First, I must say that I am completely so encouraged by you guys and the post yesterday. Your kind words do mean the world to me and I’m glad that you understand. By no means am I getting rich, but I really, really struggled with that for like 6 months. So thank you for the kindness.
So by no means am I an exercise guru. I run. That’s what I know how to do. I’m not the fastest girl out there, but I enjoy running and that is what is important to me. Doing it because I enjoy it. But even running can be sketchy at times. Like lately, I haven’t run in a long time due to the weather we’ve been having. I planned to run last night and came home to a downpour so instead I did some yoga, showered and ended up at Karaoke with friends. I didn’t sing but next week I told everyone I would. That should be interesting, hopefully there won’t be any videos. With all this rain we’ve been having around these parts and my immense love for the glorious booty shorts that usually can be found on any picture on my website, a perky butt is a huge asset that I must keep working at. Asset! That just made me die laughing. So I do these simple exercises in the safety and seclusion of my own Cave, basically so that no one will see me doing them besides my roommate, who was the one who took these pictures and let’s face it, she already knows I’m cuckoo. Why I’m posting them online for the world to see? I’m asking myself the same question.
I start off with some Donkey Kicks. I do three sets of twenty on each leg. I really like these and they are super easy. I feel like these work the butt good and also the area under the butt cheek? Weird. These make me the most sore. If I stop doing them for a week and then start back up, I can totally feel it the next day, and though being sore stinks, it does mean that you worked something.
Get on all fours like a dog. Keeping one knee on the ground, tuck your leg into your chest and then kick it out back behind you. Make sure when you kick your leg out that you flex your butt and hold it really tight. If you are doing it right it will burn right in the lower area of your butt. Also, don’t do it too fast, take your time and really extend your leg.
This is the leg kicked out. Keep your leg straight and just remember, the slower you can do it the better. Try to keep your back flat and tighten your butt. Tight, tight, tight like a tiger!
Next we have the most flattering option, politically correct they would be called the Pelvic Thrust. I call them the Humpers ala my track coach in high school. Three sets of twenty of these and you’ll feel the burn.
Pretty much the best picture ever. HA! So when you ‘thrust’ upwards, make sure that you are squeezing your butt together. If you are doing it right, your butt will be feeling tired by the end of the sets. Really squeeze and you’ll feel it a lot more. Also, engaged your core when you go up and use your quads to push yourself up instead of your arms or other parts of your body.
Then you can do regular old lunges. I really hate doing lunges, but I know they strengthen your legs and butt.
Make sure when you go ‘down’ you are not hurting your knees. If you go down too quickly you can hurt your knees and make sure that you are only doing a few to begin with because these will make you more sore than anything else! I don’t let my knee hit the ground when I’m doing lunges either. I just go down and back up and then do the other leg so that I stay in one place. These are definitely not my favorite, but doing them on occasion mixes things up. Also it was brought to my attention that I’m doing these wrong and I totally forgot to focus on my form while taking the pictures of the lunges. Make sure that the front of the of the knee that is at a 90 degree angle doesn’t go over the front of the toe. So in this picture it would be the right leg knee is in front of the toe. Lunge example fail. BUT you get the picture.
Also walking stairs is a great workout for the butt as well, and adding donkey kicks while walking up the stairs is another great option that really focuses on the butt. It might look stupid, but donkey kicks works really well on the stairs. Also, walking up stairs can work the butt just as good as running up them. The key that really works for me is doing everything slowly and really focusing on the muscles. That’s just me at least and the key to any exercise is finding what works for you. I can’t believe I just posted those pictures.
Now, get perky!
xoxo
36 Comments so far
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Haha loved this post!! I’m going to start working on my assets! Haha!!
By Niki on 01.27.10 8:59 am
Thanks for the awesome ideas. I always feel silly doing donkey kicks but they totally work!
By Marlene on 01.27.10 9:03 am
I have always loved the pelvic thrust. I feel the burn so much! I love it! Great pictures :)
By Jocelyn on 01.27.10 9:10 am
i love you and your pelvic thrust you sexy beast you! i want to come do workouts in the cave! :) thanks for the ass-ets! you rock sista! <3 xoxoxoxoxoxxoxo
By nicole on 01.27.10 9:40 am
LMAO at this post! I do the pelvic thrusts with a band around my knees to not only get the butt strength but to strenthen my weak hips via my PT exercises.
As for lunges, my roommate and I have been doing walking lunges from our apt complex gym to the elevator and seriously, we die laughing every time because one of these days someone is going ot catch us doing them and wonder wtf we’re doing.
Thanks for sharing the perkiness! :)
By Morgan on 01.27.10 9:49 am
I always forget about donkey kicks. Thanks for the reminder! I want to wear booty shorts this summer too! It’s all about the BOOTY!
By sarah on 01.27.10 9:54 am
I do a version of the donkey kick but I keep my knee bent from the on all fours position and bring it out to the side then back down, yes, like you are peeing on a fire hydrant. these burn like the dickens but they are a great one, too!
I saw the pic of the lunge before I read the post and thought “oh no she is going to tear up her knees putting her knee over her toe!” lol!
By Heather on 01.27.10 9:55 am
Humpers, love it! My PT has me do them with one leg and it is a killer.
