GLUTE FORCE

Peach, arse, bum – call your behind what you will. But there’s only one Bünda, the new fitness workout to sweep LA, which claims to deliver glute gains to transform your entire body

Home of the better butt – it’s a bold claim, but West Hollywood workout studio Bünda is confident it can deliver. With a name taken from Portuguese slang for bottom, Bünda is the brainchild of former Equinox trainer Katie Lunger and taps into a peachy zeitgeist, as women look to sculpt toned glutes that’ll not only look killer in your favourite denim, but will play a key part in building an all-round stronger physique, too. There’s more. ‘Regularly working your lower body is much more metabolic than any other training, which basically equals maximum calorie-burn,’ says Lunger. Plus, moves that work the legs recruit your core and upper body, too, so you’re essentially getting a full-body burn. Bottoms up.

‘It’s so important to build strong glutes for life and functionality’

What is it about Bünda that makes its classes more in-demand than pumpkin spice lattes are at this time of year? Well, it has a lot to do with Bünda’s focus on working your glute muscles, plural. You see, it isn’t just the gluteus maximus that you need to be worrying about, but the lesser-worked gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, too. ‘Most of us don’t fire our glutes properly, working just the gluteus maximus, but you need to hit the other two to really tighten and tone,’ explains Lunger. And don’t go thinking the benefits of supercharged glutes are limited to aesthetics either. ‘It’s so important to build strong glutes for life and functionality,’ says Lunger. Think about it – every time you sit down, you’re basically performing a squat. Strengthening your glutes can also improve posture and prevent injury. ‘The more powerful you can get those glute muscles, the less shock the lower back and knees will take during exercise,’ Lunger explains. Matt Harras, regional group exercise manager at Virgin Active, confirms the pursuit of a well-rounded posterior isn’t limited to Tinseltown, but is gaining ground on our side of the pond, too. ‘With the rise of Instagram, we’ve seen an increase in the desire to achieve sculpted glutes,’ he says. ‘Previously, women worked the area during “legs, bums and tums” and step classes, but now, they do so using free weights and functional exercises.’ A 50-minute Bünda session comprises three rounds of a two-stage circuit, alternating between the Bünda station (more on which later) and, erm, the good old-fashioned Stairmaster. ‘To get the best benefit from cardio, your foot needs to leave the ground, but that often requires running or jumping, which are high-impact and can burn muscle rather than fat,’ adds Lunger. ‘The Stairmaster is a lower-impact option, which makes Bünda classes more inclusive.’ Then, over to the Bünda station, which is equipped with dumbbells, resistance bands, sliders and a built-in bench for perfecting Lunger’s number-one glute-firing exercise – the dumbbell-loaded bridge. ‘Bridges recruit more glute muscle fibres than any other targeted exercise,’ she explains. And Bünda aficionados don’t thrust heavy – the weightiest dumbbell you’ll find is 25kg. ‘When you add heavy weight, the stronger gluteus maximus takes over,’ Lunger says, ‘but the focus should be on waking the smaller gluteus medius and minimus with lateral movements and resistance bands.’ As with any regime, consistency is key. ‘I hate the misconception that you need to shock the body with different workouts,’ says Lunger. ‘The reality of that is you never become good at something or see any change from it.’ Like your mum always used to say, practice makes perfect. Itching to feel the Bünda burn but not quite prepared to board the next red-eye to LAX? Check out the routine over the page – created exclusively for Women’s Health by Lunger herself. Feelin’ peachy.