Have you got a flat butt ever since having babies? Looking in the mirror after pregnancy and wondering “what happened to my butt?!” is super common. This is what we like to call – “mom butt”.
What Causes a Flat Butt?
During pregnancy, as the size of the baby and belly increase, many women compensate for a weaker core by tightly gripping and tucking their glutes.
And postpartum, when core stability is particularly compromised – glute gripping becomes a way of survival.
Tucking your pelvis and gripping your butt means you are not properly activating your glutes. A tight muscle is not a strong muscle!
If you squeeze your glutes all day looking for more core stability, your glutes muscles become tight and weak.
Over time, this imbalance leads to “pancake butt”, “dormant butt syndrome”, “mom butt”, or any number of less than endearing terms for weaker and less shapely glutes.
Why Is It Important to Fix a Mom Butt?
Aside from aesthetics, it is SO important to regain glute strength and improve deep core function postpartum.
Strong glutes can help improve posture, mobility, and avoid injury.
Glute muscles also have a direct influence on the pelvic floor. Yes! Strong glutes are tied to a functional pelvic floor. This is so important – even life-changing!
The good news is you can bring that booty back.
Tips to Transform Your Mom Butt
Adding glute exercises, strength training, and some simple tips into your life will help strengthen and improve the size and shape of your butt.
Check Yourself
Before we get into exercises, let’s look at alignment, specifically gripping.
During pregnancy, people become so used to gripping their booty that they often don’t realize they’re still doing it long after baby arrives. Check yourself out.
- Grip your butt muscles tight and then relax it. Feel the difference?
- Cue yourself throughout the day by asking “butt check?” Try this in front of a mirror, while doing the dishes, or rocking a baby while standing.
- The goal is to find a neutral position. With practice, you will naturally begin to break the habit and grip less.
- Don’t over-correct your posture by arching your low back and puffing out your chest. This creates anterior pelvic tilt and tight hip flexors.
Stagger Your Stance
Perhaps the MOST important tip I can give, and the one that will make an immediate impact is to stagger your stance.
Using a staggered stance is particularly important when you’re holding your kids.
Instead of leaning over to empty the dishwasher, pull laundry out of the dryer, or pick toys up off the floor, think: “tripod it”.
The tripod shape prevents you from gripping. It lowers your center of gravity and takes pressure off your back.
This also helps with back pain during and after pregnancy, as you rebuild your deep core and glutes:
- Stagger your stance to widen your base.
- Place your free hand on your thigh and use this tripod position as you lower down.
- Let out a big exhale as you stand to protect your pelvic floor.
Release Your Glute Medius
Another tip is to use a foam roller to work on releasing your glute medius (side butt muscle).
You can find more info on this in my post about foam rolling.
Does Sitting Make Your Butt Flat?
One thing no one tells us about postpartum is how much we sit on our butts in the early days.
We sit to breastfeed or bottle feed. We sit as we are nap-trapped for hours.
And all that sitting down can have an effect on your glute composition and pelvic health.
Can Your Butt Get Flat From Sitting Too Much?
It isn’t the act of sitting that flattens your butt. It is that your glutes aren’t active while sitting.
Another reason you may be losing butt tone from sitting is because your hip flexors tighten up when sitting too long.
This limits the range of motion and makes it harder to recruit the glute muscles—even when doing something as simple as walking.
Try to take standing breaks throughout the day. If possible, aim to go for a walk for 15-30 minutes each day. A stroller walk is great for you and baby!
12 Great Flat Butt Exercises
Strength training is a great way of targeting your glutes and building that mom butt!
You don’t need much equipment to build muscle and make glute gains. In fact, body weight training is a great option for busy moms.
These exercises help to build the three muscles of your glutes: Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus.
Exercises For Your Gluteus Maximus
Squats
- Inhale as you squat down, thighs parallel to the ground.
- Exhale, lift pelvic floor as you stand and squeeze glutes at the top.
Elevated Bridges
- Feet on an elevated surface.
- Inhale while your back is on the ground.
- Exhale, lift pelvic floor, rise up, and squeeze glutes at the top.
Hip Thrusts
- Shoulder blades on a bench or chair.
- Using a weight is optional.
- Keep chin tucked.
- Inhale while your bottom is toward the ground.
- Exhale, lift pelvic floor as you rise up and squeeze glutes in extension.
Deadlifts
- Slight bend in your knees.
- Inhale as you hinge at the hips, reaching your glutes back behind you.
- Exhale, lift pelvic floor to stand. Squeeze glutes at the top.
Split Squats
- Back foot on an elevated surface.
- Hinge forward slightly.
- Inhale to lower.
- Exhale as you drive through your front foot to stand.
Hip Extensions
- Resistance band is optional.
- Start on your forearms.
- Inhale while your knees are down.
- Keeping your leg bent, extend one foot toward the ceiling.
Exercises For Your Gluteus Medius
Ball Push Hip Hinge
- Place a squishy ball between your knee, your outer knee, and the wall.
- Firmly press knee into the ball throughout the whole exercise.
- Hinge at the hips, reaching butt back behind you.
- Exhale, lift pelvic floor, and stand tall.
Fire Hydrant
- On your forearms, spine in neutral position.
- Inhale while your knee is down.
- Exhale, lifting leg to the side.
- Resistance band optional.
Clam Bridge
- Make sure your feet are aligned with your glutes behind you.
- Start with knees together, butt on the ground.
- Inhale while on the ground.
- Exhale, lift pelvic floor as you drive knee up.
- Be sure not to rotate hips open.
Lateral Shuffle
- Mini band around the tops of knees.
- Slight bend in the knees.
- Keep pressing knees out against the band as you step side to side.
Penguins
- Use a light resistance band mini loop around the tops of your feet.
- Take a slightly wider than hips stance.
- Slight bend in knees.
- Shift weight side to side, exhaling each time.
Seated Band Abduction
- Lean back slightly.
- Resistance band around the tops of the knees.
- Inhale, knees neutral.
- Exhale, pressing knees out against the band and lifting pelvic floor.
The Bottom Line
Glutes take time! My Strong Like A Mother program focuses a LOT on glute and core and pelvic floor training, to rebuild that peach.
They call it #slambooty in my program because I promise you – I bring that booty back!
Left is before I started SLAM and the right is halfway through SLAM30! My glutes had atrophied so much after having my 3 children that my tailbone was so prominent! I am so grateful for this program and the amazing community. I feel I have gained so much functional strength while I healed my diastasis recti and my disc issues!
Take the placement quiz and find out which program is best for you to start working on that flat mom butt!