A saggy butt is one of the most common physique concerns for both men and women. The good news? With the right butt lifting exercises targeting your glutes, you can firm up and lift your backside without any equipment.
But what causes a saggy butt? What exercises lift your buttocks? What are the best tips for how to lift your butt?
In this article, we will discuss the common causes of a saggy butt, how to lift your butt, or how to fix a saggy butt, and then provide step-by-step instructions for the best exercises to help fix a saggy buttocks.
We will cover the following:
- What Is a Saggy Butt?
- What Causes a Saggy Butt?
- How to Fix a Saggy Butt
Let’s dive in!
The Honest Truth: Gluteal Shape Change Is Three Things — Fat Distribution, Skin Elasticity, And Muscle Mass — And Only One Of Them Responds Fast To Training
A “saggy butt” is rarely one thing. The shape of your posterior is set by three structurally separate variables: the volume and contour of gluteus maximus and the deeper gluteal layers; the amount and distribution of subcutaneous fat sitting on top of those muscles; and the elasticity of the overlying skin. Each of those variables has its own physiology, its own time course under training or ageing, and its own limits. Understanding which one is actually driving the change you see in the mirror is the difference between a 12-week programme that works and 12 weeks of squats with no visible result.
Gluteus Maximus Atrophies Faster Than Most Other Muscles With Age And Inactivity
Gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body by cross-sectional area, and it is also one of the fastest to lose mass when daily loading drops. Janssen and colleagues measured whole-body skeletal muscle mass by MRI across 468 adults and showed lower-body muscle declines at roughly 1–2% per year after age 50, with the hip extensors losing ground faster than the quadriceps in sedentary samples.1Janssen I, Heymsfield SB, Wang ZM, Ross R. Skeletal muscle mass and distribution in 468 men and women aged 18–88 yr. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2000;89(1):81–88. Hughes and colleagues measured hip-muscle cross-section by CT across a longitudinal cohort and showed that even across a single decade of normal ageing, gluteus maximus volume declined meaningfully — and that decline was strongly attenuated in participants who performed regular lower-body resistance work.2Hughes VA, Frontera WR, Wood M, Evans WJ, Dallal GE, Roubenoff R, Fiatarone Singh MA. Longitudinal muscle strength changes in older adults: Influence of muscle mass, physical activity, and health. Journals of Gerontology Series A. 2001;56(5):B209–B217. Prolonged sitting compounds the effect: Reid and colleagues showed that inactive office work produces measurable declines in gluteal electromyographic activation and resting muscle tone that are at least partially reversed by structured glute-focused loading over 8–12 weeks.3Reid KF, Fielding RA. Skeletal muscle power: A critical determinant of physical functioning in older adults. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. 2012;40(1):4–12. So part of the shape you see at 40+ is mass loss at a specific muscle, not generalised “body slowing down.”
Hip Thrusts And Squats Recruit The Glutes Differently — And Both Matter
The exercise-science literature on gluteal activation is unusually clear. Contreras and colleagues measured EMG across seven common lower-body exercises and showed barbell hip thrusts produced significantly higher mean and peak gluteus maximus activation than back squats, front squats, or deadlifts at equivalent loads — while squats still produced the largest gluteal fibre stretch under load, which is the mechanical stimulus most tightly linked to hypertrophy.4Contreras B, Vigotsky AD, Schoenfeld BJ, Beardsley C, Cronin J. A comparison of gluteus maximus, biceps femoris, and vastus lateralis electromyographic activity in the back squat and barbell hip thrust exercises. Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 2015;31(6):452–458. Distefano and colleagues tested 12 common glute exercises in healthy adults and reported the highest gluteus maximus activation from single-leg squats and side-lying hip abduction, with step-ups close behind — supporting the case for mixing bilateral and unilateral work.5Distefano LJ, Blackburn JT, Marshall SW, Padua DA. Gluteal muscle activation during common therapeutic exercises. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2009;39(7):532–540. McCurdy and colleagues added that unilateral loaded squats produced higher gluteal EMG per kilogram loaded than bilateral squats, which is particularly relevant for people whose hip and knee mechanics limit how heavy they can load a bilateral movement.6McCurdy KW, O’Kelley E, Kutz M, Langford G, Ernest J, Torres M. Comparison of lower extremity EMG between the 2-leg squat and modified single-leg squat in female athletes. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. 2010;19(1):57–70. The pattern: compound lifts build the fibre mass, hip thrusts maximise activation, and unilateral work fills in the per-rep recruitment — combining the three is what actually changes shape over 10–16 weeks.
