Fitness General Fitness Other Sports

How to Lose Belly Fat

and Gain Butt Muscle
By Jody Braverman, CPT, FNS, RYT • Updated May 28, 2019 •
Reviewed by Andra Picincu, CN, CPT

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Squats are a great way to gain muscles for your butt.

Image Credit: twinsterphoto/iStock/GettyImages

A flat stomach and big butt make for the

classic hourglass figure that adorns so many
of pop culture's hottest celebrities. How do
they do it? Likely with the help of personal
trainers and custom meal plans.

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If you're not a celebrity, you can still achieve

this desirable figure; You just need the right
plan for diet and exercise to lose belly fat
and gain a booty.

Tip
Doing cardio and targeted strength-
training exercises, plus eating a diet
with the right nutrients and calories,
will help you build a big booty and
trim stomach fat.

Losing Belly Fat

There are two components to trimming your
tummy and building your butt: losing fat and
gaining muscle. If you have excess tummy
fat, you likely carry too much fat in other
areas of your body. Since you can't spot
reduce and target just your stomach for fat
loss, you have to lose total body fat.

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The conventional way to lose fat is to reduce

your calorie intake below your daily calorie
expenditure. Calorie expenditure isn't just
how much you burn during a jog on the
treadmill. It includes the energy your body
expends performing physiological functions
like digestion, as well as supporting your
non-exercise activity.

Your total daily energy expenditure also

depends on other things, such as genetics,
health conditions and medications, age,
gender and more. So finding just the right
number can be difficult.

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But you can get a general idea using

estimates based on age and gender from
the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015-
2020. Moderately active men ages 26 to 45
need 2,600 calories a day. Women of the
same age need 2,000 calories.

Moderately active means that your physical

activity is equal to walking 1.5 to 3 miles a
day at a moderate pace. If you're going to
start an exercise plan to build a big booty,
which will require more exercise than that,
you will likely need more calories —
between 2,800 and 3,000 calories if you're
a man and 2,200 to 2,400 calories if you're
a woman.

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Do you know how many calories you're

currently consuming? Keep a food journal for
several days and track your calorie intake as
best you can. From there, you can figure out
how many calories you need to lose belly fat
but gain muscle. This depends on how much
fat you have to lose.

If you have overweight or obesity, creating a

greater calorie deficit will help you reach
your goals quicker. If you just have a little
extra weight to lose, you won't need to
create as much of a deficit.

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Generally, a deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories

daily will help you lose 1 to 2 pounds of fat a
week, according to Nutrition.gov. However,
when you are strength training, it's crucial
that you don't drop your calories too low.
Muscle building requires adequate energy
and raw materials.

Exercise for a Huge Booty

Losing fat and building muscle requires a
two-part exercise plan that includes cardio
and resistance training. Cardio will help you
burn calories and fat, while strength training
will help you build your booty. It will also
increase your metabolism to help you burn
even more fat.

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Long-duration cardio exercise isn't the best

bet when you want to build muscle.
According to Jacob Wilson, PhD, CSCS,
professor and director of the skeletal muscle
and sports nutrition laboratory at the Applied
Science and Performance Institute in Tampa,
Florida, doing too much cardio can blunt
your muscle gains.

First of all, long, frequent cardio workouts

add volume to your program, which can
make it more difficult to recover from your
strength-training sessions. Recovery is key
for building muscle.

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Second, certain physiological adaptations

after cardio exercise may cancel out the
gains you make lifting weights. In addition,
Dr. Wilson reports that his research has
shown that moderate-intensity, long-duration
cardio promotes the least amount of long-
term fat loss.

Dr. Wilson recommends sessions of 20

minutes or less. That is the duration
associated with the smallest loss in muscle
mass. However, for these short workouts,
you have to up the intensity. In his research,
Dr. Wilson said he found sprints not only
didn't break down muscle, but they actually
increased muscle mass.

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You can do interval sprints running, biking,

rowing or on an elliptical machine. After a
warm-up, increase your speed to an all-out
sprint for 30 to 60 seconds. Then, return to
an easy pace for 60 to 90 seconds to
recover. Repeat this for a total of 15 to 20
minutes, then cool down.

