Seeing Shakira’s #bodygoals makes you question yourself: What is the ideal booty? Is it the kind you see on popular fitness Instagram accounts? Is it a specific measurement, like the second 36 in the 36-24-36 “ideal vital statistic”? If you’re feeling envious of the belly dancing queen’s perfectly curvy buns, you can’t emulate hers to the tiniest muscle fiber even if you follow her workout program. The truth is, each and every rear end is unique. So with the distinctiveness that comes with it, what exactly makes the perfect booty? Two factors contribute to this: genetics and lifestyle.

hip thrusts with resistance band

Genetic Disposition

Genetics is the unalterable element in the shaping of your bottom. As soon as you were formed in your mother’s womb, your DNA already determined some characteristics: metabolism rate, muscle cells, and ratio of fast to slow twitch finger muscles.

Where Does Your Fat Go?

How fast and where you store fat in your body is also included. Some people store fat at the thighs, others at the abdominals. The lucky ones store fat at the butt. In fact, those who gain weight in the butt are actually the lucky ones due to visceral fat formation that is typical in that regions.

Visceral fat’s original purpose is to protect our organs by padding. However, too much substance secreting into vital organs could smother them and lead to metabolic syndrome. During metabolic syndrome, visceral fat poisons the liver, squeezes the kidney, and disrupts insulin’s process. Problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes cause chronic health problems. If not taken care of, it can lead to dementia, cancer, or death.

Muscle Fibers

To know more about how genetics plays a role in butt-shaping, we should know more about how our muscle fibers work. At birth, it is formed between the slow twitch and the fast twitch. Slow twitch muscle fibers (Type 1) make up 68% of the fibers in the glutes. These fibers are active during cardio workouts. Meanwhile, fast twitch fibers (Type 2) make up 1/3 of the glutes. They work during strength and resistance workouts.

Lifestyle Changes

Even if you can’t get the same butt as your favorite fitness vlogger, you can shape it up to the best your body can permit. You can do this through proper diet, regular exercise, and adequate rest.

When it comes to regular exercise, the best way to burn fat is to build muscle. Gaining muscle speeds up metabolism. Don’t let the weighing scale fool you, though! Muscle is heavier than fat. Spot reducing fat is impossible, but spot building muscle is something you can do. Within your genetic potential, you can do workouts targeting your glutes to tone, tighten, and shape your perfect booty.

The Perfect Solution

So how exactly do we achieve the perfect booty? A combination of high intensity cardio and targeted resistance movements will shape the bottom tightly. Cardio activities such as sprinting, skipping, using treadmills and rowing machines will push the slow twitch fibers in action. Resistance workouts will then put the fast twitch muscle fibers back to work. Do this regularly, and you’ll get the perfect booty after some time.

 

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