Wide squats (squats)
The feet are set wide apart and point outwards.
- Now bend your knees to a 90-degree angle. Important: Do not bring the knees over the big toe, this puts unnecessary strain on the joints. Keep your upper body upright with your hands on the sides of your head. Put your weight on your heel first. Slightly lift the tips of your toes.
- Now roll from the heel over the functional sole onto the forefoot and back again. Stand up and start over. 15 to 20 repetitions.
- Effect of the MBT functional shoe: Strengthens the thigh and buttock muscles.
One-legged stance bent
Stand on one leg, bend your upper body forward with your back straight and balance your balance. Each side 10 times, then switch legs.
- The arms are stretched forward at a slight angle.
- Effect of the MBT functional shoe: Strengthens the thigh and buttock muscles.
Lunge sideways
If you want to train your arm muscles with this exercise, you can add small dumbbells. Starting position: the feet are shoulder-width apart.
- Do a side lunge and straighten your arms at shoulder height. Alternate stepping on the heel and the metatarsus. Hold for several seconds on each side. 10 repetitions per side. Exercise variant: roll from the heel to the forefoot.
- Effect through the MBT functional shoe: Activates the lateral support and postural muscles in the lower leg. When the heel is loaded, the rear thigh and gluteal muscles are more stressed.
Lunge with torso twist
First, take a long lunge step forward. When landing, alternate between landing on your heel and metatarsus. Make sure that your front knee stays at a right angle.
- If you want to train your arms and back in addition to your buttocks, hold a medicine ball forward with your arms slightly bent. Turn your upper body sideways.
- Hold the pose for several seconds, then switch sides. Exercise variant: rolling from the heel to the forefoot and back. Repeat 10 times on each side.
- Effect through the MBT functional shoe: Activates the lateral support and holding muscles in the lower leg and stabilizes the knee. When stepping on the heel, the rear thigh and gluteal muscles are trained more.
He introduces himself as "Master of the Ass" (freely translated: "Master of the Knackpos ") - and looks a bit pale this morning. Maybe that's because of his white, slightly baggy T-shirt. Or the fact that David Kirsch has been the dad of the twin girls Francesca and Emilia for seven months. Do the babies possibly deprive him of the well-deserved fitness sleep?
But then he starts to power: Our training round begins. The highlight of his butt range today: We compete in functional shoes from the brand MBT ("Masai Barefoot Technology"). Thanks to the special sole construction, the workout should be intensified, making the hour even more productive than before. I'm with the most efficient personal trainer in New York: Kirsch made Heidi Klum fit for the catwalk at the speed of light after her last two births. "Should I be particularly tough today?" He asks, smiling challengingly.
"With me, everyone gets a cracking bottom"
"We start with squats." Sounds easy: I can do squats in my sleep, after all, I do gymnastics three times a week in my gym in Hamburg. But not with special shoes. And not with drill trainer David Kirsch. Let's go: Straddle stance and down, roll forward onto the forefoot, back onto the heel and up again. The first ten are easy. David keeps counting and corrects me. "Lower down, that's far too little. You do it for yourself!" Right, I want a firm bottom.
"How long will it take me to the catwalk bum?" He grins and looks critically at my bottom: "Let's see! You are athletic, but you carry too much body fat with you. That has to go. Eight weeks, I would say." Oops, that was right. So go on. I bend my knees a little lower. How many more? "You can do more, believe me!"
He grabbed my athletic honor. That is probably one of the reasons why the law graduate, who switched to the coaching business in the eighties (his first famous client was Ivana Trump, right after the divorce from US tycoon Donald), is so successful: the right motivation and merciless honesty. The starter coach greets newcomers to his gym in Madison Square Garden by asking why they are coming. "Then I tell you that you are making a contract with yourself."
The duck walk, invented especially for the Klumschen Po
I feel reason number two of his recipe for success after squat 14. My thigh is shaking, David says that is good. Just the right time to add at least six more squats. "Always go a little over the pain threshold." I firmly take on the over-the-top credo for at home.
After the squats come to the famous duck walk (invented by David for the Klumschen Po). "Waddle" forward and back in a bent knee position. Again to the trembling limit. And always roll nicely over the special sole - you suddenly feel muscles that you had no idea of the existence of. One hour and four more buttock exercises later, the final whistle comes. And praise (!) From the Po-Pope: "Good job!", He calls graciously. Judge, the sporty part is done. Coming back to the nutrition part, it is an essential part of the Kirsch program, at least for the stars' precise power plans.
David's special diet recommends a lot of protein, vegetables, almonds if you have a sweet appetite, steamed chicken and fish, and renounces milk, cheese, fat, largely carbohydrates and fruit, because of the fructose ("very one-sided and not particularly healthy", says my colleague from the diet department). And the trainer himself can handle it? "It happens that I eat a burger when I feel like it," admits the 49-year-old, known as an ascetic. Oops! Should that be a kind of gentleness of old age? "Yes, that has something to do with age. Between 20 and 30 I was uncompromisingly strict about my diet. That has changed a little. Of course, burgers are the exception," says David Kirsch.
I'm relieved to see human features on the training terminator. Until he says: "But you have to leave out the German schnitzel now if you want to go through with the butt-program." Schnitzel? I never eat. I could save cappuccino and licorice. But I didn't want to be less, just tighter. And then there is the coaching problem. Unfortunately, I can't do the same as singer Sarah Connor and have Mister Kirsch fly into Germany for sports lessons (one hour costs 350 dollars, around 262 euros). I decide to look for my "David Kirsch" in the Hamburg studio. Squats with a big butt result - that should work in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, not just in Manhattan.
What are MBT shoes?
The "Massai Barefoot Technology" shoe (German: Massai Barefoot Technology) is characterized by its special sole. The sole construction, which is rounded in the direction of walking and has a soft heel, is intended to bring the body into the natural instability of walking barefoot. This should activate the supporting and holding muscles as well as the ability to coordinate since the body must be kept in balance.
Sports medical examinations, which were carried out at the University of Freiburg in 2008, showed that, according to experience reports from MBT wearers, there is an improvement in posture and an improvement in back, foot, or knee complaints caused by illness.
But be careful - according to the manufacturer, the shoe is not suitable for jogging, but only for walking or walking as well as for workout for legs and buttocks. The orthopedic surgeon Thomas Laser also advises against the long-term, exclusive wearing of MBT shoes, as this can lead to a breakdown of the forefoot muscles. Better to use it as a healthy alternative to high-heeled shoes or as a therapy-supporting measure for knee, foot, and back problems.
Correct walking in MBT shoes requires instruction, as one must consciously concentrate on the rolling technique. Trained specialists provide instructions for purchasing, and information brochures and DVDs are also available. The so-called "anti-shoes" cost around 200 euros. In addition to the sneaker models, there are also sandals and boots.