How to get a bottom like Gwynnie’s
(or at least make yours perkier!)
THERE are many enviable things about the multimillionaire Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow, but top of the list has to be her pert bottom. This week, the 43-year- old mother- oftwo showed off a derriere that seemed to defy the ageing process — looking far perkier than it did five years ago.
While Gwynnie puts her new bottom down to 12 hours of gruelling exercise a week with her personal trainer Tracy Anderson, the reaction has proved something women have always known: we are obsessed with our bottoms.
TAnITH CAREy reveals the secrets of their shape, size, origins and — crucially — how to get one like Gwynnie’s ...
BORN TO BE BIGGER
On AvERAGE, men’s body parts are bigger than women’s — except their bottoms.
The male pelvis is narrower and heart-shaped, where a female’s is broader to enable her to give birth.
Men do have larger gluteal muscles, usually about 20 per cent bigger, but women have a much thicker layer of fat on top, around three times more than in other parts of their bodies.
BEAT THE DROOP
In THE same way that breasts are suspended by fine ligaments, the fat in the bottom also contains a network of fibres to help it defy gravity.
These are called septi and run through the fleshy tissue like a supportive mesh.
However, due to the fact that we don’t support our bottom cheeks in the same way we do our breasts — with bras — these fibres lose their elasticity quickly.
Plastic surgeon Anne Dancey, of the Spire Little Aston Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, says: ‘Over time these will stretch, especially if you put on weight. The heavier the buttocks, the bigger the droop.
‘If a patient has put on weight and then lost it again, the buttocks can end up dropping several centimetres down the thigh.’
To make matters worse, muscles in the buttocks shrink with age, giving a deflated look.
Mr Sultan Hassan, of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, says: ‘ The buttocks will lose volume. They flatten as older people often become less mobile and their gluteal muscles and fat cells atrophy.
‘Combined with loss of elastin and collagen as you age, this all adds up to droopiness.’
DON’T SIT DOWN
IT’S A jibe that has a scientific basis: Sitting on your bottom will give you a fat behind after all.
The very act of sitting puts pressure on fat cells, making them up to 50 per cent bigger.
According to a study published in the Biophysical Journal, the more the buttocks are compressed, the more the fat cells expand, creating a wider, flatter behind.
Professor Amit Gefen, of Israel’s Tel Aviv University, who led the study, says: ‘We found fat stores in fat cells expanded when they experienced sustained loading — such as when you’re sitting down.
‘The results suggest that if you are seated for a long time, you are more likely to store fat in your bottom and it will widen.’
IT’S A GIRL THING
MORE than nine out of ten women suffer cellulite at some time in their lives — mainly around their hips and bottoms.
But it’s not just the fact women have fatter bottoms that gives them dimpled skin on their backsides. Women also have less connective tissue in the flesh of the buttocks, allowing excess fat to bubble up to the surface.
In women, the septi run vertically, keeping fat organised in columns. If the cells expand, it rises to the top like a muffin spilling over the edge of the tin.
Men not only have more of these threads to make their bottom fat firmer, they also criss-cross more — anchoring the fat down more securely, preventing it rising up.
Furthermore, men’s skin is up to 25 per cent thicker. This helps keep excess fat cells from showing through the skin.
SWEAT IT OFF
SORRy, ladies: Gwynnie’s right. An awful lot of hard work goes into getting a pert bottom.
The key to a pert rear is the gluteus maximus muscle, which helps define it.
But it is only really activated by explosive upwards movements such as jumping, stepping and running. Personal trainer James Davis of 38 Degrees north says: ‘People are waking up to the fact that you need to attack the glutes from every angle. Though the squat ( lowering and raising yourself from a sitting position) is still key, there are dozens of different ways of doing them.
‘In a single workout, I will take clients through six to eight different methods.
‘you can place your feet wide apart as you come down into sitting position, place them more narrowly and use weights such as kettlebells at the front or behind your body, to activate different parts of the glutes.’
