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We're not sure about you guys, but getting a perfectly toned booty [3] has been on our to-do lists for as long as we can remember — squats just aren't our favorite, though. Personal trainer and Instagram fitness star Madalin Giorgetta [4] had a similar struggle: she wanted all the booty gains possible but absolutely hated squats and admitted that she is terrible at them. But the Australian trainer was determined to build a booty, and from one look at the transformation photo above, you can see that she did it . . . without squatting!
"Someone asked me the other day how much I squat and I was like, 'Umm I don't!'" Madalin captioned the photo above. "Squats are an amazing compound movement and should definitely not be discounted. But I hate squats so I never squat. Luckily for me, squats aren't the only exercise that grow[s] the booty!"
Madalin's loyal Instagram followers know all about her personal booty transformation, but she didn't post this before-and-after photo to show her own progress. She did it as a way to dispel the widely believed misconception that you can only build a booty with squats. "People don't need convincing to start squatting, but do need convincing to start thrusting," Madalin explained in a comment on the photo.
So, how does one grow a perky booty [6] without squatting? "Incorporate hip thrusters, glute bridges, cable kickbacks, banded abductions, and lateral band walks into your workout routine and watch that peach grow!" Madalin shared.
In addition to those moves, Madalin told POPSUGAR her favorite exercises are "resistance band glute bridges, lateral walks, barbell hip thrusts, and cable abductions."
She explained in a comment that she typically does three sets of 12-25 reps of each exercise. "So I'd use a barbell and do 12 hip thrusts and then follow up with 12 (each leg) single-leg body weighthip thrusts. Find it creates a great burn this way!"
But Madalin told us the number one piece of advice she tells all her followers and clients is "stop squatting and start hip thrusting! If you want to lose fat, you need to get your diet in check first; that's the most important thing."
Looks like we'll finally be able to work on the booty of our dreams. Hip thrusts, we're coming for you!