we were still getting complimented – we must be doing something right, right?
Let me mention a few important things that have to be a part of any resolution to be healthier:
First, just as being skinny is not an indicator of good health, neither is being or having fat. There’s no way around that – there is very little in the way of physical appearance that can gauge a person’s health. While we can talk about anorexics and the “super obese” as exceptions, the vast majority of us don’t fall on either end of the spectrum – we sit closer to the middle. So no, “getting a bigger booty” doesn’t mean “you’re doing something right.” It means you’re doing something, but “right?” I can’t call it.
Secondly, again – we have to stop basing our judgments of ourselves on what other people say or think. Thinking that I don’t have to “do anything” because other people like “how I am” is just an excuse to not consciously think about “how I am.” Almost like it’s putting the responsibility of “thinking about me” onto other people. Can I really trust other people to think about me in a way that’s best for me? If I could, I might’ve never been so overweight in the first place. Ownership. Gotta take it.
I had a lot of thinking to do. When I think about myself, am I happy with what I have? Regardless of your weight, I hope you are. You are you, and you should be happy regardless of what you have. But take it a step further – am I healthy? If not, am I willing to risk “what I have” to claim my health?
Lastly, and this is most important – our bodies are complex. With as many muscle groups as there are… you think you can’t build and rebuild and rebuild what you’ve got? You can do just about anything with your body if you commit to it AND commit to you.
Let me talk about my booty for a minute. When I started losing weight, the very first thing I lost WAS in my gut and booty region. I was so happy about the gut that I didn’t recognize that my booty was slipping away. Not until I started weight lifting that I realized it was deflated! Gone. Vanished. The case of the disappearing booty. I was gonna have to hire a PI and put out an APB for it.
So.. I had to do something. I mean, some serious body mapping. I had too much fat in my thighs to have an actual curve to my booty at the point where it met my thigh. I had a spare tire that was hiding the slope from my back to my booty. I needed to actually build a booty of muscle… which meant no more crease between my booty and my thigh, causing those saddle bags. I had work to do.
Since I was already burning the fat, I needed to work on rebuilding. Booty and thigh exercises on deck. And please believe, the squats are necessary. It is absolutely possible to rebuild yourself a fit booty – one that sits high, curves just right, and doesn’t cause skin to fold and protrude at the hips. If the fat was going to melt away, it needed something to conform to, in my mind. So, off I went muscle building. It’s working well for me.
All of this is to say… I need to make sure that I don’t cling to someone else’s perception of what I “should” look like, especially when that perception would bind me to an unhealthy lifestyle. I need to not believe that I can’t rebuild something like a booty in a much healthier way than cornbread and sweet potato pie. I need to resolve to be comfortable with who I am, and understand that wanting something else for my body doesn’t mean that I believe something is wrong with who I am. And lastly… a fit booty is a thousand times better than a booty I got through unhealthy means.. ’cause I worked for it, earned it and deserved it.
Who else out there is working on their fit booty? Let’s hear it!
(You might also want to check out my post on belly fat!)
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57 Responses to “How To Build A Fit Booty”
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Thank you for being so honest and calling attention to the way we accept an unhealthy lifestyle because of external comments! In the past I often let myself slide into unhealthy behaviors because I got feedback that my ‘thick’ thighs and behind were in keepin with our cultural norms. I appreciate you returning the conversation to how WE should feel about ourselves and our health!
Oh, please believe… that “thick” phrase is the bane of my existence right now. It makes me want to punch a hole in something. If I could figure out a way to touch the issue without firing random shots at people (and without it being 2300 words long), I would.
We’ve just… we’ve got a long way to go.
I am!!
I’m working on a fit booty AND body – abs, arms, back, chest, legs, and of course, the booty! I want it all!! LOL
Shoot, me too! LOL!
When I started spinning, my booty disappeared! My leg muscles formed beautifully, but the first major change I noticed was what wasn’t there. lol I then learned exercises from a friend that would help with “re-forming” my behind (squats, etc.) and they’ve worked well thus far. I fell off the fitness bandwagon, but am back to working out 3x/week and I hope to increase it soon.
