(Photo : Image by adamkontor from Pixabay )

The summer is coming to an end and bulking season is around the corner. If you want to shape your body and achieve a certain aesthetic by next summer, the best time to start is now. Personal trainers are all about pushing the "bulking season" on people who want to grow their muscles (especially their glutes) as it requires a lot of work and dedication. If your main goal is to shape your backside and bulking isn't your thing, here are some tips and tricks to grow your bootie (without the bulk) through exercise and cosmetic medicine. Included in this list of hacks are exercises that specifically target your glutes, cosmetic treatments that do the working out for you, and medical treatments that literally grow your backside.

One of them is Sculptra butt lift, which by stimulating your own collagen makes you gradually grow your butt without exercise or surgical intervention. Sculptra butt lift is a minimally invasive procedure that involves filler injections in the buttocks to give you a natural look without any down time, which is often preferred over surgical butt enhancements.

If you are looking for a more immediate result, there is a surgical butt enhancement such as the Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) that removes excess fat from your stomach or thighs and then adds it back to your butt. The BBL has become very popular as a treatment to get rid of unwanted fat while adding volume to your backside, however it comes with certain risks and unavoidable side effects since it requires surgical intervention. Read more about this below!

Posterior Chain Oriented Exercises

Believe it or not, there are a ton of exercises that don't require hours at the gym that will target specifically the muscles that make up your posterior chain. Your posterior chain is the set of muscles that make up your backside, including your glutes and hamstrings, which are the main muscles that make up that bubble butt you are trying to achieve. Some of these exercises include squats, deadlifts, and lunges. Before you get discouraged by the term "deadlift" keep in mind that once you master this exercise, you will have mastered a complex exercise that literally is a full body exercise that targets your glutes, hamstrings, and entire core. Growing your glutes with the added benefit of improved posture and a stronger core? Yes please!

CoolTone and EmSculpt

CoolTone and EmSculpt are tools found at medical spas and plastic surgery clinics that use electromagnetic technology to contract your muscles for you. While they are both manufactured by different companies, they are essentially the same thing and send electromagnetic pulses to the muscles through an applicator that is placed on the desired treatment area. The treatment is completely non-invasive and takes 30 minutes per session. 30 minutes of EmSculpt on your abs is equivalent to 20,000 crunches - count us in! The treatment can also be used on your thighs and glutes to strengthen the muscles and just like squats, grow your glutes. Another fool proof way to add some volume to your 2022 Summer bod!

Sculptra

Sculptra is a minimally invasive butt enhancement that works through the injection of Poly-L-Lactic acid in the desired area. It was originally designed to treat hollowness in the faces of HIV positive patients as they suffered from lipoatrophy (or loss of fat in the face). It is now FDA approved for the use of butt enhancements and for loss of volume in the face. The treatment takes about 20 minutes and has almost no risks and side effects other than bruising and swelling. The results will take two to three months to show because the treatment works by stimulating your own collagen production, which then wraps around particles that would naturally break down in the body, causing the treatment area to grow. In order to achieve your desired result you could need anywhere from 8 to 50 vials. If you are interested in getting a Sculptra treatment, be sure to consult with a board certified and experienced cosmetic practitioner to confirm that this is the right treatment for you.

The Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL)

The Brazilian Butt Lift is a surgical procedure that involves the harvesting of fat from one part of your body (typically the abdomen, arms, and thighs), to then be injected into your butt. While this sounds tempting and can give you amazing results, keep in mind that this is a surgical procedure, meaning that it comes with added risks and side effects including infection. It also comes with down time as the liposuction needed to harvest the fat requires surgical intervention. The treatment itself can be painful and downtime will last 2 - 4 weeks on a case to case basis. Be sure to get your treatment administered by a trained medical professional to avoid complications.

Overall there are several ways to naturally and cosmetically enhance your backside. Whether you want to find exercises more specific to your aesthetic goals, or if you want to add a little extra that can't be achieved through exercise alone, be sure to consult with a professional to get the results that you are looking for.