How to get a bootilicious butt

Who doesn't want it? Most women will admit that one of things they'd most love to change about themselves would be a nicely shaped, sculpted butt. Our backsides consists of three main muscles — the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus.

These function in sync, which helps you move your legs in all directions. And since they're connected to the hips, lower back, and legs, strengthening your seat muscles means strengthening your back. Experts say that with a proper diet and exercise, one can improve the strength and shape of their butt. Just don't keep your expectations sky high! Some of the best butt workouts include climbing a slope or climbing stairs. Here are a few other exercises that will give you good results...

Squats : Not only is this exercise great for your hips and thighs, it also does wonders to your butt. Stand with your feet apart and gradually lower your hips. Just ensure that you don't let your knees go out past your toes.

Lunges : Keep your feet parallel to each other and take a big step forward or backward. Next, lower your body slowly, bending both your knees. Keep your front knee aligned over your front ankle and then get it back to the original position. Repeat with your other leg. 


Step-ups : If you don't have a weights bench at home, find a ledge which you can step on. Step one foot on the legde at a time and increase the speed gradually.

Bridges : Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor, slightly apart. Lift your spine off the floor from the bottom and tighten your butt and hamstrings. Come back down slowly.

Leg extensions : Extend your leg behind your body and stand as straight as you can. Switch legs regularly.

Remember:
- Don't set goals that seem too hard to achieve. Give yourself an appropriate time period to get what you want. Setting out unrealistic goals will only get you disheartened. Keep a diary to chart your progress.

- Read books that inspire you and surround yourself with people that motivate you. The way you think plays a big role achieving good results. Stay focussed and positive.

- Don't lose hope if you don't see results immediately. Give yourself time and stay consistent. Experts say that working out in front of a mirror will help you see yourself working out so that you can know if you're going wrong somewhere.

- Never forget to stretch a bit before you start any exercise. This will warm up your muscles and give faster results.

- Just exercising is not enough. You need to eat right in order to get the look you want. Follow a diet that is not too strict but at the same time, is healthy. A diet comprising wholesome foods that are processed as little as possible, lean protein, and complex carbohydrates will help you build lean muscle.

- Sitting for long periods without much movement puts a lot of pressure on your lower back and hamstrings since your butt is not used. This leads to the muscles starting to shrivel. Solution? Don't spend so much time on your ass! 

Fish livers 'are good source of beneficial fatty acids'

A team of researchers from the University of Almeria (Spain) has confirmed that fish livers are a good source of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are beneficial to healthAnchovies are one of the fish whose livers contain the highest levels of these substances.


"The livers of edible fish are a good source of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA), especially those in the omega 3 family, such aseicosapentaenoicacid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)," said Jose Luis Guil-Guerrero, lead author of the study.

These fatty acids are used to prevent and treat various complaints, such as some kinds of cancer, depression, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, behavioural problems and cardiovascular diseases.

The study focused on 12 kinds of fish that are commonly eaten in south eastern Spain, such as hake, shortfin mako and European pilchard. The livers of the great weever (Trachinus draco) and the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) were those that showed up the highest levels of LCPUFA.

In addition, all the species had a combination of omega-3/omega-6 acids that was "beneficial for human consumption", especially in the case of the liver of the blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou).

"Unfortunately, discarding these livers means that all their nutritional properties are missed", said Guil-Guerrero, "and if they were used this would also reduce the environmental pollution caused by throwing innards into the water, which is an inherent problem in the fish product processing industry in coastal areas".

The study has been published in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis.--ANI.