Btw, i’ve been reading your blog for about a week now and Soror, you’ve been a great source of inspiration. Keep up the great work!
LOL So you could feel my pain, too? I was crushed, LOL. Those squats are the absolute best, though. You do ‘em right, and you can reap benefits forevermore. LOL
I’m glad that you’re back on the right path! And thank you so much – that means the world to me.
I just want to thank the creator of this site….it has really encouraged me to get back on my weight loss journey. I was working out using P90X for five weeks and it’s a 90 program. I started to get bored with it, and there were a lot of the routines/exercises that I couldn’t do…for those that have never used it, it’s like bootcamp to the 100th power. My husband bought me a bike yesterday, so that’s motivation to get some bike riding done, but this site and seeing the picture of Erika is very encouraging. I just need to stay motivated to lose 30 lbs and then maintaining afterwards.
Aww, thank you so much! P90x tends to turn people off because it is quite the rigorous workout. All I can tell you is to just try to stick it out. I think it might be the monotony of sticking a DVD in and knowing what you’re going to get that might drive you nuts. Why not do something else WITH P90X? Use your new bike! Take a class! Pile on the activity, and I’m sure you’ll get your 30lbs in.
To be very frank I can’t buy into the booty building thing. If I am wrong, tell me how. Most women that I have seen with nice butts were born with them. Some of them look a little unsightly when the woman gains a lot of weight but for the most part most women with big butts look nice. But it is natural.
I myself was not one of the black women who was born with it. I don’t know if I took more from the white side (that I recently found out is in my blood)of my family but I’ve never had a boom-boom. I’ve done booty exercises. All it did was to lift it up a little and put a slightly more tone look at the bottom of the muscle. I don’t think this can change for women with little to work with. Even the lady in this article HAD a booty but she lost it . She had something to work with. It just went into hiding.
Also, do you have friends with little booties that have been able to pick them up with your advice and exercise?
LOL If a woman gains fat and it doesn’t naturally deposit into that “boom boom” type booty, then she needs to rely on building the muscles in those specific places to give her the curve she wants. It’s not my job to “prove” that to you – any anatomy book outlining how muscle lays across the body will SHOW you what you have to work with. It’s up to you whether you remain patient and continue to put forth the effort.
My question to you would be, what kind of “boom boom” are you wanting? Because a “fit booty” and a “phat booty” are not the same in any capacity. A woman whose fat naturally deposits into her hips and booty area (where, as I explained, it’s supposed to go) is going to develop that unsightliness when she collects too much fat. That’s just how it is. So sure, I had a giant behind, but I also had a giant front and large thighs to go along with it. Realistically, I’d take my fit booty over the one I had any day.
Do I have friends who started off small and grew with this advice? Actually, a dear friend who maintains her booty THROUGH these exercises put ME on to game a year or so ago. This is not “new” or “novel” stuff, here – the facebook page for this site is full of women sharing details of working on and with their booties. It’s not just me, mama. When you see that you’re getting “a little” of a lift, you KEEP GOING. Once you get it, you have to WORK to maintain it.
So know this – I hear you, but you need to hear me too. You can’t stop just ’cause you see a little work. You have to keep at it in order to keep it, lol.
I, like Ella, get bored with workouts very easily (especially Dvd’s), so I am always looking for ways to incorporate something “fun” with it. I am on Week 2 of P90x and I found several things that helped me. #1. I already had a gym membership (I was up to doing 10 classes a week…Zumba, etc), so I decided to incorporate the gym into P90x…I’m paying for it anyway!! I converted it and downloaded it to my IPOD and I workout at the gym with it (kind of memorized the moves…lol) I can honestly say that it keeps me moving and I workout HARD! I also get use of their pullup bars and weights so it’s a great transition for me!
Thanks so much for this insite! LOVE IT! I was just saying that I don’t want to lose my booty just the gut. Do you have any other suggestions for losing and toning the stomach region? It’s so hard to do and I feel like I’ve tried most everything.
The best way to “lose” is to be active – run, walk, bike, dance, whatever – since you can’t lose weight in ONLY one particular area of your body. I wrote this a while back – http://blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com/exercise-101/battling-belly-fat/ – that may help you out a bit.