Mixing the tempo — doing the exercise faster or slower — also makes a difference, says James.
But bear in mind that however many squats you do, if your muscles are hidden under a layer of fat, you simply won’t see them.
Personal trainer Max Bridger, of fitness company LDn, says: ‘To see a change in the glutes you need to have a relatively low body fat, less than 15 per cent in men and less than 25 per cent for women (most women are closer to 30 per cent). So, you also need a good diet plan alongside weight training to improve the likelihood of developing a bubble butt — the most enviable shape.’
BUTTOCK CLENCHING
IF yOU don’t have the time — or money — for 12 hours of personal training a week, there are exercises that can fit into your day. ‘Many of us stand incorrectly, with our bottom pushed out and pelvis tilted forwards, which means we lack muscle in that all important body area,’ says personal trainer Cornel Chin.
‘Clench as often as you can, whether you’re standing, sitting or driving. ‘ When you walk upstairs, always take two steps at a time to really engage the glutes properly. Stand on one leg when you’re washing up or type while standing — which makes the muscles work. Clenching for just ten minutes a day will give results in as little as a week.’
MASSAGE AND MOVE
TRy Silver Wave Short AntiCellulite shorts (£ 27, micromassage. co.uk). As they are sheer, they can be worn over pants or on their own. The material — 3D Wave Knit — has been created to mimic the action of a continuous anticellulite massage.
They compress, which is good for those prone to water retention. As you move they stimulate circulation, keeping skin smooth.
It is claimed the best results are achieved by wearing them for eight hours a day for four weeks, which requires dedication.
CHEATING PANTS
THERE are all manner of wonderful shapewear solutions, from Spanx to the Marks & Spencer Lift and Sculpt jeans range.
The new Italian- made and British- designed Chicabel pants can reduce buttock width by as much as three inches, using compression panels that haul in the offending droop.
WRAP IT UP
nOT an elegant solution, but great for instant (if temporary) inch-loss is the Universal Contour Wrap Professional Slimming Body Wrap Kit (£ 54.95, universal contourwrap.com).
Stir the packet of powdered clay into hot water and then soak the vast pink bandages and wrap them around your buttocks. Pop on the accompanying plastic suit and leave for an hour.
The combination of compression and clay is said to draw out toxins while compressing soft fatty tissue to create instant inch loss.
Some websites suggest wrapping yourself in clingfilm and lying under a heated blanket will have the same effect, but the clay body wrap sounds more convincing.
THE BOTTOM FACIAL
EvEn a less-than-perfect bottom will look better blemish-free. The Blueberry Smoothie, offered by London clinics EF Medispa (from £180, efmedispa.com) is a light chemical peel ideal for a spotty bottom. There’s no downtime and, by all accounts, it doesn’t sting.
MELT FAT
SADDLEBAGS — the sacks of fat that droop from the side of each buttock — are famously hard to get rid of. As expensive as a red carpet dress, there’s CoolSculpting by Zeltiq (£ 800, coolsculpting.co.uk).
Two million treatments have been carried out globally. Fat cells are destroyed using temperatures of minus 9c to minus 12c.
A suction cup is placed onto the area of concern, and the officially approved machine sucks it in, filling the entire cup with fat.
The machine then freezes the fat cells, which eventually causes them to break down and pass naturally out of the body. It takes around an hour and results are seen within three months.
SUCK IT UP
vELASHAPE vSmooth Ripple Remover (from £350, syneron candela.co.uk) is a four-in- one toning treatment.
It combines radio frequency, infra- red light, massage and vacuum to tone and sculpt the bottom, tighten skin and reduce cellulite at the same time.
Three 40-minute treatments are usually required. Radio frequency tightens sagging skin, infra-red light stimulates collagen production and massage and vacuum removes the build-up of toxins and smooths skin.
Reaching up to 40c, fans say that it feels like a hot, firm massage.
ADDITIONAL reporting: ALICE SMELLIE. IS YOUR bottom as good as
Gwynnie’s? Get in touch:
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