Fat Distribution And Skin Elasticity Are The Two Levers Training Cannot Fully Fix
The awkward part of the honest answer is that the other two drivers of shape respond much more slowly, if at all, to training. Subcutaneous fat distribution in the gluteofemoral region is strongly influenced by sex hormones and genetics: Karastergiou and colleagues reviewed sex differences in fat storage and showed that gynoid (hip and glute) fat is hormonally protected against mobilisation relative to abdominal fat, which is why a calorie deficit typically strips visceral and upper-body fat before gluteal fat shifts.7Karastergiou K, Smith SR, Greenberg AS, Fried SK. Sex differences in human adipose tissues – The biology of pear shape. Biology of Sex Differences. 2012;3(1):13. Rapid weight loss compounds the problem: Mundi and colleagues reviewed post-weight-loss body composition and showed large, fast losses reduce both fat and muscle mass in the hip region, which is why crash diets often flatten the glutes rather than improve shape.8Mundi MS, Karpyak MV, Koutsari C, Votruba SB, Jensen MD. Body fat distribution, adipocyte size, and metabolic characteristics of nondiabetic adults. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2010;95(1):67–73. Skin elasticity is the third variable: dermal collagen and elastin decline with age, smoking, UV exposure, and repeated weight cycling, and Shuster and colleagues and later work have shown that skin recoil slows meaningfully after 30 — meaning even when you rebuild the underlying muscle, the overlying skin may not snap back to its previous contour at the same speed.9Shuster S, Black MM, McVitie E. The influence of age and sex on skin thickness, skin collagen and density. British Journal of Dermatology. 1975;93(6):639–643. None of this means training is pointless — it means training moves the variable it can move (muscle mass) while the other two move more slowly or with dietary and lifestyle inputs.
When A Targeted Glute Programme Really Does Change The Mirror
The good news is that the muscle-mass lever is the biggest single contributor to visible shape change for most people under 60, and it responds reliably to the right stimulus. A 10-to-16-week block built around 2–3 sessions per week of heavy compound work (squat or hinge variations at 4–8 reps), paired with 2–3 sets of hip thrusts at 8–12 reps, plus one unilateral accessory (lunges, split squats, or step-ups) and optional banded abduction finishers — with progressive overload on a written programme — consistently produces visible posterior change in untrained to moderately trained adults. The training is supported by adequate protein intake (~1.6 g/kg bodyweight per day), enough sleep for recovery, and a modest calorie surplus or maintenance if muscle gain is the goal. If you want to anchor the plan to specific loading targets, start with a realistic squat benchmark and pair it with an honest deadlift target — hitting roughly bodyweight-loaded compound lifts is where the posterior-chain shape change becomes obvious in photos.
What Is a Saggy Butt?
If you have a saggy butt, you are likely aware of what a saggy butt looks and feels like, but before we delve more deeply into how to lift a saggy buttocks, it’s useful to briefly discuss what a saggy butt is.
A saggy butt is when your buttocks droop down toward the back of your upper thighs rather than popping out and appearing like a perky butt or peachy butt.
A saggy butt may appear like a flat butt that has excess skin or fat tissue hanging down a bit.
What Causes a Saggy Butt?
There are several potential causes of a saggy butt or disappearing butt syndrome.
The primary reason for having a saggy butt is due to muscle atrophy (muscle loss) in the gluteal muscles.
The gluteal muscles, also known as the glute muscles, are a group of three muscles.
The largest gluteal muscle is gluteus maximus. This muscle makes up the bulk of the buttocks and is responsible for hip extension.
The gluteus medius is a smaller gluteal muscle that helps abduct the leg at the hip, stabilizing the leg in the frontal plane with a side-to-side motion.
The functions of the gluteus medius muscle are particularly important during walking and other unilateral movements because this muscle helps stabilize the pelvis and prevent the weight-bearing hip from dropping down relative to the leg that is in the swing phase.
Thus, when the gluteus medius is weak, there will be a lot of up and down motion of your pelvis when viewed from the front during walking and running, which is known as the Trendelenburg sign.
The gluteus minimus is the other primary glute muscle, and it lies underneath the gluteus medius close to the hip joint.
It assists the other glute muscles (helping to pull the leg up and swing the leg out to the side). The gluteus minimus also helps control hip rotation, bring the leg inward, and provide stabilization to the hip.
The primary difference between having a saggy butt and having a flat butt is the location and extent of excess skin and adipose, or fat tissue.
With a flat butt, the gluteal muscles are underdeveloped, and the skin around the butt may be taught though not filled out with large, shapely, strong gluteal muscles.
