Get a Tight Butt and Flat Abs

Summer is over, but any season is a good time to work on your abs and glutes, right? To help us get (and stay) bikini ready, we enlisted the help of 2x Bikini Olympia Champion Ashley Kaltwasser. After all, Ashley knows all about blasting fat and toning up to create an award-winning bikini body. You ready to work? Let’s go!

GET IT RIGHT

Directions and tips for completing the exercises in this workout.

DEEP SQUATS

This can be done on a squat rack or Smith machine. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your weight on your heels. Keeping your abs tight and your shoulders squarely over your hips, sit back and down as if you were going to sit on a bench. Keep your back straight. Then stand up, straightening your legs, and repeat.

Ashley’s Tip: Make sure your knees are in line and that they are not bending in when pushing the weight up.

SPLIT SQUATS

This can be done with the Smith machine, dumbbells, kettlebells or a straight bar placed on the back. Place one leg in front of the other (about 3 feet, depending on your stature, says Ashley), and squat down by bending the knee of the front leg. Stand up and return to original position.

Ashley’s Tips: Make sure to focus on pushing the weight through the front heel. Make the mind and body connection, activate the glute muscles… really think about squeezing those buns!

WALKING LUNGES WITH DUMBBELLS

Step forward with your left leg and try to touch the ground with your right knee. Make sure to keep your left knee behind the ankle. Then, repeat with the other leg.

Ashley’s Tips: Make sure you are walking in a completely straight line and that your knees are always facing forward. Focus the weight on your front leg (heel).

JUMP SQUATS HOLDING WEIGHT

Holding dumbbells at your side, start with feet a little closer than shoulder-width apart, toes facing forward in a deep squat position. Jump up and when you come back down, land back into a squat. Repeat.

Ashley’s Tips: Make sure you are starting from a deep squat position and explode up. Land with a soft knee. Do not land with straight legs, as it could cause injury.

STRAIGHT-LEG DEADLIFTS

Stand with feet just less than shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Grasp a bar or dumbbells in your hands. Keeping your back straight and chest out, bend at the waist and lower the weight toward the floor. Use your glutes to pull yourself back up into starting position. It’s important you keep your back straight and knees slightly bent throughout the entire movement. You should feel a stretch in your glutes and hamstrings.

Ashley’s Tips: Perform with a soft knee and a horizontal back. Do NOT round the back. Make sure your hands are in an alternate grip (one hand over and one hand under) to ensure optimal hold. Keep the weight as close to your body as you can while pulling up to a vertical position. This will work the hamstrings, booty and lower back.

SUMO SQUATS (HOLDING WEIGHT)

Hold the top of the kettlebell with both bands. Make sure your legs are in a very wide stance. Drop down as low as possible holding the weight. Return to starting position.

LEG PRESS

To be done on a sled. On machine, extend your knees and hips, pushing the platform away. Return to starting position and repeat.

Ashley’s Tips: The higher your feet, the more you will feel it in your glutes. Push through heels.

GLUTE BRIDGES

Lie on the floor with a flat back and knees bent. Legs should be about one foot apart. Thrust your hips up and push through heels. Pause at the top and squeeze glutes. Return to starting position.

FIRE HYDRANTS

On all fours and with your knees bent, push your leg out horizontally (leg still bent). Return leg to starting position.

Ashley’s Tips: Make sure the leg is in line with the body and that you are not shifting your weight to one side.

PLANK

Get in a push-up position with your elbows on the ground, and hold.

Ashley’s Tips: Make sure that your back is level, like you could balance a book on it. Keep the abs tight.

V-UPS

Lie flat on your back. Thrust your legs and arms up into a V position. Slowly return to starting position and repeat.

WEIGHTED CRUNCHES

You can perform these crunches holding a weight (dumbbell, plate or kettlebell) close to your chest. Remember, crunches are half sit-ups.

BICYCLES

Lie flat on the floor on your lower back with your hands beside your head. Bring your knees toward your chest to about a 45-degree angle and make a bicycle pedaling motion with your legs, touching your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee.

LEG RAISES TO BAR (HANGING)

Take an overhand grip on a pull-up bar with your hands about shoulder-width apart, and allow your body to hang freely. Keeping your legs straight and your toes pointed, exhale and slowly lift your legs upward, avoiding the use of momentum, until your legs touch the bar. Pause a moment before slowly lowering your legs back to the start.

Ashley’s Tip: To the best of your ability, try to keep your knees from bending.

ASHLEY’S ULTIMATE FAT-BURNING STACK

Supplements help Ashley to train at her best. She especially likes Gaspari’s Carnipure for fat loss and recovery. “I am loving Gaspari Nutrition’s Carnipure, the fast-absorbing, high-quality form of carnitine tartrate— an amino acid that helps your body use fat for fuel. This product has NO stimulants, artificial sweeteners or artificial colors, and it tastes amazing! Love the watermelon flavor!” said Ashley.

She also uses Gaspari’s Detonate XT to provide the energy she needs for her morning cardio. “It gives me good, clean, jitter-free energy that helps me to really push hard and it contains smart ingredients that help to boost metabolism. That’s a win for me!” said Ashley.