Kimberly Garrison: There's a natural way to boost your booty

THE TRAGIC death of a young British woman after she received an illegal butt-enhancement injection at a hotel near the Philadelphia airport last week has been major news around the country.

Claudia Seye Aderotimi was giving herself an early gift for her 21st birthday. Instead, the illegal procedure killed her.

According to published reports, Aderotimi was injected with silicone. Just so you know, buttock implants and fat grafting are the only approved butt augmentation procedures in this country.

Aderotimi's story serves as a cautionary tale to all women to forego risky cosmetic procedures, even the approved ones. (Remember Kanye West's mother, Donda West, who died undergoing approved cosmetic procedures in 2007?)

If you want a more shapely, toned booty, get it the old-fashioned way.

I'll show you how, but first, an introduction is in order. The buttocks comprised three primary muscle groups: gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. Your butt's primary function is to extend the thigh and laterally rotate the hip.

Maintaining and strengthening your butt can reduce strain on your lower back and hip joints. A few things to keep in mind:

Work it out! Stop thinking you can get something for nothing. You can't. Working out consistently is one of the best things you can do not just for a beautiful booty but for overall health and wellness.

Work up a sweat: Do a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio five to six days a week to burn off the excess fat. Some people may need to do even more.

Eat right: Forget about three meals a day. To increase your metabolic rate, eat smaller meals more frequently, like every two to three hours. This keeps the metabolic furnace burning!

Work your core: A tight midsection will complement any size butt. If you want to keep tongues wagging, keep your midsection tight. That goes for the guys, too. A tight midsection and shapely, toned buttocks are indicators of a fit body.

Finally, the secret to a tight midsection is not lipo or endless crunches, it's about 80 percent diet, so eat clean.

These are my five favorite butt and leg exercises.

The versatile squat that can be performed with or without additional resistance (dumbbells, barbells or bands). It is a multi-joint exercise that strengthens the glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings.

With hands at your side, stand with feet about hips width apart and slightly turned out. Contract the abs and slowly bend your knees as if sitting in a chair, until thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep heels on the floor and press back up to the starting position. Do 12-15 repetitions in each of two to three sets.

Stand approximately 2 feet out from a wall, then lean your back against it. Slide down until your knees are at a 90-degree angle (as if sitting in a chair). Hold that position for 20, 30, 60 or 90 seconds. Go back to the starting position and repeat.

The lunge is an excellent compound exercise that recruits the gluteus, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Lunges are effective using your body weight or with additional resistance.

Begin in the same position as a squat but take one step forward, keeping your abs contracted, and slowly lower and bend your knees until the rear leg is near the floor. Press up to starting position and repeat for 12 to 15 repetitions. Switch legs and begin again. Do two to three sets.

The dead lift works the lower back, gluteus and hamstrings. Stand erect, holding barbell or dumbbell and with feet hips width apart. With knees slightly bent, hinge forward at the hips and slowly lower the barbell until it passes the knees. Once the weight passes the knees, slowly rise to the starting position while maintaining a flat back.

Do 12 to 15 reps and two to three sets.

Place one foot on a step or platform and push through the heel onto the step. Remember to keep the abs engaged. Do 15 to 20 on the right and then switch to the left.

Take my advice and forget about lethal injectables and butt implants, too. With hard work and dedication, you can bring up your rear naturally and flaunt your own glorious glutes.

Kimberly Garrison is a certified personal trainer and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia (www.1on1ultimatefitness.com). E-mail her at

kimberly@1on1ultimatefitness.com. Her column appears each Thursday in Yo!