You are so cool & smart!
I have lost & built so much this past year, but where my butt used to stick out kinda cute, now it looks like old skin just hangin’.
Very informative article. I believe that like WHOCARESIA, I have inherited some traits from my white ancestral background. I have what I call a black/white girl booty. It has some white traits as well as some black girl tenancies coupled with a few bouts of cellulite. Ugh.
I will just keep it real here. I ultimately am in the in-between stages. I want a phat booty, but I also want a fit booty. I want a nice round, fit, sexy, cellulite free, bang boom pow booty…..much like the woman in the video, “I like the way you move” by Outkast. I guess I am scared to lose what little booty I have and this is the main reason why I stop exercising when I see that it is dwindling away. I have already lost my boobs and now my booty? I am really not taking likely to this.
This article is an inspiration, but when I saw the author’s before and after pictures, I would prefer to have the before than the after, but that’s just me. Everyone shouts SQUATS, SQUATS, SQUATS but if I squat my booty to non-existence, I will not be a happy camper! The purpose of exercise is to promote better health, but let’s face it, WE WANT OUR BODIES AND BOOTIES TO LOOK THEIR BEST!
I want to build my booty up. My question is, how to build without losing it. What other exercises can I do to build it up?
Thanks for listening.
Chocolate
By definition, you cannot “squat your booty to non-existence.” It is not possible. You squat, you lunge, you use the muscles by performing the exercises and they have no choice but to grow and develop the shape. You would rather have a fat booty that developed from an unhealthy lifestyle – sagging, dimply and paired with saddlebags? Then really, I don’t have anything for you, my dear.
The silly thing is to think that it “cannot be done” just because it doesn’t happen overnight. Building a great body takes hard work. The same work we SHOULD have been putting in on ourselves all this time. Now, all of a sudden we want to act right and it’s supposed to happen overnight? It’s not going down like that. LOL Not ever.
Everyone is saying squats because squats WORK. They make use of all of the sets of muscles required to make those booty muscles grow. Clenching and squeezing your cheeks, lunges, frog hops… there are a few booty exercises on this site that can help you. But there’s no possible way that a “fat booty” is your body “looking its best.”
I’m sorry, but all of this “I don’t buy it, I don’t believe it, I don’t think” conversation just sounds like a slew of excuses to me. It’s another reason to not work. *shrug* If y’all want to skate on your workouts to cling to some perception of your booty, then by all means.. have at it. Just don’t expect me to coddle that. I just cannot… and I say that with love.
Okay, I got it. I hear what you are saying. A bunch of excuses and a bunch of bull is what I just fed you. To be perfectly honest, my previous post was full of a bunch of excuses. At one point, I was doing an excellent job, exercising and eating clean, but lately, I have been slipping…BIG TIME. Now, I just need to get off my unhealthy “BOOTY” and do something! Thanks for the pep talk. I needed it.
I’m just sayin’… so you recognize that you’re giving me excuses instead of being about the business of your health? So get back on it. Seriously.
Thank you thank you THANK YOU for this. I have always had a curvy shape with most of my weight being concentrated in my hips, thighs, and booty. I’ve always had a big booty, but it wasn’t always a healthy one. After having my son and gaining a bunch of weight due to poor decisions, of course it got bigger but NOT in a good way. Matter of fact, since my thighs, hips, and waist got bigger my booty lost its shape! As I started to work out and relearn how to treat my body, I knew that it would possibly leave, but I just wanted to be healthy again so it didn’t matter. Matter of fact, due to working out, squats, lunges, jump squats, and those evil frog jumps my butt is better shaped now than it EVER was before. I still have a long way to go, but I’m excited about where things are going including the booty!
I have hope in YOUR as well as Kenya’s answer. I will do this and I am ready to get back in.
Of course we all want a fit AND phat booty…because no one can make a pair of jeans look good like US!!!
And while yes, squats and lunges are the way to get there the fastest those are also hell on your knees. Ask any orthopedic surgeon (I work in an operating room). Or person recovering from an MCL/ACL tear such as myself. My physical therapist has BANNED me from squats and lunges.
So has anyone developed a workout routine that will work those same muscle areas without the pressure on the knees?
