Tone your bottom in 4 weeks: the 5-minute workout for women

By Peta Bee
Ask any woman which body part they would most like to improve and they are likely to point to the one they are sitting on. If youve spent hours in the gym with little results, its time to reshape your workout habits and bottom with Fast Exercise. Our lifestyles dont help. Researchers at Tel Aviv University have found that people who sit for long periods of time put pressure on the preadipocyte cells, precursors to fat cells, causing the body to produce 50 per cent more fat than usual and leading to a bigger backside. We do less bottom-firming activity than ever before: less walking, less stair climbing in fact less of everything that involves muscular and cardiovascular effort. So how can using Fast Exercise help? There is little doubt that the high-intensity training (HIT) running, cycling and stair-climbing sessions

Fast Exercise

Wednesday January 8 2014

Tomorrow From fit to super-fit how to improve stamina

Peta Bee

included in our four-week programme is super-efficient at enhancing circulation and stripping away unwanted body fat. Plus those explosive bursts of speed have another benefit. Have you ever seen a sprinter with a flabby bottom? Thought not. The reason is that their gluteal muscles are engaged with every powerful stride, making them exceptionally strong. As a result of short sprints, the muscles in the bottom become calorie-burning engines that propel the body towards leanness. Fat loss from short Fast Fitness sessions is a crucial step for a shapely bottom. But to get the best results you must target the muscles in that area. Thats where Fast Strength circuits come in. As the largest muscle in the body, the gluteus maximus covers the bottom and needs working hard. However, the smaller muscles of the bottom, the gluteus medius and minimus, also need attention if you are going to achieve the kind of behind that looks good in jeans. With the Fast Strength moves outlined below you will target all of your gluteal muscles from different angles, isolating the buttocks area, so you can get amazing results quickly. Follow the four-week plan and you can expect to see dramatic changes to your shape. As little as five minutes of hard work is all it takes.

Five-minute fitness the programme

Day 1 Week 1
Week

None of the workouts in this routine involve more than five minutes of total effort. However, it is important to warm up and cool down before each session and to take the relevant recovery break. As you get fitter, try repeating the five-minute Fast Strength circuits twice. On page 4 are Fast Strength exercises to tone the arms.

Day 2
10 reps each of step-ups, body-weight squats, glute bridges, upright rows. Repeat as many times as you can in 5 min Warm up. Walk fast up a hill for 2 min. Recover for 4 min. Repeat

Day 3
REST

Day 4
Run or walk at a moderate pace for 10 min, adding two 20-sec bursts of speed.

Day 5
10 reps each of quadruped hip extensions, deep sumo squats, static lunges then 9, then 8. Repeat as often as you can in 5 min Warm up. Run upstairs fast (walk back down) as many times as you can in 3 min. Cool down

Day 6
Warm up for 2 min. Sprint upstairs (and walk down) as many times as you can in 2 min. Cool down for 2 min

Day 7
REST

Walk at a moderate pace for 2 min, fast for 3 min, then at a moderate pace again for 2 min.

Week

Week 2

30 sec each of walking lunges with weights, side planks, step-ups and single-leg deadlifts, with a 10-sec break between each. Repeat

10 reps each of static lunges, body-weight squats, glute bridges, side-plank reach arounds. Repeat as often as you can in 5 min, taking a 10-sec breather between exercises

REST

10 reps each of upright rows, deep quadruped hip extensions, sumo squats, tricep dips, with a 10-sec breather. Repeat as often as you can in 5 min

Gentle jog, walk or cycle to warm up. Five 30-sec sprints with a 3-min recovery between each. Cool down

Week

Week 3

30 sec each of static lunges, step-ups, body-weight squats, single-leg deadlifts, glute bridges, quad hip extensions, upright rows, side planks. Take a 10-sec break between each
REST

REST

Warm up. Run upstairs fast (walk down) as many times as you can in 4 min. Cool down

10 reps each of side-plank reach arounds, tricep dips, body-weight squats, glute bridges. Take a 10-sec breather between each exercise and repeat as often as possible in 5 min
Warm up. Five 60-sec sprints either running, walking or cycling. Take 90 sec to recover between each burst. Cool down

Warm up. 5-min hard run or cycle.

10 reps each of quadruped hip extensions, deep sumo squats, static lunges then 9, then 8. Repeat as many times as you can in 5 min

Gentle jog or cycle for 3 min. Then perform three 20-sec flat-out sprints, with a 2-min recovery between each. Gentle 2-min cool down 30 sec each of static lunges, body-weight squats, glute bridges, quad hip extensions, upright rows, side plank with rotations, single-leg deadlifts, deep sumo squats, step-ups, walking lunges. Take a 10-sec breather after each

Week

Week 4

Warm up by walking or jogging for 3 min. Perform four 30-sec sprints uphill (walk back down slowly to recover). Cool down for 2 min

30 sec each of step-ups, walking lunges with weights, deep sumo squats, single-leg deadlifts, glute bridges, quad hip extensions, upright rows, side plank with rotations. Take a 10-sec break between each

15 reps each of step-ups, deep sumo squats, quadruped hip extensions and single-leg deadlifts, with a 10-sec breather between each. Repeat as many times as you can in 5 min

Warm up. Run upstairs fast (walk down) as many times as you can in 5 min. Cool down