Your butt — peach, glutes, booty, derrière, whatever you want to call it — is undeniably an asset. There are entire workouts designed to tone it, songs that make you shake it like a Polaroid picture, and jeans and shapewear promising to lift and shape it so baby has back.
The truth is: my butt’s always been strong. Back in my competitive days as a teenage tennis player, I was all about footwork, gliding across the court like a petite but mighty gladiator. My nickname, Mikiller. An intimidating fear factor for opponents; a fierce, small warrior princess ready for battle.
I remember college, chilling in the dorm with my besties, when they stopped mid-convo and said, “Micaela, your butt is amazing”. Naturally, I flexed, and they gave it the full loving squeeze.
But as years have gone on and I’m no longer the queen of the court, the booty’s no longer bootying. Despite doing endless side-lying leg lifts in reformer Pilates, it’s lost that pop.
Is it weight loss? Age (hello, 40)? More focus on core and arms these days? Probably a blend of all of the above. I don’t like to speak unkindly about my body; I love it and am grateful for all that it does. But nevertheless a realist and a wearer of Brazilian cut bikinis and body-hugging knit dresses, I’ve wondered, “Is there a cure for a case of the flat butt?”
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Darren Smith, MD, is a plastic surgeon based in New York City.
Luckily, I have a squad of surgeons and dermatologists on speed dial. I slide into DMs, grill them for the latest trends, and get told to stop vaping. One morning, I was with Darren Smith, MD, a NYC-based plastic surgeon known for his killer bodywork, and I threw my booty dilemma his way.
I reassured him that a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) is nowhere on my to-do list, and he recommended the body contouring non-surgical option of Emsculpt Neo instead.
What Is Emsculpt Neo?
This magical machine uses electromagnetic technology to build muscle tone while reducing fat, with each session delivering the equivalent of 20,000 involuntary squats. Take that, Barry’s Bootcamp. Dr. Smith said it would be a great fit for me. “You love to workout and stay fit, so I think you’ll see significant lift and toning,” he reassured me. So, starting in late spring 2025, I booked six sessions of Emsculpt Neo at Dr. Smith’s swanky Ritz Tower office to see what all the hype was about.
What Does Emsculpt Neo Feel Like?
Each session is 30 minutes long, with customizable levels that gradually increase the machine’s power until you reach 100 percent intensity by the end. I won’t lie, the first session caught me off guard. There I was, lying strapped to the machine in nothing but a thong with a paper sheet beneath me (which you need, because boy, does this method make you sweat).
We started at 50 percent, and I felt a wild mix of involuntary twerking, tingling, tightening, and an S&M-worthy spanking sensation at the end of each cycle. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically, “I’m going to be ready for the club by the end of this journey.” As we turned it up and I hit 80 percent at the end, I asked, “People really do this at 100 percent the whole time?”
Dr. Smith said, “You’ll get used to it, trust me. Expect to be sore tomorrow.” The next day, I was indeed the good kind of sore, and the L-train subway stairs felt like my personal Kilimanjaro.
I was advised to do four sessions over four consecutive weeks, then to return a month later for two “maintenance” sessions. By week four, I was able to push through the whole session at 80 to 100 percent, feeling my posterior get stronger with every zap.
How Long Does It Take To See Results?
The beauty of Emsculpt Neo is that there’s no downtime; I was able to go about my day and felt like I got my workout in with the session.
They say results take two to three months to be fully noticeable, and I agree. The muscle growth keeps going for three to six months after your last session — it’s a marathon, not a sprint. I first noticed a real change about a week after the fourth session, slipping into my Lululemon Align leggings and realizing my butt had that coveted lift.
Sessions five and six were when the real wizardry happened. While still on the petite side, when I flex my glutes now or wear super tight clothes, the top half of my butt is indeed perkier, higher, and way more sculpted. If you want to look extra snatched for swimsuit season, definitely plan ahead.
Emsculpt Neo Butt Before and After
Micaela English (she/her) is a lifestyle writer based in Brooklyn who’s passionate about travel trends, beauty, sobriety, and wellness-based longevity. Micaela spent six years as an editor at Town & Country and has since written for Vogue, Glamour, Oprah Daily, The Zoe Report, Bustle, Well+Good, Quest, and more.