Also, I’m not sure those are before/after photos? Because the chick on top looks just fine to me. No spare tire, her leg muscles are defined and yes the booty got it goin’ on! I’m thinking it is two different folks and they both look good!
Those aren’t before and after photos – the photo on top is Serena Williams, lol. I didn’t realize that the previous commenter was referring to THAT as a “before” photo. LOLOL
The exercise section of this website has different exercises that can help build your booty without so much knee-bending work.
When I was young I was really fit I played soccer all through college so my legs were fit and I had what you would call a fit booty. I was 120 at that time so I looked more musculuar. I Had my son In 2005 and went from 130 to 150 and ever since then I have been yoyoing from 150-180 It is crazy. anyway gain quite a booty, but I went down to about 140 at one point and completely lost my booty I am wondering what happen too all those years of building a fit booty. I don’t know I think proption wise maybe it seem gone cause everthing got bigger as opposed to when I was 120 my booty was the biggest thing on me. I want to get back in shape but I don’t want to loose my fit booty!
WOW…If only I had “back.” I got the hips but not the “back.”
I don’t want to look like Serena Williams, because I am not Serena Williams. I want to look like the fit version of who I am, and that is what I plan to do. I am also not going to allow videos to define how my booty should look, because I will know how it should look once I keep losing weight and doing what I need to do. It is still somthing very unhealthy when we look to others as a “yes, that is how I want to look”. The founder of this site is constantly speaking of best practices for herself, not based on what some celeb will do. If you are a pear shape you will be a pear shape, if you are not you are not. So enjoy a healthy body, and clean eating, not wanting to look like someone else. Focus on looking like the best YOU, the fit, clean eating and living you!
That’s wonderful Natch, but that isn’t the point. We just want a nice booty regardless. It is okay to wish we had a J-Lo booty, but I say just make YOUR booty the best it can be.
Don’t worry Mama, her comment sparked a whole new topic for me in regards to body image – to what degree should one “view” the bodies of others. Because I honestly don’t see anything wrong with saying “Oh, I want legs like that!” as long as it’s not “Ugh, I hate my legs, I want hers.” It’s not the admiration of others that’s the problem – it’s the commending OTHERS AT THE EXPENSE OF yourself that is bad. I’ll get more into detail momentarily, lol.
I think we’ve said similar things. I still feel as I do and completely respect your opinion. I ask you to consider if we all used the same dress or outfit to determine our success what that would look like if that dress isn’t for your body type. It’s the same with financies, education, and how we choose a life partner. If everyone was hoping for this homogenous look, none of us would be unique. Being the best self is about looking only at yourself and being satisfied in that. Can we look up to people, use them as an example or model, of course, but who we are should be taken into consideration at a much greater level than looking at someone else. For example, yesterday I was talking to a friend who is her ideal weight and size. She commented to me that she has never been able to do the stationary bike for 12 miles. Now, I could look at her and say wow, then if I want to look like you I don’t have to bike, not exactly. She is obviously maintaining her weight but my lifestyle is not the same. Though I am not my ideal weight, she still looks to me as an example to work out consistently. Follow me here, that is not to say that she shouldn’t try to get in more cardio or that I should do less, though we could both admire each other. There are some people who have great skin but don’t work hard for it, there are others who work hard for great skin. People can work and work and work for the perfect booty but if they are not shaped like Serena Williams it won’t look like hers. Even her equally fit sister, Venus, does not have the same body type as Serena but an equally amazing bottom. I am sure it may appear that I have belabored my point, but I want to be understood, even though if I am not agreed with. Happy Living beautiful people.
First and foremost, I don’t do self-defeatist dialogue, here. I’m not interested in what people “can’t” do… especially when most people believe they “can’t” do something just because THEY haven’t done it or seen it. A lot of us haven’t “seen” fit people – not thin, but FIT – in our lives… but we know they exist. C’mon.
This isn’t about desiring a duplicate, and I’m not sure that was your original point… especially when you said “It is still somthing very unhealthy when we look to others as a “yes, that is how I want to look”.”
