How Doing Wayyyy Less Cardio Helped This Insta Star Get a Boo-tay

Growing up, Katie Crewe loved dancing and playing sports like soccer, but when she went off to college, the only workouts on her radar were crunches and running on the treadmill. And because she despised the gym, those weren’t happening, like, at all.

Still, the Toronto native figured she could focus more on working out once she graduated—and she did. In 2010, Crewe’s dad, who always had been into lifting weights, bought her a gym membership, which kicked off her fave new hobby, strength training. About a year later, Crewe became certified to teach Les Mills group workouts like Body Attack, a cardio-based class with bodyweight strength moves.

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#transformationtuesday because I was looking through old pics and laughing at myself. My biceps may have gotten bigger but I'm as embarrassing as ever. I feel this really showcases those super sweet Crewe noodle arm genetics. Amirite @hey_katie_i_ate_this ?

A post shared by Katie Crewe (@katiecrewe) on Oct 20, 2015 at 3:44pm PDT

Today, Crewe, 30, is a strength and conditioning specialist with more than 900,000 Instagram followers. "When I’d see people come back to my class week after week, I felt like I was positively impacting their lives," she says of her decision to ultimately make fitness her full-time gig.

But getting to that point took years, a hell of a lot of time in the gym, and even a brief foray into competitive bodybuilding. After she started teaching the Les Mills classes, she began writing workout programs for herself, incorporating moves like squats, deadlifts, bicep curls, and shoulder presses. "I wasn’t using more than 5- or 10-pound dumbbells because I couldn’t lift much more," says Crewe.

Even though her weights were tiny in comparison to the 155-pound barbell she can bench-press now, she felt significantly stronger and liked it. "That motivated me to keep lifting," she says.

In 2012, Crewe was working as an office administrator and thinking about attending law school (she ultimately decided not to go). She also started playing with the idea of signing up for a fitness competition after a few of her friends from the gym completed one.

"I don’t like being the center of attention—it makes me uncomfy," says Crewe, but she wanted to get out of her comfort zone. "The competition was a way to challenge myself mentally while getting in shape."

She placed sixth out of 30 women but felt the intensity of training for a fitness competition—weight-lifting and doing cardio six days a week—wasn't her jam. And around the same time, she realized she wanted to become a certified personal trainer.

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When I first got into fitness, I’d spend hours and hours reading articles on bodybuilding.com and other fitness magazines, as this was where people generally consumed their fitness info. I would read all of the interviews and really looked up to those glorious powerful female fitness models who were featured; so much so that I trained for a fitness competition (almost 7 ago now. Yikes ?). This was one of the only paths presented if you wanted to “take your fitness seriously”. - It was a rough prep and a rough number of months afterwards where I continued to diet (badly) for shoots and honestly, also because I didn’t want to let go of my newfound “identity”. I was getting some ‘recognition’ and potential opportunities for sponsorship, etc and the idea that I could potentially be that chick inspiring others was incredibly exciting for me. - Unfortunately, I was pretty miserable and it became very apparent after many weeks of crying myself off of the treadmill and feeling total exhaustion that this wasn’t for me and I wasn’t going to be “that chick”, for the good of my health and honestly, my important relationships (tfw you’re ZERO fun to be around). - Fast forward to now where we don’t need to vie for the opportunity to be featured in a fitness mag to inspire others. We all now have the opportunity and a platform where we can share our story and express our thoughts and opinions. There is SO much information readily available and we can choose what we consume and where we look for inspiration. Never did I think y’all would choose to put up with me and that you can make an impact with a moderate and realistic approach ??. - I’d really encourage you to surround yourself with things that serve you, prioritize your health and happiness over your appearance, and base your goals on what enhances your life! Doing things to please others or because you feel it’s what you “should” be doing won’t make you happier. Do you, your people will find you ?❤️. #justpreachythings #sorryigotcarriedaway #butimeanit

A post shared by Katie Crewe (@katiecrewe) on Jan 29, 2019 at 5:00pm PST

Back then, Crewe mainly used her Instagram to show off her skills in the kitchen, but she slowly began posting more fitness selfies and workout videos. "In 2015, I realized, 'Wow, a lot of people are watching these videos,'" she says—so she kept it up.

Not long after that ah-ha moment, she posted a video of herself doing a hanging leg raise, which got more than 10,000 views. Her Instagram following took off, and now some of her videos get more than 200,000 views.

