FINALLY someone is spilling the beans about how almost every second person on Instagram has the perfect butt.
Fitness blogger Emma Louise has revealed all in a new Instagram post, giving us plebs with behinds far less perky than hers the power of knowledge to change all that. It's not that groundbreaking, in all honesty, and you've probably heard it all before from your
gym-junkie friends and other articles just like this one telling you exactly how to get that peachy bum.
But somehow, because it comes from this one person's success story, and because she shows a very impressive before and after picture, we all want to know exactly how she did it. Of course, remember that we're all different human beings with our own weird quirks and anomalies, so while it worked this way for O'Neill, you might not see exactly the same results for yourself.
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The British Instagrammer said she managed to stay slim but get a bigger booty in just over a year, showing the difference in two photos. The main difference, she says, was switching her exercise routine from lots of cardio and light weights, to less cardio but much heavier weights.
She goes on to explain in more detail, so pay attention and write this down.
"Accept the fact that you're going to have to venture into the weight section," she wrote in her post.
"You need to put lots of tension on your muscles & make them WORK HARD," she says. In particular, she recommends using weights to do these 5 exercises, using something heavy enough that actually challenges your muscles.
1. Barbell hip thrusts
Loaded barbell over your legs, near the crevice of your hips. Resting your shoulders on a bench, drive your weight through your feet and extend your hips up as far as you can, then go back to starting position.
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2. Glute bridges
Just like a regular bridge, except with a loaded barbell resting above your hips.
3. Deadlifts
Stand holding a loaded barbell and bend from the hips, keeping your back strong and straight. Lower until your shins touch the bar, then lift your chest and stand up straight again with the weight.
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4. Lunges
There are heaps of variations of the lunge, and by incorporating two weights in each hand, a kettlebell held at your chest or a barbell resting on your shoulders, you'll get a bigger burn in the booty.
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5. Leg presses
Using the leg press machine, sit down and put your legs on the platform, push with your heels to get your legs from a 90-degree angle to extended out in front of you. Go back to the starting position with control by engaging your quads.
She emphasised the fact that you need to lift heavy: "Make your muscle realise that it needs to stop being a lil b**ch and grow back BIGGER & stronger. This is why heavy weights will be your best friend (and worst enemy)".
She added that the lighter "isolation" exercises you're probably doing at home, like kickbacks, donkey kicks and your daily squat challenges can be good to do at the
end of your actual weighted workouts, but "they're not where the money's at".
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Next thing O'Neill did was focus on what she was putting in her body. "You will make minimal (if any) progress on operation POPPIN BOOTY if you're severely restricting your calories," O'Neill wrote. "Muscle growth requires FOOD."
She flushed the idea of "eating lettuce leaves for the majority of your meals" straight down the toilet, saying you should be
eating healthy but not neglecting carbs. Most important for muscle growth, of course, is protein. O'Neill says the standard recommendation is 0.8–1 grams per pound of body weight.
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Even though you'll be
gaining weight while you're getting stronger, you shouldn't be caught up in the numbers on the scale, and rather look at the difference you're seeing in the mirror. But do it for you, and not just to get more followers on Instagram or to justify the inclusion of the peach emoji in your repertoire.
