Holistically Katie

How do I fix a flat butt?

For a long time, I was very insecure about my lower body. I couldn’t figure out why my butt was flat no matter how many squats I would do everyday. After getting home from track, I would do as many air squats I could do until I felt like I was going to fall over. This barely did ANYTHING. I was so confused. But then, as I entered college and started to get really into weight-training, I was able to start to see some progress. Everything I had thought about getting a bigger butt was actually not true. It takes a lot of time, dedication, and heavy lifting, but it is so, so worth it. I put together these tips if you guys want to learn how to grow your lower body without having to make the same mistakes that I did.

I also want to note that I am still working on growing my lower body, and I am in no way done. One thing I love so much about fitness is that it is always a competition with yourself to see what you can do, no one else. There is never an end-point to fitness…I am always setting new goals and making progress towards them, which is so exciting and motivating for me.

Here are some of my best tips I have accumulated throughout the past few months that have proved incredibly useful for me:

• LIFT HEAVY. Guys, doing a 100 air squats every day and running for 10 miles will not do much for your ass. Trust me, this is what I used to do and I would wonder why my butt was flat. You need to do RESISTANCE TRAINING, doing compound movements and lifting HEAVY. There is actually science behind this. Sure, doing body weight air squats, lunges, bridges will give you a tighter, more toned booty but it will not actually add size. Here are some of my favorite exercises I do on leg day. All exercises are linked to Bodybuilding.com, which will show you exactly how to do the exercise and tips for maintaining proper form. 1. Bench barbell hip thrust. 2. Squats. *Note: I really like the Sumo variation because I feel it more in my glutes. 3. Romanian Deadlift4. Bulgarian Split Lunge. Someone I recommend watching is Whitney Simmons who is on both Instagram and Youtube. Her butt is goals and she does an incredible job thoroughly explaining the exercises she does.  

  

  

• EAT ENOUGH AND EAT HEALTHY. Part of the reason I could never get a bigger butt was because I went through a period where I was not feeding myself properly. As I have discussed before, I struggled with an eating disorder and orthorexia for two years of my life and during that period I lost around 15-20 pounds. As well as losing fat, I also lost the muscle I had built during sports like crew. Your butt is a muscle like any other part of your body and it needs fuel to grow. You need to be eating enough calories for this to happen. In addition to eating enough calories, you need to be eating enough PROTEIN. Proteins are the building blocks of muscle growth. Try to have high quality protein at least thirty minutes after your lift. I prefer a plant based protein (hemp or pea) over whey because I do not believe dairy is a healthy option. Other good sources of protein include wild caught fish, organic eggs, lentils, beans, tofu or quinoa.

• ISOLATION EXERCISES: Squats and lunges are awesome, but they are definitely not the only exercises that target the glutes specifically. I really have been loving weighted hip thrusts…these are killer and they are probably the number one exercise to get the glutes firing. It is important to squeeze at the top of the motion and make sure you are actually FEELING the exercise in your glutes rather than just going through the motion. Some other incredible exercises for the glutes that I have been incorporating recently have been glute pull-throughs, ankle weight donkey kicks, fire hydrants and hip abductors.

• How to isolate: RESISTANCE BANDS and ANKLE WEIGHTS. Going along with the above bullet, investing in equipment and using it at the gym or at home have been huge for booty gains. I only paid 12 dollars for my set of resistance bands that I use almost every time I workout, and are incredible for at-home workouts. I love my resistance bands for glute activation, which is another key component to getting a better lower-body workout. Your glutes must be turned on, or activated, before the actual workout because this ensures your glutes will be doing the work, and not other parts of the lower body like your hamstrings. I attribute so much of my lower body improvement to purchasing resistance bands and doing glute activation; I cannot recommend this enough! An example of a glute activation circuit with a resistance band could be: Side to side crab walks, Standing kickbacks, Kneeling fire-hydrants, Glute bridges, Squat with side leg raise. Repeat this three times, doing each exercise for 12-20 twenty repetitions. Ankle weights are great for challenging your glutes and adding more resistance to isolation exercises like kickbacks. I use 5 pounds on each leg usually (mine are adjustable), and the difference I feel is incredible. I have demonstrated several ankle weight workouts on my Instagram, so make sure to follow me.

• BE PATIENT AND GIVE YOURSELF REST DAYS. You might think that you have to workout your butt everyday in order to get it bigger, but this is far from the truth. In fact, over-working your glutes can actually end up hindering progress. Your glutes need time to repair and get ready for the next time you work them, so ensure to give yourself a rest day after leg day. Rather than working out legs back to back, throw in an arm day or an ab day for example. During the time off, your leg and butt muscles will be repairing themselves and this is when the growth happens! Another thing is to be patient. Serious change will not occur over time. It took several weeks for me to see progress, but when I finally did, it was so rewarding! Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Check out the video down below to see one of my favorite booty-building exercises in action!