The Complete Routine

" Want to turn your lower half into your better half? Brazilian native Leandro Carvalho has brought his sculpting secrets stateside with a Butt Lift class designed to bring out the beautiful Rio body in each of us. This 5-minute lower body workout will tone and boost your backside. Plie: Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing out. Bring your arms out straight in front of you and lower into a squat. Come back up and repeat. Go as low into the squat as you can without letting your knees move past your toes. Be sure to tuck your tailbone under and contract your glutes. Keep your torso tall and don't let your knees creep past your toes. The Plie Squat targets your inner and outer thighs, hamstrings, quads, and glutes. Keep up the Plie for 1 minute. After about 40 seconds, pulse at the bottom of the squat for 20 seconds. Touchdowns: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, your toes pointing forward, and your arms by your sides. Squat down, then step back with your right leg in a deep reverse lunge. Bring both feet together to return to the squat and then repeat on the other side. Keep alternating sides for 1 minute. When you're in a squat position, bend your knees to 90 degrees and bring your fists near your chin. When you're lunging back with 1 leg, tap your opposite hand to the floor by your foot. Your other arm should be raised in front of your head and your palm facing out. This exercise targets your quads, hamstrings, and glutes. You're almost 2 minutes in. This is an intense workout, but hang in there for the full 5 minutes and you'll have challenged all the major muscle groups in your lower body. Explosive Lunges: Stand with your feet together. Then put your hands on your hips and lunge forward with your right leg. Jump up. Switch your leg in midair and land with your left leg in a forward lunge. Continue these Explosive Lunges alternating sides for 1 minute. Keep your fists up in front of your chin and push off the floor with both feet. Your front knees should be bent 90 degrees and aligned over your ankle. Explosive Lunges are difficult, but you're halfway through now. Single-Leg Squat with Towel: Stand with your feet together and place your right foot on top of a folded towel. Shifting your weight to your left leg, slide the towel out slowly to your right, then slowly return to the start position. Repeat. You'll work this side for 30 seconds before switching. Keep your elbows bent and your fists together near your chin. When you squat, your left knee should bend between 45 and 90 degrees. After 30 seconds, switch legs and do the squats for another 30 seconds, sliding your left leg to the side and squatting with your right leg. The Single-Leg Squat with Towel targets your inner and outer thighs as well as your quads and glutes. When you're done with this exercise, you'll have only 1 minute left in the workout. Squat with Kick-Back: Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart. Sit back into a squat, bringing your fists close to your chin. Then lift your left leg straight behind you while extending your arms forward. Return to the squat position and repeat on the other side. You'll continue alternating sides for 1 minute. As you squat, remember to keep your weight back on your heel. When extending a leg behind you, keep your hips square. Don't twist them to the side. The Squat with Kick-Back targets your quads, hamstrings, and glutes. This is the last exercise in the challenging Brazilian Butt Lift workout. Do this 5-minute routine whenever you wanna work on tightening and toning your thighs and butt."