If you repeat it enough times, the word thut begins to sound adorable and delightful. Perhaps it’s a cuddly, soft children’s toy. Maybe it’s a new squishy Scandinavian pillow sold at Ikea. But in reality, the thut is a cute term for what is decidedly not cute — the area between your butt and upper thigh. And if you are an office drone, 98.9 percent of your time is spent (99.9 percent, if you don’t take a lunch break that requires walking) sitting on your thut, developing what is non-affectionately referred to in writing circles as a blogger butt, where there ceases to be a distinction between the end of your thigh and the beginning of your butt. To target working out this specific area, we turned again to Ashley Yeater, of Physique 57, and Cheri Fogleman, a trainer at CLAY Health Club, for different sets of moves.
Move 1: Ashley shows here the importance of proper alignment in the push-up position. Notice how she adjusts herself from being hunched over to having her shoulders down and elbows soft. She is in the plank position, with her abs engaged and tight and hands shoulder-width apart. Her back and head form one flat line.
Move 1a: Gently move your right leg up and down in slow motions. The length of the extension is not as important as keeping all other parts of the body still, and making sure you stay perfectly straight from your back through to your leg. Do not, in the words of Ice Cube, “put your back into it.” Arching your back to force the movement of your leg is the wrong way to do this exercise. Each tiny movement of your leg should be strenuous and tiring. Repeat for twenty reps and switch to the other side.
Move 2: Fogleman explains that an old-fashioned “straight-leg dead lift” is one of the best exercises to target the thut. (A fitness model friend of hers who recently participated in a competition once had a judge tell her she had to do more of these moves to work out the thut.) As with Move 1, the importance here is on the form. Start by placing a resistance band in a figure eight by your feet, with the hand loops shoulder-width apart. Unlike Move 2, you do want to follow Ice Cube’s advice, and put your back into it. Channel your best Coco and stick your butt out, with your legs and back straight as you pull up with the band. Repeat for twenty reps.