By j on 01.27.10 10:03 am
hahaha LOVE it! can’t wait to try them out :)
By andrea on 01.27.10 10:15 am
Thank you for posting this! I’ve been wanting to tighten more and these are great exercises! I thought I knew what a donkey kick was, but now I know for sure! Awesome.
By Shannon on 01.27.10 10:22 am
being a guy, it’s impossible for me to disagree with this being “pretty much the best post ever”…also, these are great for guys too! because girls like guys with perky butts…right?
the dachshund pillows are awesome.
By David on 01.27.10 10:56 am
These exercises are awesome! The first one really works the butt! The lunge is the best lower body exercise that you can do! it works ever muscle in the lower body!! :) I love that you out up pictures along with the instructions too!! :) What kind of pants and top are you wearing?
By Kristen on 01.27.10 11:15 am
I love the pillows on the chairs in the background! So cute! And your Nike shoes…which ones are those? I am a Nike shoe whore…I need to collect them all! Happy Wednesday!
By KatieA. on 01.27.10 11:21 am
Your pillows cracked me up!!
By Britt on 01.27.10 11:24 am
Do you have any advice for how to quickly get over runner’s knee? I have been running marathons for about 2 1/2 years and have been lucky up till this point to not get injured. I’m running a half in 3 weeks, and I’m suddenly having really bad knee pain. HELP!
By Natalia on 01.27.10 12:12 pm
Sorry to be critical, but you’re showing an incorrect form on the lunges.
The knee of the front leg should be directly over the ankle.
To do this you need to bend your back knee a bit more.
And it actually makes the lunge harder to do.
By flarunner on 01.27.10 12:15 pm
You crack me up! I did a bunch o’ lunges yesterday and seriously, I can barely walk today. YAY. Is it weird that I’m excited by that??
By Ally on 01.27.10 12:15 pm
You’re so brave to post these pics! Am just back myself from the gym and we do the same exercises, also did a lot of donkey kiks today. We call the pelvic thrust the ‘bridge’ I think it sounds nicer, we do a lot of varietions with them and I always keep my arms straight in the air while pushing my shoulders in the ground, works the core even harder. We also do a lot of split lunges and also do them walking with weights in the hands, even harder!
Good Luck with your xtraining.
By Ann on 01.27.10 12:17 pm
You need your own workout video, how fun! Thanks for the work out tips, maybe I’ll put this lesson to use when I get home. P.s. I can’t get over the pillows in your chairs in the pictures, that is ridiculously funny.
By Kirbey on 01.27.10 1:09 pm
“If you go down too quickly you can hurt your knees..” That’s what she said! hahahaha man I loved this post! It assures my Kim Kardashian booty will stay in tip top shape! ♥
By Tara on 01.27.10 1:40 pm
If you read the post, you’ll realize that I did the lunges wrong and pointed that out! :) Sorry for me being lazy.
By chicrunner on 01.27.10 1:54 pm
#3 pic looks like you about to eat your 25th hotdog!
By Stuart on 01.27.10 2:56 pm
Thanks for the tips! I don’t do enough of this kind of thing. Don’t worry, you look totally cute in those pictures! :) P.S. I love your floors!
By Colleen on 01.27.10 3:49 pm
Thanks for the butt reminder! I also saw a few great exercises for the butt that you can do with an exercise ball courtesy on the modern mom website (on youtube too, brooke burke). You definitely feel your bottom the next day. And these too are ones I prefer to do when no one is around ;)
By audrey on 01.27.10 4:00 pm
Is that half-zip from Lucy? I wanted that one in that color SO BAD but now they’re all gone :(
By Rachael on 01.27.10 4:27 pm
Love this post, Danica! I’m totally working these in with my push-ups every night. And I LOVE the pillows on the chair behind you!
By Sarah on 01.27.10 5:33 pm
thanks for the post, love it. ive been seeing a lot of people talk about “donkey kicks” lately and i was wondering what they were … now i know! im going to start incorporating these into my only-do-at-home workouts! LOL
By Jesse on 01.27.10 6:11 pm
Ahhh the pillows!!! Love! Great post; I really need to step up my workouts. <3
By Carolina Girl on 01.27.10 6:45 pm
Love this post!!! Too fun…I also did Yoga tonight, and guess what! I HATE IT! I never thought of myself in this way before but I seriously do not have the attention span to do yoga. Its too slow…I’m rather hyper now mind you:p But thanks for the perky tips as I;m in the middle of doing P90X and am aiming for a perkier butt!
By Mrs. G.I Joe on 01.27.10 7:04 pm
I like these moves..these are the moves I find don’t hurt and leave me sore.
By Nicci@NiftyEats on 01.27.10 7:25 pm
Very cute post! :)
By Katherine @ Lipgloss and Spandex on 01.27.10 8:33 pm
the leg workouts are the worst, but such a must. Lunges make me pant for some reason too, so it is super sexy!
By Alex on 01.28.10 9:44 am
Wait a minute. I do each and every one of these excercises every week and my butt still isn’t very perky!
By Glenn Jones on 01.28.10 10:13 am
I do all of these in weights class…hopefully by booty will get nice and perky before summer =).
By Alisa on 01.28.10 2:58 pm
Great post! I didn’t read through all the comments so I’m not sure if someone already mentioned this, however, in the world of physical therapy we call your “Humpers” bridges!
By megan on 01.28.10 9:55 pm
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