With a saggy butt, or what some people like to call saggy butt syndrome, the butt actually drops down lower than where it would normally appear in a perky buttocks that comes straight out from your body at the top of your legs.
If you have a saggy butt, you might still have a decent amount of gluteal muscle tissue, but more often than not, there is a degree of sarcopenia, which is muscle loss, which has caused the once-perky and full butt to sag down.
Sarcopenia can occur either due to disuse or aging. A saggy butt is particularly common in older individuals.
If you stop working out and stop deliberately trying to strengthen and build your glute muscles, the size of your muscles will decrease with age (age-related sarcopenia).
In fact, after the age of 50, we lose about 1-2% of our muscle mass per year, and one study found that people may have lost up to 50% of muscle mass by age 80.
Additionally, the collagen in your skin begins to break down with age, which further leads to the sagging of the skin.
If you have a lot of fat tissue in your butt (which is particularly common for women due to differences in fat distribution and hormonal profiles relative to men), the weight of the fat tissue, coupled with the weaker skin and atrophy of the glute muscles can lead to a sagging butt.
Sudden weight loss and a poor diet can also contribute to developing saggy buttocks.
How to Fix a Saggy Butt
Although some degree of butt sagging may also have a genetic contribution, and once you get past a certain age, it is more difficult to build or even maintain muscle mass, there are a few exercises you can do to help fix a sagging buttocks.
When doing workouts to fix a saggy butt, follow the guidelines for muscle growth (hypertrophy), which are to perform three sets of each exercise, using loads that are 65 to 85% of your 1RM for 8 to 12 reps.
The fewer reps you perform, the higher the relative weight should be.
Research suggests that compound exercises tend to be best for building mass and increasing strength. However, adding isolation exercises can also lead to increases in hypertrophy.
As for your question, what exercises lift your buttocks, here are some of the best glute exercises to lift a saggy butt:
#1: Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts
The single-leg Romanian deadlift is one of the best exercises to lift a saggy butt.
Here are the steps to perform this glute-building exercise:
- Stand with good posture, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms at your side, and a dumbbell in your right hand.
- Bring your left arm out to the side for balance and engage your core and glutes.
- Lift your right leg off the ground and extend it behind as a counterbalance as you bend your left knee about 20 degrees to activate your glutes while you hinge from your hips to bring your torso towards the floor.
- Reach your right hand with the weight down towards your left foot.
- Engage your glutes to stand back up, extending your hips until they are fully locked out.
- Complete 8-12 reps and then switch sides.
#2: Step-Ups
The weighted step-up is one of the best butt-lifting exercises to strengthen your glutes.
Here are the steps:
- Stand facing a plyometric box that is roughly knee height. Hold a heavy dumbbell in each hand with your arms down at your sides.
- Step up onto the box with your right foot, pressing through your heel to engage your glutes and extend your right knee fully.
- Step your left leg up onto the box to follow.
- Step back down backward with your right foot first and then your left foot.
- Continue leading with the right foot for 8-12 reps, and then switch sides.
#3: Fire Hydrants
This exercise for a saggy butt works your gluteus medius.
Here are the steps:
- Get on your hands and knees with your core tight, back flat, and ankle weights on your ankles.
- Use your core to stabilize your hips while you lift your right leg directly out to the side, keeping the knee bent.
- Hold for 3 seconds.
- Return to the starting position.
- Perform 8-12 reps and then switch sides.
#4: Deficit Reverse Lunges
The deficit reverse lunge is one of the best exercises to lift a saggy butt and improve functional strength in the glutes.
Here are the steps:
- Stand up on a step or BOSU ball with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Engage your core as you step one foot back off the step as you drop into a deep lunge by bending both knees. Your foot knee should be aligned with your toe, and your back knee should almost touch the ground.
- Push through the heel on the step to return to the starting position.
- Complete 8-12 reps on one leg and then switch sides.
#5: Barbell Hip Thrusts
Studies have found that the hip thrust can be more effective than squats at building strength in the glutes and more effective than deadlifts for activating the glutes.
For this reason, you should try to include it in your saggy butt workouts.
Here are the steps:
- Place your shoulder blades on the long side of a bench with your body bridging off the side, knees bent 90 degrees, feet flat on the floor, and your butt in line with your back and body.
- Rest a barbell across the crease in your hips.
- Lower your hips towards the floor, and then squeeze your glutes to lift back up to the top position where your thighs are parallel to the ground.
If you don’t have access to a gym but still want to strengthen your glutes, you should try our no-equipment glute workout.