Read more: 10 Body-Fat Burning Moves

Best Booty-Building
Exercises
If you want a bigger, firmer more lifted
behind, you'll have to work for it, lifting the
right loads at the right intensity that will best
encourage growth. Doing a few sets of
bodyweight plie squats isn't going to get you
there. But four excellent exercises for a big
butt include:

1. Squat

Body-Weight Squat

  

 00:00 / 00:00     

SKILL LEVEL BODY PART

All Levels Butt and Legs

1. Start standing, feet hip-width apart.

2. Extend your arms out in front of you and

slowly bend your knees as you push
your hips back to squat down. Focus on
lowering your body as if you were going
to sit on a chair.

3. Squat down until your thighs are parallel

with the floor, or as low as you can go
comfortably while maintaining good
form. Your knees should be over your
toes and your gaze should be straight
ahead.

4. Pause for a moment at the bottom of

your squat.

5. On an exhale, reverse the motion by

pressing through your heels to return to
standing. As you stand, lower your arms
back to your sides.

2. Deadlift

Dumbbell Deadlift

  

 00:00 / 00:00     

SKILL LEVEL BODY PART

All Levels Butt, Legs and Abs

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart

holding a dumbbell in each hand in front
of your thighs, palms facing your body.
Show Instructions

3. Split Squats

Barbell Split Squat Female

  

 00:00 / 00:00     

SKILL LEVEL BODY PART

Intermediate Butt and Legs

1. Begin standing with either a barbell

across your back or a pair of dumbbells
in each hand.
Show Instructions

4. Hip Thrust

Barbell Hip Thrust

  

 00:00 / 00:00     

SKILL LEVEL BODY PART

Intermediate Butt, Legs and Abs

1. Start seated on the ground with the

bottom of your shoulder blades on the
edge of an exercise bench or box.
Show Instructions

Doing just these four moves at the right

intensity, volume and frequency, and
continuing to increase the challenge over
time, will get you results. Not sure what
intensity, volume and frequency are?

Intensity is the effort expended

during your workout

Volume is the number of sets

and reps you do

Frequency is how many times

you work a body part each week

Generally, if you want to build muscle, you

should do three to five sets of eight to 12
repetitions of each exercise with a weight
that is heavy enough to feel very challenging
by the final rep. Training twice a week is the
best frequency for building muscle mass,
according to a meta-analysis published in
Sports Medicine in November 2016.

Although you may not be at a point where

you can go into the gym and squat 75
pounds, it's a good goal to work towards.
Build a base of fitness and continue to build
on that each week.

Read more: 20 Fat-Loss Secrets

Don't Forget Your Diet

In addition to getting your calorie intake
right, you have to make sure to balance your
macros, or macronutrients — protein,
carbohydrate and fat. Protein is the most
important nutrient because it's the building
block of muscle. The recommendation for
daily protein intake from the National
Academy of Medicine is 0.8 grams per
kilogram of body weight. However,
individuals who strength train typically need
more protein.

The American College of Sports Medicine

recommends people who strength train
regularly get 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per
kilogram of body weight each day. The
sources of protein you choose are just as
important — go for lean protein sources,
such as chicken, fish, eggs, beans and nuts.

Carbohydrates are also crucial for energy

and recovery. The National Academy of
Medicine recommends an intake range of 45
to 60 percent of calories daily from carbs.

Increasing your protein intake means taking

in slightly fewer carbohydrates, so aiming for
the lower end of that range is a good bet.
Most important is where you get your carbs.
Avoid sugar and processed grains, and
reach for whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Fats should make up the rest of your

calories. As with protein and carbs, the types
of fat you choose are crucial. Instead of
saturated fat from fried foods and red meat,
opt for poly- and monounsaturated fats from
avocado, nuts and seeds, fish and olive oil.

Ready to build the butt of your dreams?

This 10-minute resistance band workout is
as effective as it is quick — follow along
with the video below and get ready to meet
your glute goals!

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References

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