Cool New Class: Booty By Brabants

All Booty By Brabants class photos provided.

Squats are one of the best exercises you can do for overall health, and with Brazilian supermodels making the booty workout famous, Boston’s own Brazilian beauty decided to take what she knows about dance and bring it to the fitness-loving masses.

Kelly Brabants, the woman behind the appropriately titled, Booty by Brabants, was taking dance classes before she could even walk. The Easton-native danced in New York City and Los Angeles before returning to Boston as few years ago. She became a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor and teaches everything from dance to kickboxing.

Brabants leads her new 60-minute class at the Seaport Hotel’s Wave Health and Fitness and at The Club by George Foreman III. At Wave, you don’t have to be a member to take the class; it’s open to walk-ins for $15. She says that she designed the workout to target all of the angles of the glutes by incorporating different styles of lunging, squats, and jumping exercises. “I designed the workout so that each movement has a purpose and all the muscles in the legs are covered with outside-the-box exercises that I came up with to help round, lift, and tighten the booty,” she says. The music-fueled class starts with a warmup to activate the core and glutes, and then moves on to a mix of fun, but challenging dance and kickboxing movements to keep the heart rate up and increase the strength and endurance.

Intrigued? So were we. We caught up with Brabants to find out more.

What sparked the idea for Booty by Brabants?

This class is inspired by the Brazilian booty, and it’s not just a coincidence that my mom is from Rio de Janeiro. Every girl wants a great butt, but most don’t know what to do to get one. This is a class designed for females to learn how to exercise correctly with proper techniques, and most importantly to have fun while doing it. This class will take your fitness experience to another level, and I do my very best to make every girl in the class feel confident and sexy—without being embarrassed.

What is different about this class?

I’ve never taken a class that focused solely on the bottom half. It’s the biggest muscle on your body, and it needs some individual attention. I want girls to leave my class exhausted but also excited and confident that they are one step closer to achieving their fitness goals, and also, of course, getting a better butt!

What are some of your favorite ways to workout?

My favorite style of working out when I’m on my own is a kettlebell workout (squats, kettle bell swings, and pushups are a few of my favorite exercises). I love high intensity interval training, because it’s fun and effective, especially if you are short on time. I work out at least six times a week, and I don’t believe in rest days. In the summer, I teach outdoor complimentary boot camps at with a live DJ. I also like Bikram yoga and cardio kickboxing. I like anything that’s energetic, will make me sweat, and keep me motivated to come back.

What’s your fitness philosophy? 

Between work, fun, and exercise the one thing that we can’t create more of is time. In my classes you’ll learn a series of exercises that you can do at home (no equipment required) when time isn’t necessarily on your side. One other thing I like to enforce (even to myself) is that if you want to play hard on a Friday night, you don’t have to feel bad about it. Just come to my Saturday class and sweat it out. It relieves your body of the toxins and your mind of the guilt. Even if you want to sleep in, my class on Saturday isn’t until noon, so no excuses. Plus, I love food. The beauty of working out hard every day is that I get to enjoy my favorite foods and restaurants.

What are some of your favorite restaurants?

Living in the North End I am surrounded by great Italian restaurants. Antico Forno is definitely No. 1 on my list (the meatballs are amazing). I’m also obsessed with anything you can put hot sauce on, so when I am in the mood for something spicy I’ll go to Papagayo in Southie. Although diet is half the battle when getting into great shape, you have to enjoy life and splurge once in a while. Just crush your workout the next day!

If you weren’t in fitness, what else would you be doing?

If I didn’t have a career in fitness, I would want to be a makeup artist for celebrities. The only thing I own more than workout clothes is makeup. I am running out of storage space for all the lipsticks I own.

Booty By Brabants, $15, Saturdays at Noon, 1 Seaport Ln, 617-385-4540, bootybybrabants@gmail.com