The Infamous Booty Belt Is No Joke, and It's Totally Gonna Sculpt Your Butt

We've been eyeing Kate Hudson's exercise routine for inspiration for a long time now, and while we're familiar with her beloved Pilates routine, something about her Instagram (below) caught our eye: what the heck is a Booty Belt?

We did a little digging and eventually got to try this blessed belt ourselves. Created by personal trainer Dominic Banks, who cares deeply about the butts of women everywhere, this ingenious piece of exercise equipment can be used and stored virtually anywhere. The do-it-all-for-you bands work different muscle groups but are focused on — you guessed it — a strong booty.

Since I'm a big fan of butt workouts (my favorite class is the Equinox conditioning class Best Butt Ever), I volunteered as tribute to take a new Booty Belt on its maiden voyage. Little did I know the belt would be taking me (or my butt, rather) on a new journey.

The Booty Belt arrived in a sleek black and pink package with a particularly bubbly butt for a logo. It was feminine. It was luxe. It was sexy. I was ready (for this jelly). As I unpacked the harness, bands, DVD, and knee pad, the first thought I had was "how considerate, a knee pad!" and the second was "does anyone within an eight-mile vicinity have a DVD player for me to borrow?" But not to fear — the Booty Belt is actually quite navigable on its own without a DVD and its Instagram account posts many surprisingly instructional videos that give new tips on creative ways to use the belt, like on the beach in front of strangers or in front of a window. All joking aside, this is actually a supersimple piece of equipment to figure out — and there's a training video on the website.

Behold

Since I'm also pretty used to using resistance bands (thanks, Best Butt Ever), I figured this would be a simple way to continue my Monday evening workout into the rest of the week or even bring it with me while traveling. I also assumed that it'd be super easy for me. I was dead wrong.

Simple to navigate but challenging to actually use, the bands are STRONG! And when you actually affix resistance bands to your person in the form of a butt-blasting belt, you're in for a treat. And by treat I mean absolute gluteal agony. It. Is. Hard. Fortunately, the patron saint of butts, Dominic Banks, includes three levels of Booty Belt bands — pink is the lightest (still pretty tough — if you didn't notice, even the fitness model in their training video is kinda struggling), gray is a bit stronger, and black is the toughest. I'm 94 percent sure you'd have to literally be a black belt to use the black Booty Belt bands. Or you actually have buns of steel, and the steel can't feel any kind of muscular pain. Anyway.

Because this equipment is so versatile, a small bag of bands becomes multiple gym machines in your home — you can really do so many exercises with the Booty Belt and incorporate it into a routine you're already doing. It makes your squats more challenging, your ab bikes harder, your donkey kicks killer, and it can even make your lifting more effective.

And it's not just Kate Hudson — or me — who feels this way. Instagram millionaires like Paige Hathaway, Arianny Celeste, and Nicole Mejia have all created video clips of them using and endorsing the product.

I've used this belt just a few times and have felt my body (err, my booty) strengthening and improving. As my rear is particularly large to begin with (for my frame, at least), I won't be trying to "grow a booty," but instead make it stronger to support my posture and prevent injury while running. So in terms of aiding your physical health, it gets an A+ from me. However, if you're in this game for aesthetics (you're not alone) and trying to use the Booty Belt to give a little oomph to your backside, I'd vouch for it in that respect as well. Give it a shot, but don't blame me when you can't walk the next day.