Baby Got Brazil
Q&A with Leandro Carvalho
By Steve Edwards, Director of Results
Director of Results Steve Edwards sat down with the creator of Brazil Butt Lift®—Leandro Carvalho—to talk history, the myth, the name, and training. Here’s what the “Brazilian Butt Master” had to say about the latest Beachbody health and fitness program:
Q: How did it all begin?
A: “Five years ago I met Alessandra Ambrosio, the number-one Victoria’s Secret model, at a party. 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 I could get her the results she wanted. As soon as I did, she began telling the other models, and things escalated from there.”
Q: There are many critics who call “Spot Training” a myth. What’s the secret?
A: “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 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.’”
Q: What’s the name “Brazil Butt Lift” all about?
A: “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 though 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.”
Q: How do you differentiate your training from similar programs?
A: “Most trainers focus on the large muscles, like the gluteus maximus. But the glutes are three different muscles: maximus, medius, and minimus. 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.”
Q: Is Brazil Butt Lift only for women?
A: “Even though it was created for women, it’s important to say it’s for men as well. I’m worried that men won’t want to do it, but it works very well for them. Back in Brazil, I used to train police and firefighters, and we did a lot of the same movements.”
Q: Which male celebrities have you personally trained using the Brazil Butt Lift method?
A: “Well, Trudy [Styler] had hired me, and I had no idea I was teaching anyone else. All these other people just showed up, including Sting (Styler’s husband), Tom Hanks, [John] 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.”
Steve EdwardsNext 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.
Don’t miss part 2 of the Leandro Carvalho Brazil Butt Lift interview.
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