Fitness for the rear!

[Cosyclothes]

Hi everyone.
This sounds like an absolute cliché but I am looking for some tips on how I can keep my bum perky! I am 32 and have put on a small bit of weight over the last few years. In the shower this morning I felt something on the back of my upper thigh and was HORRIFIED to discover it was my OWN BUTT CHEEK resting on my thigh!! As in it’s clearly starting to sag!!
Any help much appreciated, I do a fair bit of walking but know my diet could be healthier…
Thank you so much everyone!

Exercise - ideally with weights. Hip thrusts, squats, lunges, deadlifts.

Bret Contreras is the go to guy for bum exercises - he's on Instagram and may have a YouTube channel.

I second Bret Contreras. Strong Curves is excellent.

Loads of squats, all the different variations, start off with body weight first and get the depth right before adding weight. Try Bulgarian split squats too (ouch) and lunges, Hip thrusts, glute bridges, deadlifts, adducter/abducter machines.
These are what my PT has me doing- I told him I want a peach haha.

Thanks for replying everyone! I will have to look up some of these lol. This is great info to start with.
@Laufeythejust would you recommend a personal trainer? I have joined various gyms over the years but never went for a PT as I couldn’t afford it, but I think I may need to start looking at it as an investment in my future health (and figure!)

@Cosyclothes I couldn’t recommend it more. Mine really helped me with nutrition and the gym, I now realise I didn’t have a clue about either! I would say though look into them beforehand (almost all of them have an Instagram account) a good personal trainer is worth every penny though it can be quite expensive.

@Cosyclothes - you didn't ask me but since I have used PTs for years and swear by them I thought I'd weigh in. A good PT is worth his/her weight in gold. But you have to be careful. There are an awful lot of mediocre and even bad PTs out there. The ones employed by the chain gyms who do member inductions etc and PT work on top of that are the most likely to be mediocre or inexperienced. The ones who are self-employed and rent space in a gym or who have their own gym are likely to be better, especially if they have been going a while.

Getting on with them and being happy with their style is also important. It's not like the evil maths teacher who will nevertheless get you through your exam. I've had several (PTs and maths teachers!). I can now cope with a fairly strict, no-nonsense guy (he is not drill sergeant shouty but I get away with nothing) but when I first started I would have run for the hills. My first PT was very kind, very gently insistent, and very accommodating if I didn't dare to do something or felt uneasy.

Squats. If you do them properly, they're a good all-body exercise - throw in some dumbbells and do thrusters and devil's presses, and push presses and you'll tone up all over.

You can do body weight, and add in jumping squats for extra cardio.

Or you can do squats with a kettle bell or dumbbells. Or you can go heavy with barbell squats.

But squats. And glute bridges. And stretch! (pigeon pose, hip flexor stretch, knee to chest stretch).

I can now cope with a fairly strict, no-nonsense guy (he is not drill sergeant shouty but I get away with nothing)

I think we share a PT. Mine is fantastic, and is a really good coach as well as having no pity.

His favourite saying: "Where do you find 'sympathy' in the dictionary? Between 'shit' and 'syphilis.' Or his other one is in a very bad Schwarzenegger accent "Right fucking now." This is usually when I'm collapsed on the floor in the middle of the 80th burpee and I still have 20 to go.