It’s official: flat is out, fit is in! It’s time to say goodbye to the age of the waif and hello to all shapes and sizes. The Brazilian butt challenge isn’t just about having a round bottom; it’s about fitness, it’s about muscle, and it’s about tone.
That’s why this month is a good opportunity to give yourself the present of looking even better in your jeans (and all your other clothes too, in fact) and take on the Brazilian butt challenge.
What is the Brazilian butt challenge?
Also known as the Brazilian squat challenge, this is a 30-day exercise regime specially designed to improve the shape and tone of your butt. It works by building up the muscles in and around your backside giving you more tone and a better-looking butt.
How does it work?
The Brazilian booty challenge uses five key exercises in various combinations to give you the butt of your dreams. Each day you will engage different muscles that work together to tone and build your rear.
Here they are:
Exercise 1: Sumo squat
This classic butt worker strengthens your gluten, calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, and hip flexors, building core and lower back strength, and strong legs. These are key stabilizing muscles for your butt.
How to sumo squat:
- Stand on your mat with your feet wider than your shoulders and toes pointed outwards.
- As you breathe in, squat down and lower your body while keeping your back straight.
- Your knees should be directly over your toes.
- Breath out again and rise to standing pose.
Exercise 2: Narrow squat (aka chair position)
Perfect for developing your balance and toning those inner thigh, quad and hamstring muscles, the narrow squat is a simple exercise that brings you tone around your bottom area.
How to do the narrow squat:
- Stand with your feet together and pointing forwards.
- Hold your hands in prayer pose in front of your body.
- Lower your body gently into a seated position (without a chair) and hold for a few seconds before rising, and then repeating.
Exercise 3: Classic squat
This is a traditional squatting pose that builds your glutes, hamstrings, calves, quadriceps, and hip flexors.
How to do the classic squat:
- Take your place on the mat with your feet placed just slightly more than should-width apart.
- Bend your knees and sink down into the squat pose. It’s essential to keep your back straight and your legs strong. Your knees should be parallel to your toes.
- Rise to a standing position after a few seconds and repeat.
Exercise 4: Crossed-leg squat
Here’s where things get a little tricky; the crossed-leg squat works to build your balance and strengthen your hips, quads, core, hamstrings, and, of course, those all-important glutes.
How to do the crossed-leg squat:
- From standing position on the mat, lift up one leg and cross it over the other, holding it just above the knee.
- Next, bend the leg that remains on the ground bringing you into a squat position.
- It’s important to keep your core strong and your back straight at all times.
- Repeat as necessary, then switch legs to develop equal balance on both sides.
Exercise 5: Leg kick – donkey style
Building that butt isn’t just about exercises that work the muscles of your bottom; it’s about reinforcing them with core strength and leg exercises to make your bottom appear perkier.
The straight leg donkey kick exercise works to tone your abdominal muscles alongside those of your butt, legs, and arms to improve your overall figure.
How to do the straight leg donkey kick:
- Start by kneeling on all fours, with your hands straight out under your shoulders and knees directly under the hips.
- Next, kick your leg backward and out straight, it should be higher than your bottom.
- Do several reps on one leg before switching to the other.
The challenge
Are you ready to accept the challenge? Let’s begin. The Brazilian butt challenge works by a series of supersets; this means doing the exercises with very little time between them, so get ready for some fun.
Days 1 to 5
Start with:
6 x Narrow squats
6 x Straight leg donkey kicks on each leg
6 x Classic squats
Increase by one rep on each exercise per day for the next four days.
Day 6
Cooling down a little for Day 6, time to do:
6 x Narrow squats
6 x Straight leg donkey kicks on each leg
6 x Classic squats
6 x Sumo squats
Days 7 to 10
Begin the next four days with:
10 x Classic squats
10 x Narrow squats
10 x Straight leg donkey kicks on each leg
7 x Sumo squats
Increase by one rep on each exercise per day for the next four days.
Days 11 to 30
This is where the fun really begins, for the final days of the Brazilian butt challenge, you will repeat the same five exercises everyday with increasing reps each time.
For all exercises, except the crossed-leg squat, this is by one rep extra per day, for the crossed-leg squat, add an extra two reps from Day 22 onwards.
Starting from Day 11 with:
10 x Classic squats
10 x Narrow squats
10 x Straight leg donkey kicks on each leg
10 x Sumo squats
6 x Crossed-leg squats on each leg
and ending on Day 30 (the final day of the challenge) with:
30 x Classic squats
30 x Narrow squats
30 x Straight leg donkey kicks on each leg
30 x Sumo squats
30 x Crossed-leg squats on each leg
