Keep your body in beach-ready condition all year by working on flattening your stomach and firming your butt. This requires a full-body approach to exercising, using diet and exercise together to address your target areas. Building muscle throughout your body helps you burn fat in your problem spots, such as your stomach, and it can tighten and lift your butt.


To see results of targeted exercises in your stomach and butt, you must first lose excess fat over your entire body. Engage in cardio exercises for 30 minutes a day at least five times per week to help keep your body in prime fat-burning condition. Powerful cardio workouts burn calories fast; for example, running one mile can burn up to 100 calories. Burning more calories than you put into your body each day is the best way to lose fat and help you tone your entire body, including your stomach and butt. Some cardio exercises work your gluteus more than others, such as running and dancing. However, swimming and walking can raise your heart rate while providing low-impact cardio.

Toning Exercises

Add at least 30 minutes of toning exercises to your cardio workouts to help shape your body. Muscle helps burn fat, so tone your entire body, not just your stomach and butt. Alternate upper and lower body workouts each day, with a short ab workout every day. To focus specifically on your problem spots, try lunges. You can do these as walking or stationary lunges, stepping forward so the front knee makes a 90-degree angle and the back knee dips as low as is comfortable. Do squats with your feet together and push your butt back and down as if you were going to sit in a chair. For the most bang for your buck with crunches, raise your legs and lift your hips in the air while lifting your shoulders. You can also pump your legs like you're riding an air bike while lifting your upper body, alternating your elbows and knees. An exercise ball can increase resistance with many exercises. For example, it lets you dip your shoulders down lower than your hips, making crunches more effective. If you hold the ball between your back and the wall, it can change the position of your legs at the top of the squat, forcing them to work more on the way up than in traditional squats.

Look for Opportunities

Remembering to use your stomach and butt muscles during every workout can help you firm them. Tighten your stomach muscles during all cardio workouts for additional flattening power. For example, use your stomach muscles to help you pull your knees higher while running. When performing squats to work out your legs, tighten your abs and gluteus to push your hips forward to a standing position. Focusing on your ab and gluteus muscles with every workout, even those targeting the upper body, can continue to define these areas. For example, place your feet shoulder-width apart and turn your feet out. Bend your knees to a 90-degree angle and tighten your stomach and butt. Hold that position while you do shoulder raises and bicep curls.


Fad diets that claim to cut fat off your stomach and butt are bogus; there's no way to target a specific area with your diet. However, diet is key to losing weight and defining your stomach and butt. Choose a diet that's healthy for your whole body; as you drop fat, you'll drop it over your entire body, including your stomach and butt. A low-calorie diet combined with regular exercise is the best way to lose weight, which helps your muscle tone and new six-pack show through. Eat low-fat dairy products, lean meats, whole grains and high-fiber fruits and vegetables. Skip fruit juices, which give you more sugar and less fiber than eating the actual fruits. Stay away from sugar and salty or sodium-rich foods, which can cause inflammation and make you retain water. Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day to keep your body hydrated; it's especially important to keep water close by when exercising.

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