For a woman to say “I want a booty like that,” to me, isn’t unhealthy. If you are someone who is approaching fitness (we’re obviously not talking about health here, so that’s a given) as a newbie, you don’t know what is possible for you to obtain. You don’t know the different kinds of physiques, the different kinds of curves you can build or the different kinds of shapes you can embrace. You look around and admire the hard work of another and you can be inspired by that. There is NOTHING harmful in that. I’ve done that – even to a healthy extent – and not once have I ever said “Oh, she’s white.. oh, she’s short… oh, she’s got small feet… I can’t do that.” The hell? This is my body – with enough work, I can do WHATEVER I want.
If I didn’t admire the hard work of others, I would’ve never known I could BUILD curves. I would’ve never known I could develop definition in my shoulders without looking like a dude. A lot of the women who come here are inspired by my own efforts. I doubt they want to “look like me,” but it’s not unhealthy to say “Wow, now I want arms like that!” If I had “taken into consideration who I am at a much greater level,” then I would’ve “self-defeated MYSELF out of the ability to obtain what I have now. I don’t think I’d ever recommend that kind of approach to wellness. “Taking into consideration who I am” is an allowance for someone to make excuses to never persevere… because “I’m not meant to be [x] because [x] is too hard to obtain.” I can’t subscribe to that.
We’re talking specifically about appearances here, not work ethics, because appearance ties into body image whereas work ethic can be affected by other issues. So I can’t follow your example about the bike.
This isn’t about whether or not someone works hard to obtain what they have. It’s about admiring what is possible, and being inspired to work to get your own. That isn’t a harmful approach because it doesn’t hurt one’s own body image. I stand by that.
This is not a debate for me, nor is it an attempt to contradict the creator of this site (good luck with that on any site, really). I thought this was a place to exchange ideas and opinions about healthy living. It is ok to stand by your ideas, and I do the same (to everyone who is reading this). I do not believe there is a right or wrong to this, I believe there are different ways to view it. Clearly, we have sparked an interesting exchange, both saying similar things but with a twist as I read it. If you can’t follow the example about the bike, try the equally fit sisters with very different bottoms. My point being that Venus will probably never have a booty like her sister because that is not her build. I stand by that.
“Everyone is welcome here. You don’t have to be Black, you don’t have to be a Girl. I’d prefer you to be human, and I’d prefer you to be as kind and open as I am. We’re helping each other, right?
,” and I stand by that too. Happy Living beautiful people
A debate is a discussion, but a discussion is not always a debate. People can engage in conversation, disagree, and still walk away enlightened while still disagreeing. This is no different.
As for your point, it has, again, morphed. “It is still somthing very unhealthy when we look to others as a “yes, that is how I want to look”.” and “Venus will probably never have a booty like her sister because that is not her build.” are not one in the same, either. I could take one over the other.
I’m not sure why mentioning my rules to me applies here, unless you feel attacked. If so, I apologize.
I can attest that squats, running bleachers and other excercises that works your glutes DOES NOT make the booty disappear. It only makes it more defined.
I have a small waist hips and booty. I don’t care for the attention my bottom gets and I wanted to change it. I would workout in vain, trying to get my booty to be smaller. I’m at the point where I’m accepting my body and working on making the best booty and hips I can.
I joined a gym for the fall/winter and have implement weight training in my workouts. My mom said she noticed a difference in my tush in only a month. I’m focusing on my health and tracking my progress on a weight training and cardio chart provided by my gym. Although the #’s on the scale haven’t changed dramactically, my progress charts tell a story of my strength increasing.
I know that was a bit of a rant, it’s my 1st time commenting. Love the site and wish all the beautiful ladies here best of luck in their lifestyle transformations
LOL! We don’t mind rants here. Welcome!
Thank you for this post!!! You have really given me hope that I can do something about the shape of my bum! Of all the six kids in my family, I am the only one to be overweight and have a semi-butt (looks decent in jeans and pants, but disappears in most dresses)! After I read your post, I went into the bathroom lifted my butt and behold the saddlebags almost disappeared!
I do have a question. I know that you should give your muscles time to repair after working out, but is it really bad if I decide to do some sort of squat/lunge routine 5 days a week? I work out at the gym and have 3 day a week weight lifting regime, but I’m thinking I want to amp it up and start doing some things in the morning as well, more lower body stuff inparticular.
