Let's say you have a new swimming suit or bathing trunks and want to show your stuff at the pool or beach, but you feel embarrassed because you have a flabby butt and legs. Fortunately, there are exercises that will teach you how to firm your butt by focusing on your leg and buttock muscles, such as the quadriceps muscle, gluteal muscles, and hamstring muscles. Besides exercises, you can try to eat a healthier diet and reduce the number of calories you taken in each day. By having a low calorie diet and exercising a lot, you can firm your legs and butt, regardless of the time of year.

How to Firm Your Butt

There are plenty of ways of firming your butt so that you look good in just about any type of clothing, including a bathing suit. Here are some good ways you can try:

1. Hip Lift Progression

This is a good exercise for the low back and upper buttock muscles. Do this on a cushioned mat to protect your coccyx.

• Lie down on your back and extend your arms out to the side. Your knees should be bent and you should have your feet flat on the floor.
• Try to raise your hips up to the ceiling. Hold this pose for a count of one and then lower your butt down.
• Do these lifts for about a minute, allowing your glutes to squeeze and your hamstrings to tense up. Keep your back straight when doing this.
• If you want to make it harder on yourself, extend out one of your legs when you are at the top of your lift. Hold this pose for about five seconds.
• Then put your foot on the floor and let your hips go back to the floor.
• Repeat these repetitions for about half a minute and switch to the other leg for an additional half minute.

2. Toe Taps

This is a good exercise for the gluteal muscles, which will burn if you are doing the exercises correctly. Here's what you do:

• Lie on your mat with your arms out to the sides.
• Lift up your feet by bending your knees to a 90 degree angle so that your thighs are completely perpendicular to the mat.
• Slowly tap your left foot on the floor and repeat with your right foot.
• Do this exercise for about 1 minute.
• If your back hurts while doing this, don't drop your toes completely to the mat.

3. Single Leg Front Raises

This exercise will stretch out your quadriceps muscles and tighten the gluteal muscles. It seems hard but it actually isn't really difficult. Here's what you do:

• Stand up and put your feet about the width of your hips apart. Use a five pound dumbbell for each of your hands.
• Raise your right leg about three inches from the floor.
• Put your arms out in front of your body at the level of the chest and have your palms down.
• Raise your straight left arm above your head for about three counts and then return to its original position in front of you.
• Do the same thing with the other arm and leg until you have done about 4 reps per arm for a total of eight in the set.

4. Squat with Kick-Back

This is a good way of solving the question how to firm your butt. It exercises your quadriceps muscles as well as your buttocks muscles. This is a strong exercise and it is done as follows:

• Stand up with your legs about a shoulder width apart from one another.
• Try to sit back into a squatting position with your fists up close to your chin.
• Put your left leg behind you while raising your hands in front of you.
• Go back to squatting and do the same thing on the other side.
• Alternate sides for up to a minute at a time.
• The weight should be on the back part of your heels during the squat.
• When you have your leg extended behind you, try not to twist your waist in any direction.

5. Single Leg Squat with Towel

This exercise especially focuses on the area at the back of the buttocks and the lower aspect of the hips. Here's what you do:

• Put your feet together in a standing position. Put your right foot to rest on a rolled-up towel.
• With your weight on the left leg, slide the towel so it moves to the right.
• Return the towel to where you began.
• Do this side for half a minute. Let your elbows bend and keep your fist near your mouth.
• Squat with your left knee bent at about 45-90 degrees.
• Switch legs after the half minute is over and repeat with the other side.

6. Dumbbell Squats

This exercise works your gluteal muscles and your quadriceps muscles. Here's how it works:

• Begin with your feet at shoulder width and have 8-10 pound dumbbells in your hands at thigh level.
• Do a squat as if sitting in a chair with the weights hanging above your heels.
• Squeeze the gluteal muscles as you go back to standing.
• Do this 15-20 times.
• Always keep the weight in the heel area, making sure your knees don't get ahead of your toes.
• Try it without weights but make sure you do an explosive jump when squatting.

7. Plie

If you want to know how to firm your butt, this is a good ballet move that strengthens the gluteal muscles. Here's how you do it:

• Stand a bit wider than shoulder width apart and point your toes outward.
• Put your arms out in front of you and then squat.
• Go back up and repeat the move. Try to squat as low as you can.
• Tuck your tailbone underneath you and squeeze the gluteal muscles. Try to stay as tall as you can.
• Do this move for a minute at a time.

8. Explosive Lunges

In order to know how to firm your butt, you need to know this exercise. It stretches the gluteal muscles and allows you to have better coordination and balance. Here's how you do it:

• Your feet should be together in a standing position and put your hand at your hips.
• Lunge forward with one leg. Switch your legs in midair while jumping so that the other foot is in front. Alternate the sides for 60 seconds.
• Try to maintain your fists in front of your mouth and push off with both feet at the same time. The knee in front should be bent at about 90 degrees and should be above your ankle.

9. Clam Dig with Rotation

This loosens the hips and tones the butt muscles, the oblique muscles and your shoulders. Here is how it's done:

• Lie down on your side with your head resting in your palm.
• Bend the knees about 45 degrees in front of you.
• Try holding a 5-8 pound dumbbell in the opposite hand and bend your elbow.
• Lift the upper leg and the upper arm up to the ceiling until it is at a 90 degree angle. Don't rock your hips and keep them perpendicular to the floor.
• Hold the position for two seconds and then repeat for a minute before switching sides.