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One of my favourite core exercises: hanging leg raises! I start with toes to bar and then continue with bent legs when my form breaks down. I got smrt the other week and grabbed a db to add some extra resistance. Slowly working up to windshield wipers #goabsgo

A post shared by Katie Crewe (@katiecrewe) on Dec 29, 2015 at 5:07pm PST

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How To Get That Butt

When Crewe started lifting weights back in 2010, a friend told her that she literally could build her butt with strength training. Crewe was shook and started focusing on power-lifting (read: lifting REALLY heavy weights) to build muscle faster. That involved lots of hip thrusts and banded moves.

 

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This song actually started playing during this exercise earlier #fate #universe. It has been a while since I've regularly incorporated these but I really enjoy this feet elevated glute bridge variation as it takes the quads out of the equation. I find my glutes fire much better when I use a bit of anterior pelvic tilt and hold a second or two at the top and really push my hips through and squeeze. I'm also using constant tension so I'm keeping ze glutes engaged on the eccentric (way down) and not fully touching the bar to the floor. ? Buuuurn baby burn ?.

A post shared by Katie Crewe (@katiecrewe) on Dec 16, 2015 at 6:47pm PST

 

After becoming a certified trainer, Crewe trained her glutes two to three times a week using exercises like hip thrusts, lunges, and glute kickbacks. Every three to six months, she’d switch up her go-to booty moves.

 

Over the next few years, her glute gains began to show. "It took a lot of time for me to get to where I am now," says Crewe.

She also dialed back the cardio as she focused more on gaining muscle: "I realized I didn’t need to do that much if my goal was to get stronger." Instead, she strength trains four to five days a week, dedicating at least two full workouts per week to both her legs and butt and devotes an additional weekly sweat sesh to random cardio activities like burpees, running, or whatever she feels like.

 

Eating For an Insta-Famous Ass

"To build a butt, you should be eating enough calories to maintain your weight," says Crewe. "You have to give your body enough energy to push hard during your workouts."

Obvi, everyone has unique nutritional needs, so you don't need to follow her lead to see your own booty gains. That said, here's a taste of her go-to meals JIC you're curious:

Breakfast: "I wake up and have coffee and a few squares of dark chocolate because that’s what I want in the morning."

Snack: "I love frozen raspberries and blueberries with coconut whip. It’s a good way to get extra fiber, and it kinda tastes like ice cream."

Lunch: "I usually have a salad with some kind of protein, like eggs, chicken, or fish. I use lots of lettuce, zoodles, beets, and tomatoes. I also make sure to have a side of carbs, like overnight oats with chia seeds or a sweet potato with almond butter."

 

 

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Raspberry banana chia parfait #ohmy ?. Eating things out of a wine glass makes you fancy #fact. This is so delicious and tastes like summer and is also packed with fibre and antioxidants...also love. Are you sold yet? ? - Chia pudding + raspberry banana soft serve + more raspberries. It requires a little bit of forethought to freeze bananas and make a batch of chia pudding but the actual time it takes to make is very minimal. This is a very large serving so half this much is probably ok for most if you’re having it as a dessert, or the whole thing as a meal (which is my preference). - I added protein powder to the chia pudding (because meathead) but it’s not necessary, so omit if ya want. Be careful using a blender if you don’t have a very powerful one. I have a vitamix but would be worried using a less “aggressive” one ? - Trying a new way of doing this so you don’t have to search the comments for the recipe. Swipe ?? dis way.

A post shared by Katie Crewe (@katiecrewe) on Jun 11, 2018 at 4:52pm PDT

 

Post-gym mini-meal: "To refuel, I eat veggies, protein, and more oats or potatoes."

Dinner: "I like variety, so I try to avoid eating the same protein I had for lunch. So I might have some kind of omelet or pasta or zoodles with chicken and veggies. I like to add avocado to get something fatty in there too.

Dessert: “This is an everyday thing for me. I’ll have a few squares of dark chocolate or an ice cream sandwich—or both."

Booze: "I don’t drink because I feel awful the next day. But I think it’s fine if you enjoy it! Just keep hydrated."

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Ashley Oerman Senior Wellness Editor Ashley Oerman is the Senior Wellness Editor at Cosmopolitan, covering fitness, health, and sexual health.