Once upon a time, everyone was going crazy for six-pack abs. Then came the famous “Michelle Obama arms,” followed by the thigh gap. And now we have the booty. Ladies, have you been training your butt off trying to, well, grow a bigger one? Or, specifically, have you been working intensely only for your butt to stay flat? If that’s the case, there could be a few reasons why it’s not growing. Check out the culprits below, along with their solutions. At the end, I’ll leave you my top booty-growing workouts. Now, let’s get started!

Too Much Sitting

Add a flat behind to the laundry list of reasons why the modern sedentary lifestyle is ruining society. Too much sitting leads to Dormant Butt Syndrome, a term coined by Ohio State University physical therapist Chris Kolba. [1] Dormant Butt Syndrome, in a nutshell, is when the glutes (aka, your butt) start to “fall asleep” and weakens over time. Aside from not looking very attractive, a dormant butt can lead to other problems in the body, including lower back pain, knee pain, pelvic instability, tight hip flexors, tight hamstrings, joint pressure, poor posture, and injury. [2]

What to Do: Get up and move! Instead of doing your workout and calling it a day, look at the bigger picture and put movement into your lifestyle. That means getting up for breaks at work, taking walks, playing with your pet, and using stairs. This is what’s known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), and it’s key to keeping your butt from flattening out like a pancake even after doing massive amounts of squats and hip thrusts. (Bonus: Read this post here on how to stay active when deskbound.)

Poor Glute Activation

You say you’re training your lower body, but are you really? If you’re not feeling the muscle being worked, then that’s a sign of poor activation. So, it doesn’t matter how many reps you make. If you’re mostly numb to them, then you’re not stimulating any muscle growth. No stimulation leads to no growth and no booty.

What to Do: Focus on a few isolation exercises as a warmup before training. Exercises like the bridge, bodyweight hip thrusts, and kickbacks are all great ways to wake up and activate the glutes. When you’re doing, be sure to squeeze and connect with the. Muscles you’re aiming to work. Don’t just go through the motions; feel everything. You can “prime” the glutes for just a few minutes before getting started. That way, once you’re done, you’ll be able to properly engage and feel them during exercises like squats, lunges, and deadlifts.

Poor Training

Time to be honest- how often are you training the glutes? Is it once a week or once a month? Neither one of those is going to be enough, by the way. To grow any muscle, you need a combination of frequency and consistency. You don’t want to swing to another extreme and work them every single day before burning out. Another problem is the quality of training being done. It’s not enough to do a bunch of donkey kicks. You need to continue challenging the muscles in order to grow. Otherwise, they’ll only adapt and remain the same.

Solution: Bare minimum, you should be training the glutes 2-3 times a week. Some people can go up to 5 days a week. Find a frequency that works best for you. As for the workout itself, make sure you’re more than air squats and kickbacks. Keep finding ways to increase the difficulty to strengthen the muscles. Instead of a bodyweight squat, try a weighted goblet squat. Try and see if you can do a squat on one leg before advancing to a pistol squat. Variety is key as well. Don’t rely solely on squats. Hip thrusts are now the gold standard for building the booty, as made famously by strength coach Bret Contreras. You also have reverse lunges, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and plie squats. (Here’s a quick 5-minute booty workout that features some of these moves.)

Poor Recovery 

If you’re already crushing your workout, then look at what’s going on outside of it. Although it’s important to train the glutes to grow them, you also need to prioritize your recovery. Without it, all of that effort and sweat go to waste. Exercise breaks down and begins the muscle-building process. Recovery is when it starts to take place, acting as sort of a “receiver” to exercise.

Solution: Make sure you’re focusing on getting enough rest. I don’t mean being lazy- get enough sleep, manage your stress, and consider practices like sauna, cold showers, meditation, foam rolling, and massage to start easing your body into repair mode. Stress management is also a piece of the puzzle here, as cortisol, the infamous “stress” hormone, can quickly eat away muscle if you’re always in a state of fight-or-flight. While cortisol is designed to help us survive, there’s no need to run for your life after a workout. So, if you’re switching from one form of stress (i.e., working out) to another (traffic, relationships, work, etc.), then building muscles (booty included) is going to take a backseat. Try meditating, prioritizing self-care, and spending time outdoors to fight off the blues.

Bad Diet

Finally, let’s talk about diet. I hate to sound like a broken record, but if your diet is full of processed food products, then you’re less likely going to progress with your workouts. Your body is asking for nutrients, not preservatives, and sugar. If your butt is growing at a snail’s pace and you’re “rewarding” yourself with sugary sweets and fried foods, then it’s time for a diet makeover.

Solution: Don’t deprive yourself, though. Instead of thinking about what you shouldn’t eat, focus on what you can. Trust me; when you give your body enough time, fresh seasonal fruit will become your “sweets.” There’s nothing like fresh meals made with wholesome ingredients from meat, veggies, and healthy fats and seasonings to satisfy your taste buds. If making the switch is still tough, then check out my post on how to like healthy foods.

 The Best Workouts:

OK ZGYM warriors, time to take things up a notch. If you haven’t already, start doing the following series and workouts to grow and lift that booty! In the meantime, drop a comment down below and let me know if these tips have helped. With the right lifestyle and patience, you’ll be well on your way to better glutes!

EDT #1 – Glutes & Abs
Bikini Butt Lift Program
Lifted Butt Series
Low Impact Lower Body
4 Kettlebell Exercises for a Sexy Butt
30 Bodyweight Exercises for Butt and Legs 

Sources:

[1] https://www.npr.org/2016/05/29/479913427/-dormant-butt-syndrome-can-be-a-pain-in-the-knee-hip-and-back
[2] https://www.healthline.com/health/tight-glutes#symptoms