The Samba Tornado

Check out one of Brazil Butt Lift trainer Leandro Carvalho's coolest moves for getting your derrière in supermodel shape. This tropical trick is just one of the moves that have made Brazil Butt Lift the talk of the town.

Get Ready: Stand with feet wider than hip-width apart, toes slightly turned out, and abs drawn in.

Go! Bend your knees and sit back into your heels as you lean your torso slightly forward and squeeze your butt tight. With your hands on your hips, circle your hips to the right, continuing to make circles as you remain in a deep squat. Sit back into your hips and keep your heels pushing into the floor. To make it more intense, wave or circle your arms or shimmy your shoulders (reps: 15 to 20 in each direction).

8 Ways to Keep Your Weight Loss Resolutions

By Debra Pivko

Each year, so many of us make New Year's resolutions to lose weight and get healthy. Now that the holiday treats have stopped miraculously showing up at our doors and desks, there's no excuse not to get in health mode to look and feel better. Wanting to lose weight is a start. But it's better to break this daunting task down into achievable behaviors that get the job done. Even if you can't leave your house to work out or dine out, you can still set yourself up for weight loss success by following these 8 simple tips.

1. Start each morning with something healthy. By starting off your day with a healthy breakfast, you're already ahead of the game each day. Pick out a cereal high in protein and fiber and low in calories and sugar such as Kashi^® Go Lean^® Crunch. This will keep you full on few calories so you don't eat the wrong foods at lunch. It's an easy way to start the day off healthy without the guesswork and get closer to your weight loss goals each day. Plus, if you take a daily vitamin such as ActiVit^® Multivitamins with your breakfast, you know you'll ensure you get the nutrients you need each day to fuel your body and your workouts without even thinking about it.
2. Look before you eat. Ordering in takeout or even visiting fast food restaurants doesn't mean you have to pack on the pounds. Look up the calorie count of meals at your favorite restaurants, and pick one that's under 500 calories. Check out dietfacts.com to look up the calorie count of foods at popular restaurants. You can even take a look at the nutrition guides that come with the Beachbody^® workout programs, as many of them include fast food guides to help you make healthy choices when in a rush or on a budget.
3. Preportion your snacks. I don't know about you but if I have a bag of Pirate's Booty^® or even chips with me in front of the TV, I'll chow through the whole thing by the end of the show. It's important not only to stock your house with healthy snacks but also to preportion them out into baggies when you buy them, so you stick to eating one serving whether you're in front of the TV or at work. Most foods are healthy in moderation, but overeating can make the pounds creep up. You can also prepare healthy foods such as sliced-up cucumbers or red peppers to munch on or dip in balsamic vinegar. You're more likely to reach for those—since they are ready—rather than high-calorie, easy-access foods, like chips or a quick frozen quesadilla or egg roll. P90X^® protein bars are a convenient preportioned meal replacement or snack to keep with you on the go.
4. Socialize health-consciously. Hanging out doesn't have to mean eating out. Instead of going out for dinner or drinks to catch up with friends, go on a hike or walk to catch up. It's a great way to get a workout in while catching up with friendly conversation. Plus, you save money and calories. Or host a health-conscious potluck, where everyone makes his or her favorite healthy treat and prints out the recipes so you get an arsenal of healthy treats to make in the future and enjoy. If you're feeling daring, try hosting an activity party where you pop in a Beachbody workout, play Nintendo Wii^®, or go ice skating so you know you'll burn off those extra calories.
5. Top your foods on the down-low. Of calories, that is. The calories in creamy sauces and dressings can really add up. Stock up on low- to no-calorie toppings like pico de gallo, hot sauce, mustard, pepper, 1-calorie-a-spray salad dressings from your local market, and even parmesan cheese in moderation. You'll be surprised at how quickly the weight will come off without sacrificing taste.
6. Commit to workout times. Whether you're doing Tony Horton's 10-Minute Trainer^® or an hour of P90X, make sure to set the times in your schedule to work out and stick to them. Plan other obligations around those times. Working out is important to your health and your life, and making it and yourself a priority will not only help you meet your weight loss goals but help you live a better life. Use a calendar from the workout programs or set up a time to work out with a friend—whatever it takes. I like to set the time in my phone calendar so an alarm beeps and says "Time for Slim in 6^® Ramp It Up." If that is my workout planned for that day and if I'm not doing it, I'm not gonna get slim in 6 weeks. It's my choice. You can even sign up for Beachbody's WOWY Supergym^® for free, where you can log in your workouts and get support from hundreds of people cheering each other on.
7. Lay out your workout clothes the night before. This can make a big difference not only in saving time but also making sure you commit to actually doing the workout. I like to get my workout clothes ready the night before for motivation but also so I can snooze through the extra time before working out. If you don't work out at home, then pack your gym bag the day before and always have it ready in your car or at work, so there's no excuse not to work out. My favorite new workout here is Brazil Butt Lift^®. Leandro Carvalho (known as the "Brazilian Butt Master") created such a fantastic workout, with booty-sculpting moves, cardio, and Brazilian dance beats, that I don't mind waking up a bit early to do it before work and starting my day with some fun.
8. Drink the healthiest meal of the day. Replacing one meal a day, even a snack, with Shakeology^® is the simplest way to lose weight and get the nutrients you need for optimal health. By targeting nutrition, fullness, digestion, and detoxification, Shakeology provides a multifaceted approach to help you keep full, shed fat, reduce food cravings, improve digestion, lower cholesterol, and have more natural energy—all through a delicious 140-calorie shake. I've been drinking it every day as an afternoon snack or after working out. Everyone at work makes them a little differently to craft their favorite concoctions. Some of us use water; others use milk, or even add a teaspoon of peanut butter or mint. They're delicious!

