The muscles in your butt, known as the glutes, play a big role in giving it a rounded shape. However, some people might have a flat butt due to things like genetics or issues with how these muscles function. Thankfully, exercises like walking, lunges, and hip thrusts can help strengthen and shape your glutes. Let’s dive into how you can enhance a flat butt.
Your butt’s appearance is largely influenced by factors out of your control, like genetics. Genes play a key role in determining how much muscle mass you naturally have. As you age, your glutes might start to flatten since aging is related to changes in muscle structure. Over time, you may lose muscle tissue, tone, and strength.
The activities you engaged in throughout your life also affect your glute shape. For instance, if you were active in sports like gymnastics as a kid, you might have more developed glutes or find it easier to tone them as you age than someone who didn’t participate in sports.
Another reason for a flat butt could be gluteal amnesia or dormant butt syndrome, which occurs when your glute muscles are not activating properly.
While you can’t completely change your butt’s natural shape, you can definitely enhance what you’ve got. Strong and toned glutes offer many benefits. Here are some adjustments to your exercise routine and lifestyle that can help boost your glutes and speed up results.
To work on your glutes while adding a cardio element, try exercises like side skates and power skips. When it comes to cardio, rather than just sticking to steady treadmill runs, focus on activities like walking or sprinting. Walking encourages a longer stride, better engaging your glutes, while sprinting involves lifting your knees higher, activating those muscles even more.
For more targeted glute workouts, consider adding an incline. Climbing stairs is an underrated exercise for the glutes. Aim for a daily step goal of 10,000 to 15,000 steps, with at least 1,500 of those steps on hills or stairs for faster toning.
Sitting for long periods can change your butt’s shape by shortening and tightening hip flexors, which impacts your ability to activate the glutes and core.
When it’s time to stretch, try incorporating activities that focus on utilizing the glutes more directly. Some exercises, like basic squats and leg presses, often work the quadriceps more. Instead, focus on unilateral movements—working one side of the body at a time—so the glutes are more directly targeted. Home workouts could include single-leg deadlifts, lunges, and lying single-leg hip thrusts.
After being sedentary, and before jumping into workouts, consider doing exercises like backbends, which strengthen the body and help wake up the glutes:
Backbends (part of yoga): Aids in strengthening arms, hands, and shoulders.
Hip-flexor release: Can improve lower spine stability and relieve muscle tightness.
Adding resistance with a band during exercises like hip thrusts can also challenge your muscles more, activating different parts of the glutes.
Whether it’s due to age, genetics, or how you’ve used your glutes, there are plenty of exercises to help build stronger, bigger glutes. Options include glute-centric cardio, strength exercises, stretching, and unilateral moves.
