@thedbmethod

I Tried It: The Booty-Building Fitness Device that Hollywood Celebs Swear By

By Sarah Jio

You know what’s funny? I clearly remember a time when all of my friends (including me) were obsessed with the size of our rears, but not in the way we are today. Nooooo. Back then, we had big-butt anxiety—aka, “Does this [insert item of clothing] make my butt look big?”

(At this very moment, all of my younger sisters reading this are like, what, seriously?!) I know, it’s surprising given the last decade’s particularly bootylicious esthetic, but yes, I’m here to tell you, the small-butt trend was a thing. If you didn’t have one, you wanted one. If you had one, you wanted to keep it that way. Today? Not so much.

@shannonnadj

While I’m happy to see that the Brazilian butt life bonanza has given way to a more natural look (authentically toned and perky tushes for the win!), for better or for worse, the cultural spotlight seems to still be firmly focused on our rears. And if you’re like me —let’s just say, mother nature didn’t bless me with a whole lot of junk in the trunk—you’re always on the lookout for a new way to give your booty a little boost.

So, when I heard about the The DB Method —an at-home fitness product entirely focused on the glutes—I was immediately obsessed. It’s had a Hollywood following for a while now, and the Kardashians are said to be some of its biggest fans.

But was it really worth $229?

I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for new fitness gadgets, and unlike my rear, my collection is embarrassingly robust, but during quarantine, when my favorite fitness studio had shuttered its doors, I decided that the time had come to introduce The DB Method into my life.

It arrived a few days later and I spent about fifteen minutes putting it together (that part was a cinch) before giving it a whirl. My first impression was, “this is … fun!” You basically sit on the comfy seat and pump your booty up and down while holding on to the foam handles. Erika Rayman, the Founder, designed it to position the hips at just the right angle so that it takes the pressure off the legs to provide mega glute activation (in other words, no quad-dominated squats here). It’s all resistance-based, so depending on how low you go, you can increase or decrease the difficulty level. Plus, you can intensify things with the bands that the product comes with.

For the first few days, I pulled up a few The DB Method workouts on their new app and followed along, but after that, I opted to just blaze my own trail, and that’s not hard to do—you feel it when you’re really working, especially the next morning. (Side note: My 11-year-old son tried it for the first time and said, “Mom, this is soooo easy.” Then, the next day, he was sore!)

After three months with this thing, have I seen results?

I would say yes.

I’m no Kardashian, but I have noticed a subtle boost in my backside, and I like it! Also, it’s way more fun than doing squats and lunges, and you can park yourself in front of Netflix and simultaneously squeeze in some targeted fitness. Win-win!

 

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Sarah Jio is a journalist and the New York Times bestselling author of 11 novels published with Random House and Penguin Books. To learn more about Sarah, visit www.sarahjio.com or www.instagram/sarahjio.