Meet the Creator of Brazil Butt Lift: Part II

By Steve Edwards

"When I landed in New York I spoke almost no English and I didn't know a soul," says Brazil Butt Lift creator Leandro Carvalho. "After wandering around the docks like someone in an immigration movie, I finally found an old lady who brought me to the school where I was going to dance."

His tale is classic Horatio Alger. Arriving in America with only an unflagging work ethic and a goal, he's now a celebrity who trains a bevy of supermodels. Today we talk to Carvalho about why his new fitness program is going to change the way we work out, and what it's like to be living the American dream.

"It's busy!" is his most emphatic comment. "I feel bad leaving my regular clients so I work long hours [as my popularity grows] trying to make room for everybody." But now we're getting ahead of the story. Carvalho may have always been busy but he wasn't always in demand. So let's start at the beginning, where he was just a kid growing up dancing, which isn't so strange, given that he's from Brazil.

"In Brazil everybody dances. We dance all the time in celebration of everything. All week long we dance. Not just on special occasions, but for any occasion."

But for Carvalho it was something even bigger. He began studying dance at 12 with dreams of becoming a professional. In college he studied physical education because "they didn't offer dance," which led him toward a new profession, fitness training.

"I was teaching jazz and tap dance at first. As I learned more I began teaching aerobics, and when I was working on my masters (in Recreation) I began teaching kids. Some of these kids' parents worked for Petrobras, a large oil company. Word got out and they (Petrobras) hired me to create fitness programs for their employees. Petrobras is a huge company; they have these giant campuses. I opened ten gyms for them where I not only taught their employees but trained both the police and the firefighters (Petrobras employs its own police and fire departments)."

"This job paid very well, so I was pretty set up in Brazil, but then I got an offer to come to New York and dance with Merce Cunningham. This more than anything was my dream. So I saved as much money as I could for a year and moved to New York, not knowing one word of English."

"From the time I arrived in New York my life has been filled with angels," says Carvalho. First there was the woman at the docks. Now he works with many women who are "angels" for Victoria's Secret™. In between, there seem to have been others watching over him.

"After 8 months in America I was accepted to a new program in recreation therapy at NYU. Because I had the money to pay for their fledgling program they accepted me, even though I had very bad English."

"NYU let me work 20 hours at the gym so I could maintain my student visa. To get the hours in I would teach any class you can imagine. Step (aerobics), water (aerobics), Latin dance, rollerblading, kayaking in the Hudson River... anything they could think of. I also began teaching for FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology) and all this work allowed me to get a green card."

"Things seemed to be going my way so I decided not to go back to Brazil. I applied to every gym in New York, and right then, the 'Latin explosion' hit. I was really getting lucky! So I started teaching a class I made up called Brazilian Groove, and pretty soon, all the gyms wanted to hire me. Then Equinox (one of New York's leading gyms) paid me to stop teaching elsewhere, I met Allesandra (see part I of this interview), and things have just gotten busier and busier!"

"Now, by word of mouth, I'm training all sorts of actors and models (Blake Lively and Gabriel Garcia Bernal have been clients, as well as his stable of 26 supermodels), doing my classes, and still keeping my old clients. I like to go back to Brazil whenever I can, so when I'm here I generally work long hours for seven days a week."

Whether it's because Carvalho has been lucky, good, hardworking, or a combination of all three, his momentum isn't slowing. As more Brazilian trends get popular in America, he's the guy who understands the science of why.

"The gym is very popular in Brazil, but they are very different from the gyms in America. The big Brazilian secret is ankle weights. In Brazil, no ankle weights means no gym. Here it's hard to find them at all. In January I'll finally start teaching ankle weight classes. There's still a big resistance but it's changing as more Americans want to look like Brazilians."

"In Brazil Butt Lift we use some Brazilian diet techniques too," he adds. "Things like lemon and ginger. We use lemon to neutralize acids. Acids create a layer around the fat cells so they won't shrink. Fat cells don't disappear, they shrink. Lemon is alkaline. Having shots of straight lemon, or even lemon in water, helps to neutralize the acids around the cells so they can shrink like they should. And ginger is a natural antibiotic. People who are resistant to weight loss tend to have too much inflammation. So when we start a diet program two cups a day of ginger tea is a must."

