How Many Sets Should I Do for Butt Shaping Exercises?

I just started college about 3 months ago and I have already gained my freshman 15! I can’t believe how quickly the extra weight has piled on but I guess from all the partying and drinking along with chowing down on greasy fast food after the bars close are probably the main culprits for the weight gain. I just noticed how big my butt has gotten a few days ago when I saw myself in the mirror and I was shocked! I was a track and field athlete in high school and my legs and butt were hard, tight and toned. Now, they are getting a little loose and flabby and I have noticed an extra layer of fat on my booty which looks terrible! I’m going to start getting into the gym this week and I wanted to know how I should plan my butt workouts for the best possible results. What are some great lower body exercises to use and how many reps should I focus on when doing my workouts?

Oh, how I remember those fun-filled college days of partying all weekend. From keg stands to tequila shots, those memories are a little blurred but man were they fun! The only drawbacks to heavy partying are the massive hangovers and the extra weight gain that can easily be packed on due to the excessive liquid calories from all the beer, liquor and the other concoctions of alcohol that are being heavily consumed. The other major drawback is the huge quantity of greasy, high fat foods that are grubbed down after most of the huge “ragers”. There was nothing more satisfying than hitting up the local late night pizza joint for several slices of pie or rolling over to the food trucks for a monster cheeseburger, gigantic burrito or a colossal Polish dog!

Sticking to a solid nutrition plan and following a healthy diet are the last things on your mind when you start your first year of college, but unfortunately this is exactly why the normal freshman 15 has quickly turned into the freshman 30 and then some! The issue nowadays is not just drinking at parties but out of control binge drinking which packs up to twice the amount of alcohol and overall calories into a night of debauchery.

The good thing is that you have already visually noticed the side effects of what all this drinking and partying can do to your previously fit and toned physique. In a short amount of time, you have packed on several pounds of body fat from all of the excess calories and the lack of exercise, which I’m assuming you have slacked on simply due to the lack of interest that happens when you are hung over for several days after the partying has ended. The last thing you are thinking about post-party, is getting into the gym first thing in the morning for a great workout.

So, you will need to think about cutting back on the amount of drinking you partake in while choosing better low-calorie alcohol options when you decide to venture into the festivities. Your overall diet is going to play a much bigger role in keeping the weight off and being able to make big improvements in your physique. Remember the old saying, “You can’t out-exercise a bad diet” because this is so true when it comes to successfully losing body fat.

Now, let’s turn to the specific exercises and workouts to target your butt and legs so you can get back into your prior hard body condition when you were participating in track and field. You want to focus your attention on a blend of weight training exercises along with specific cardio workouts to tone and tighten up your lower body.

For your weight lifting workouts, stick to lower body exercises like barbell squats, walking lunges and step ups to really target your butt muscles and firm up the area. When doing squats, don’t be scared to go really low at the bottom of the movement. Your overall flexibility will determine how low you can go, so as long as it feels comfortable and it does not hurt your back or knees, try to squat deep and low which will take you past parallel. This is the spot when the exercise starts to really hit the gluteus muscles and I guarantee you will feel it, especially if you haven’t done deep squats before. Walking dumbbell lunges are incredible for hitting the glutes and for making your booty tight, round and full. Choose an area of the gym with enough room, like an empty aerobics room, and try to walk at least 20 yards in one direction. Depending on how burned out your legs and butt are when you reach the end, try turning right around and coming back to the start to overload your leg and butt muscles.

The best option for overall sets and reps when you train your legs will be in the range of 8-12 total sets with higher repetitions of between 15-20 reps per set for the best results. Doing lower reps (under 8 per set) will focus the attention of your training more on building overall strength and muscle mass so just make sure to use high enough reps in order to focus more on endurance and shaping your muscles.

Cardio is also extremely important to implement into your overall routine to burn excess calories so you can decrease body fat and tone up the areas of your lower body. A few of the best cardio exercises you can do are jogging, walking, running stairs and using the elliptical machine. Since you are at a college, you should be able to go out to the football stadium to get a killer stair sprinting session in and blast your booty to the extreme! With the right resistance and cardio exercises along with choosing smarter calorie options when you partake in alcoholic drinks at the parties, you can make a big improvement to your current condition and lose the extra pounds that those crazy college nights have packed on.

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