BABE’S GOTBACK

It’s a snap! Aussie trainer shares her moves for crafting a great butt using rubber resistance bands

WHEN New York ladies want better butts, they go to Bec Donlan. The trainer has built a name for herself as a designer of derrieres, using thick rubber bands to tighten the back stories of New York’s elite — from “a lot of entrepreneurial badass babes” to “a couple of [Victoria’s Secret] models,” such as Chinese beauty Liu Wen, and “amazingly crazy-beautiful Tribeca moms.” “I’ve really seen great results,” says Adair Ilyinsky, 36, co-founder of chic eco-minded nail salon chain Tenoverten, who has been working with Donlan for the past year. Ironically, when Donlan, a native Australian, first began working as a personal trainer in 2010, her booty — or lack thereof — was a problem. “I was born with a bit of a whitegirl butt. I had, like, no butt whatsoever,” says the 31-year-old, who holds popular “Sweat With Bec” workout classes at Project by Equinox in Nolita and Studio B at Bandier in the Flatiron District, and also offers personal training. So, she started using rubber resistance bands, looped above her knees or around her ankles or feet, to do targeted workout moves such as lunges and dead lifts. Within weeks, her legs toned up, her core felt stronger, and — lo and behold — her flat booty started to expand. Donlan, then living in Melbourne, began to use the bands to train her clients and now even sells her own branded versions on her Web site.

In her workouts, typical moves such as curtsy lunges and side-step squats are performed with the bands. They add resistance, activating the hamstrings, lower abs and other muscle groups, making exercises more challenging and effective.

“If you’re sitting down all day, your butt becomes lazy — you’re kind of deadening the muscle and shutting it off,” she says. “So what happens is, when you do a squat or a normal exercise [without bands], your quads take over and you’re going to bulk up [instead of tone].”

While she’s serious about helping her clients improve their backsides, she’s not a total hard-ass.

She doesn’t expect anyone to cut out drinking or parties. She blasts rap music in her classes and loves a good, colorful crop top. On her Instagram account, she posts punny memes and sexy workout snaps for her nearly 54,000 followers.

“It’s got to be fun,” says Donlan. “If you hate it and it feels like a chore, then what’s the point?”

And, she says that “the point” of working out your butt isn’t just to look better in jeans.

“[A stronger booty] will make you stand up straighter, and it’ll help prevent injuries as well,” says Donlan, who calls herself a “cakemaker” and wears a large charm with the moniker around her neck.

Sometimes, people see the necklace and mistake her for a baker, she says.

“I’m like, ‘No, no, no, I build booties!’ ”

Bec Donlan shows off one of her go-to seat sculptors, the singleleg dead lift, at Studio B in the Flatiron District.