"I combine many Brazilian techniques with what I've learned from working with models. Things like the green and white diet, I call it, which is a short-term cleanse diet where you eat primarily white protein and greens. It's basically six days without sugars, unnatural fats, processed carbs, and glutens. It's the kind of plan a model will use for a photo shoot."

Carvalho sums up his future with thoughts on why these Brazil trends are so popular. "Everybody wants to be sexy, and in Brazil it's just part of the culture. Bikinis, being naked on the beach, etc., it's all just part of who we are and what we always have been. It goes with the dancing, the vibes, the whole lifestyle. It's all about being sexy, and that's what America wants."

Lift Your Butt Like a Brazilian

By Steve Edwards

"Butt is the new abs," says Brazil Butt Lift^® creator Leandro Carvalho. "Look at the latest group of Victoria's Secret^® Angels [models]; 17 of the 28 are from Brazil. The reason is because they have beautiful butts."

For Carvalho, this is more than a casual observation. His training techniques hit the mainstream when he began transforming waiflike runway models into bootylicious supermodels. Now you're fortunate if you can find a spot in one of his classes, which are taught exclusively at Equinox Fitness Clubs in New York. Luckily, he's gone viral, and now you can do his classes in the comfort of your living room. I sat down with Carvalho recently to chat about Brazil Butt Lift and came away with a lot more: a story about a guy who has always followed his dream, arrived in America without knowing anyone or speaking the language, and is now a celebrity. Today, in part one of this interview, we'll hear about the history of Brazil Butt Lift and why not being able to "spot train" is a myth.

"Five years ago, I met Alessandra Ambrosio, the world-famous supermodel, at a party," Carvalho began our interview. "She didn't like her trainer because she was putting on more muscle than she wanted. She only wanted to work on her waistline, her butt, and the inside and outside of her legs. I knew that by combining dance, Capoeira, and what I had learned as a trainer [that] I could get her the results she wanted. As soon as I did, she began telling her friends, and things escalated from there."

I asked about spot training, which is often considered a myth among trainers, to which he replied, "Those people haven't been to Brazil. We [Brazilians] love to dance and celebrate. In fact, we celebrate just about everything with dance. Not just special occasions. We dance at church. We dance at sundown. We just dance constantly, which works the legs, the abs, and the butt. This is why our beaches are so famous. Everyone looks great from dancing, both men and women."

"And you can translate this into specific training. Of course, squats and lunges [the standard leg exercises] are great, but if you do too much you also bulk up the legs, which is especially true when you start adding weight. I had to work the butt without bulking the legs. So I combined squats and lunges with Afro-Brazilian dance. That's the 'secret.'"

"After my success with Alessandra, I needed something to call it because all the clubs in New York wanted these workouts. I was watching Extreme Makeover. There was a doctor on who was doing some sort of cosmetic surgery that he called a Brazilian butt lift. I thought this was a great name for my class. Equinox loved it and signed me to an exclusive deal to teach for them. They gave me a lot of press. TV, magazines, everywhere. My classes have been packed ever since."

As Beachbody's science guy, I was eager to hear about this angle. Certainly, there's more to it than dance, I asked. "Most trainers focus on the large muscles, like the gluteus maximus. But the glutes are three different muscles: maximus, medius, and minimus," stated Carvalho, now sounding like the guy I knew had a degree in exercise physiology and had been at this for decades. "You need to train them all. Not only that but you need to hit them from various angles to strengthen the head of each muscle. In total, we're looking at 12 different angles you should hit in order to create a round butt."

Before I even got a chance to ask about men, Carvalho beat me to it. "Even though it was created for women, it's important to say it's not just for girls," he said. "I worried that men won't want to do it, but it works very well for them. Men like having great butts, too, and women like looking at men with great butts! Back in Brazil, I used to train police and firefighters, and we did a lot of the same movements."

I brought up some training sessions I'd read about when he was working with John McEnroe, the professional tennis player who was famous for his bad temper. Certainly, I think, if McEnroe wasn't yelling "you can't be serious," the workouts must pass some kind of macho test. Unfortunately, at least from my angle, he seems to have mellowed with age.

"Well,Trudie [Styler] had hired me, and I had no idea [that] I was teaching anyone else. All these other people just showed up, including Sting [Styler's husband], Tom Hanks, McEnroe, and others. We all trained on the beach. McEnroe was pretty conservative. The actors, guys like Hanks, were more willing to dive into the dance moves, because they're more used to being outside their comfort zone. That seems to be the same thing with my classes. Guys are more reserved about taking any exercise class. But when they do show up, they love it."

Next time, we'll dig deeper into Carvalho's background; Brazil Butt Lift's science and nutrition; and what it's like to juggle teaching sold-out classes, filming a workout video, and training 26 supermodels.