The booty-strengthening yoga flow that perks your peach in 6 swift moves

Welcome to Trainer of the Month Club, our brand-new fitness series, where we tap the coolest, most in-the-know fitness leaders to create a month-long fitness challenge. On Mondays, we have our “sweat drops” where you’ll get access to the week’s workout that you can follow along at home. This week, Val Verdier is taking you through a beginner yoga flow.

There are approximately infinity reasons why people do yoga. For some, it’s about increasing flexibility. For others, it’s all about taking some time on the mat to zone out and forget the rest of the world. In this week’s edition of the Well+Good Trainer of the Month Club, Val Verdier of New York City’s Modo Yoga shows us exactly how to use yoga to get stronger.

Her six-move series, which is meant to be done slowly and thoughtfully (it’s not one of those fast-paced power flows you might normally expect BTW), works every muscle in your lower body in a matter of minutes. By the time you’re done with the donkey kicks and squats, your glutes and thighs will be on fire.

Follow along with the workout below, and don’t forget to check back next week for September’s Trainer of the Month with an all new trainer.

1. Active bridge pose (warm up): Start on your back with your knees bent at 90-degrees and the soles of your feet on the ground. Inhale to lift your hips up to the sky, squeezing your glutes, and exhale as you come back down to the ground. Repeat three times, and on the third time, squeeze your butt while you pulse for eight counts and hold for five. Repeat this series three times.

2. Donkey kicks: On your hands and knees, with your wrists set squarely underneath your shoulders, bend one leg back behind you so and flex your foot towards the ceiling. Raise and lower your leg as if you were stomping on the ceiling, and be sure not to let your knee touch the ground between reps. Repeat 10 to 15 times on each leg.

3. Chair pose squats: Standing with your feet hips-width distance apart, raise your arms overhead and push your butt back into a chair pose. Raise and lower your hips into a series of squat pulses, bouncing for eight counts and then holding for five. Repeat this set twice.

4. Lateral donkey kicks: On your hands and knees (with wrists set squarely beneath your shoulders), raise your bent leg out to the side of your body, toward the sky, and pulse up and down parallel to the floor. Keep your knee raised the entire time, and be sure not to let it touch the floor between reps. Repeat 10 to 15 times on each leg. 

5. Squat-stand-squat-stand: This one is exactly what it sounds like. Keeping your feet hips width distance apart, squat down and then stand back up. Repeat twice.

6. Child’s pose: Finish the series resting in a child’s pose, with your hips pushed back towards your feet and your arms stretched out in front of you for a full extension through your entire back body.

Looking for something slightly simpler to help get you on the mat? Try Val’s beginner yoga flow. Or, if you want to amp up your ab workout, yoga-style, peep her 7-minute core series.