I don’t know…. there are a lot of different philosophies surrounding this. If you’re working your muscles out to failure (I have a blog post about this, you may want to dig around), then you absolutely would NOT want to do that every day.
To me, it’s WAY more beneficial to put in 100% every other day than to put in 50% every day of the week. So I say go HARDER, but fewer times a week. That’s what I do.
Man..squats and lunges do NOTHING for my butt. Hence my desire to have surgery. I want Serena Williams’ type butt but..oh well. LMAO! Genetics got me. Im flat as a white girl *smh*
LOL Y’all don’t hear me.. you have to keep at it, and you can’t stop once you get a little curve going!
I’m going to have to do another post on this, man. Y’all are killing me. If you’re doing ‘em right and regularly to exhaustion, your muscles WILL grow. Plain and simple!
I absolutely love this site! Congratulations on all your success and thanks for being a motivation to so many of us. I started my weight loss journey in Jan. 2009. Between then and last summer, I lost 92 lbs; but I’ve gained about 10 back. I stopped eating healthy like I was, but I’m back on track now. I have 35 lbs. more to lose before I reach my goal weight. I weighed over 307 lbs. and never had a big booty. But, now that is starting to change. I don’t know where my butt was hiding all that time, but it is making a grand appearance. My family and friends are commenting, girl where did that butt come from? Lol! I am definitely going to start doing squats, so I can tone up my butt and thighs. On another note, your stomach and arms are toned up so good! I didn’t think it would be possible for me to get my stomach and arms like that; but you’ve given me hope.
hey, i just discovered your website and i love this article because i have the same problem of losing my butt once i start losing weight,and i will now definently start doing exercise to try and rebuild it..but i was wondering if you or any of your followers knew of anything good to use to get rid of stretch marks once i do start to build a fit behind
http://blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com/qa-wednesday/qa-wednesday-the-stretch-mark-question/
I noticed mine is not looking as great anymore, but i think that came when I started putting on a lot of weight after my freshman year of college. It’s definitely an issue with my thighs being too fat. I do a lot of exercise classes but I think I need to put in the extra work on my own because it doesn’t seem like I’m giving enough attention to my hamstrings. I do a lot of leg work but it’s mostly on my quads.
Thanks for this post!
Mama… You ARE the GREATEST. Period.
Thank you for not being afraid to broach this subject (did I tell you I love this site). Anyway, all your life you hear having booty bigger than life was the “THING” to have. Incased in cellulite be damned…good booty is good booty…NEGATIVE. High and Tight is a good booty. Sitting on great thighs is a good booty. That arch in your back where your belly button is touching your spine, need I say it…is a good booty. At 44 I am working on all of that. Yes the squats, lunges, dead lifts are hard…but totally worth it when I put on my jeans and can see the lift of my booty in my peripheral vision. Need I say, I’m on my way! Wish me GOD Luck!
As a woman of color, I was blessed with being predisposed to a curvaceous, well-built figure. Meaning, if I treat my body right, the curves have no choice but to come. As my ancestors come from a place where countless generations built their muscle in certain places to help their bodies do what they needed to do to tend to their villages, my bloodline adapted – full hips and an ample busom to help me deliver and care for my children; strong calf, booty and thigh muscles; powerful neck and shoulder muscles. As a woman, I was built to be… well, built. Well built, to be exact.
Excerpted from How To Build A Fit Booty | A Black Girl’s Guide To Weight Loss
I love that!
I like a lot of the info you put out, but you talk about everyone showing respect on this page or they will be deleted and the only person I’ve ever noticed with a slick tongue is you. Youo don’t have to agree with everyones comment, but we’re all adults and should be able to accept EVERYONES opinion and comments.
I don’t have a problem with disagreements. I have a problem with intentionally misleading statements meant to undermine what I do here. You don’t have to see it that way, but I do, and I take this seriously.
