Monday Motivation: Firm your Glutes!

Don’t wait for motivation to happen to you. It’s up to YOU to make it happen. The rest will follow.

When you are thoroughly exhausted is when you enjoy the most magical results. This when you WAKE UP your metabolism and FLUSH out unhealthy toxins from your blood and your pores.

When I was a blossoming middle schooler, I desperately wanted a smaller tush like all the tiny fashion models in Seventeen magazine.

When I asked my Mom for advice, she suggested I try standing with my back against a wall and keep smacking my bottom against it. Determined to look like Cheryl Tiegs, I remember evenings mindlessly doing this “exercise” while our family watched “Three is Company” on TV. In my Mom’s defense, she was simply sharing what little we all knew at the time. Up until the 70s people literally thought you could jiggle off fat!

Thanks to science, the mystery of how to tone and torch unwanted pounds has been solved.

You cannot jiggle it off–nor is it possible to target spots to tone and shrink. The only way toward a sleeker silhouette is by making dietary (low sugar) changes and incorporating an exercise regimen that will torch and tone our entire body. Sporting a healthy booty is not only a desirable fashion statement (Yay!), research has said it is a healthier type of fat overall.

Fun “Booty”/Glutes Facts:

• The Gluteus Maximus is the largest muscle and strongest muscle in our body.
• No matter its shape, the glutes have a tendency to morph later in life because of shifting hormones and menopausal signals to store fat in the belly rather than the buns. Sad “butt” true (sorry about that).
• Glutes are a part of our core muscles, which mean they’re at the center of most all our movements. They contract every time we take a step, sit down, turn or squat. They’re also essential to stabilizing our spine and maintaining posture.
• Firming your glutes will give you better posture, help prevent back pain and diffuse your risk of injury
  Squeeze! Almost every move we do in Mojo requires contraction and engagement of our glutes, particularly all our extensions, squats, leg lifts and lunges.If for some reason you’re not feeling the strengthening benefits, it’s likely you’re not engaging your core to the full extent and should focus on contracting and tucking in your buttocks and belly when doing those moves.