People OFTEN undermine any conversation about fitness or the body because there’s a LONG running history of people feeling like the only way THEY could feel comfortable in an environment where fitness is openly discussed is to use self-degradation, misleading information, anecdotal “evidence” and overall undermining the fact that it IS possible for ANYONE who WANTS to put in the effort can build. I take that seriously, because it kept a LOT of women like me from feeling like I COULD do what I did. You might think I go too hard on it.. I don’t. I take what I do seriously and I guard it like that because I can.
If people simply don’t WANT to work, then fine. Do that and I don’t/won’t judge. But to go out of your way to undermine people’s desires to seek out the information for THEMSELVES is malicious and I DO speak up. Period.
There’s 700 posts worth of information, recipes, exercises, and stories of MY life. I KNOW the struggle of confusion and people trying to slip in “Well, it’s okay if you don’t do it.” ‘Round here, we call that SABOTAGE. NO – if you want it, go GET it and stop letting people undermine your expectations of yourself! I don’t play that crap and if it takes people seeing that I DON’T play that crap to fall back? Then CALL me slick tongue.
Post is right on time…working on booty lift and shape right now! Started doing Brazil Butt Lift today to add to my kettlebell, Zumba and PT 24/7 workouts. Squats are tha truth! Glutes on FIYAH now but end results will be so worth it.
I think the ferciousness of your defense of “the acceptance that everything should be considered possible” is needed. I hope that people understand, even when they have accepted part of the truth, their statements may not be “completely true.” Work will also change your body shape: a pear shape is the appearance where the body traditionally deposits fat cells around the middle, reduce the fat cells and add muscle. Then you can determine where there is healthy muscle bulk, and where you are tone and thin. It is work, and it is possible. Your self image must be intact, you must be confident and secure within yourself, but this is best without limiting yourself or others. If you are content at a point, then maintain, but don’t blame your reduction in progress to body shape or genetics if you are not working 100% toward change. Just say I’m good here, but I know work can change this, even more.
True honesty is complete honesty, a partial truth is still a partial untruth. Fight on Erika…
I wanna thank you for this post…my husband just ask me the other day would I rather be at my old weight 170 at 5’2 or where I am at now 140 with less booty and I had a hard time answering this question. Because I love my butt and always had it when I was slimmer but for some reason the reality of it getting smaller scared me. But at the end of the day I am ready to work at it to keep tight…that and my health is most important.
How do you measure your butt? Do you just measure from the biggest part?
You measure your booty the same way you’d measure your breasts – around your entire body, making sure the tape isn’t diagonal and is perfectly parallel to the ground while around your waist, and making sure the tape is directly around the widest part of your hips and booty.
Okay, I was a bit hesitant about commenting on this site being well…I’m a white girl with “black girl” figuire. I’ve always had big (my husband calls it a coffee table a**, cause the way my butt is you can sit a coffee cup on it) booty, big thighs and calves (legs are from track n field and dancing) but since I have had five children everything is getting out of hand. Now I have read other mags, blogs, etc and they seem to cater to “white girls” wanting to be sticks. But I’m sorry I love my curves and don’t want to give them up! This site seems like the most realist one I have come across and has really motived me. So that being said, from a white girl in PA thats for this site from a new and contuinted fan….Thanks…….PS I’ve even got my husband and the my girls moving
Another great article. Thanks so much for posting. Since I’ve been working out, I have noticed a change in the shape of my booty and am very excited about that. It’s been amazing to hear from my women friends how they have noticed the redefinition of my booty and commenting about it.
I think people you’re right in that people tend to forget the but is made up of multiple muscles and like any other muscle on your body can be effectively re-shaped with certain exercises. Gotta love squats if you want you’re booty to be right!
Have you tried any at home fitness videos that you’ve found to be particularly helpful in redefining your booty? Would love to hear your suggestions.
Thanks!
Can u exercise a curve into your back?
Yes. They’re called “good mornings.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this! As someone who is starting her journey for the 100th time. I find that the information I’ve been digesting on this has been extremely helpful. My food choices have changed and my outlook on weight lifting has been altered! I love the message here and I just wanted to say that I think what you’re doing is great! and I can’t wait to be closer to healthy living in the near future
Bigbooty or flat tummy. I will take a flat tummy any day. A big booty is only to satisfy the person that’s looking not the person that has to carry it.