r/glutejourney

hello! ✨

dropping in to share my ~5 month progress (and hoping this is particularly helpful to my fellow hip dip/square booty friends)!

in the first photos (gray shorts), I was eating in a ~400 cal deficit & hitting lower body 2x a week. here’s everything I changed in my nutrition/training:

- hitting legs 3x a week
- reduced deficit down to 100-200 cals
- reduced volume/weight on glute medius exercises
- increased protein by 10g/day
- increased focus on compound lifts + glute max training
- more intentional progressive overload

Had to stop training for 5 months, losing basically all my gains. But muscle memory must be a thing, because this is just 3 months of effort and focus! Happy ;)

Before is July 2025, after is July 2026. I was underweight and pretty much completely sedentary in the before pic. I’m 178 cm and have gained around 7 kg since then, which I obviously know isn’t all muscle.

I’ve been doing glute-focused workouts for about a year now, although I definitely wouldn’t count the entire year as effective training. It took me several months to learn the exercises properly, and I was very quad-dominant at first, especially with Bulgarian split squats. My training also wasn't very consistent during that period. I've been following my current routine more consistently since around May, with RDLs and hip abductions added in July.

I do feel like there’s a noticeable difference between the pictures, although I know the lighting/angle isn’t exactly the same. At the same time, part of me feels like I should have made more progress after a year.

I work out at home, so my equipment and the amount of weight I can use are pretty limited.

My current routine is roughly:
Bulgarian split squats: 20 kg total, 3×8 each leg
Hip thrusts: 30 kg, 3×12 (with resistance band)
RDLs: 20 kg, 3×8–10
Banded seated hip abductions: 3×25

I only recently implemented RDLs properly, which is why the weight on those is still pretty low. I’m focusing on getting the movement/form right before increasing it.

Would you consider this decent progress for the timeframe? And does anyone have tips for getting better glute growth with a home setup/limited weights? Especially anything you’d change about my routine or exercise selection :)

Also curious if any other tall girls have found that glute progress takes longer to actually look noticeable? Not sure if height matters that much but a would love to hear from other tall girls!

I have been weightlifting for about 3 years now. Before, I was very skinny, and prioritized glute growth above any other muscle, but since then, I've been keeping it balanced for a more toned look. While I have made significant glute gains, I still struggle with filling out the outside/side glutes. I do exercises that target all three muscles, but despite that, the side of my glutes are still flat, and it's noticeable from the back. Does anyone have any advise to fill out the glutes in the circled area?

So i have an extra fold under my right side. It’s been there for almost 6 years. I think it appeared when I developed an eating disorder and lost 12 kg in a short period of time. I eventually recovered and now I have a normal bmi (163cm; 59kg). But the extra fold is still there. I’ve been weight training for almost a year right now and honestly i am happy with my results (gained 6 cm around my glutes without gaining anything around my waist) but the appearance of the extra fold hasn’t changed much. It makes me very insecure so much that I dread wearing bikinis. Has anyone dealt with something like this before or has any idea how to fix it? I’m even considering getting fillers to fill the crease.
The image is not mine. It’s a before pic for a bbl but mine looks the same.

So, I’m pretty convinced that I have “inverted triangle” glutes. Is there any hope for me that my ass isn’t gonna be disgustingly shaped if I continue on in my gym journey?
Anything I need to do differently?
I do hip thrusts and abductions frequently. Along with goblet squats and weighted lunges. My glutes have grown, definitely, but the bigger they get I think the uglier the shape becomes.
Sorry if y’all also have this shaped glute and I’m roasting you, this is like my biggest insecurity.. people have commented on my shape before and now I hide my ass every change I can get.

I have wide set hips and a tiny butt. It’s like, super discouraging. I don’t even wanna continue working out anymore.

I’m a natural apple shape (I hold my weight in my midsection, including my stomach and back, then I gain in my arms, face, THEN my legs, and nothing in my butt), and I’ve had a flat butt my entire life. I didn’t think it was possible for me to grow it or get any kind of shape, but lifting has managed to grow my lower body in ways I didn’t think possible.

Sharing for fellow apple body girls and those who’ve never had a butt.

I started the gym at about 128ish pounds in late April after a 3 year weight loss journey (to lose 40 lbs gained in covid), and I’m currently about 138 pounds on August 17. I gained more weight than I wanted to, and it was scary but this is the first time the weight has ever distributed this way, and I’m happy with it even though I intend to cut in a few months.

I don’t count/closely watch calories, only my protein intake of around 110-130g every day, and I follow my own simple workout routine I curated myself. I lift 3 days a week and I hit glutes all of those days.

Tried to get the same angles to make it as accurate as possible and these are the same pants!

Also, My glutes used to measure 37.9 and they’re now 39.2 inches. This is small progress but I think it’s good! Cheers.

I started consistently training my glutes around 2 months ago. I do 2 upper body days and 2 lower body days.

I thought of 2 options. A lower A & a lower B or just one workout I do twice

Lower A:
Glutes + Quads

1. Barbell squats (3x6-10)
2. Hip thrust (3x6-10)
3. Bulgarian split squat (3x8-12)
4. Cable kickback (3x10-15)
5. Hip abduction (3x until failure)

Lower B:
Glutes + Hamstrings

1. Hip thrust (3x8-12)
2. Romanian deadlift (3x8-12)
3. Bulgarian split squat (3x10-12)
4. Hamstring curl (3x12-15)
5. Cable kickback (3x until failure)

Lower to do twice:

1. Hip thrust (3x8-10)
2. Romanian Deadlift (3x8-10)
3. Bulgarian Split Squats (3x10-12)
4. Cable Kickbacks (3x12-15)
5. Rotate Hamstring Curls and Hip Abduction (3x until failure)

My questions:

- Which option do you like better?

- I don’t have the best history with food, since I could never decide how much to eat. Sometimes I ate in a 200 calorie deficit, sometimes a 500 one, and sometimes I would binge at the end of the month. My maintenance is 2000. My weight has stayed roughly the same in the past few months. - I’ve been eating at maintenance, or slightly (200 calories) less for over the past couple months. I’m 5’4, 120-124lbs depending on where I am at my cycle and around 24-25% body fat (I do scans at my gym since I don’t have access to DEXA. I know this is not very reliable.) I eat 100-110 grams of protein a day. Should I change how I eat?

- I am struggling with the cable kickbacks. What variation do you think would be a good addition to my routine? And how do I actually feel them in my glutes?

- I want to grow a SHELF. A nice, big, rounded bum. I have some hip dips, which I think I just need to accept. What are some exercises I should focus on for my glute shape? Should I change something about my program?

JE DÉTESTE MES FESSES et c’est très dur pour moi de les afficher ainsi. J’ai fais il y a longtemps une procédure de lipofilling car j’avais besoin de graisse pour combler un autre endroit de mon corps. Le chirurgien a cherché un peu de graisse partout alors que j’étais déjà maigre. Depuis mes fesses tombent encore plus. Mais je pense que le problème vient surtout de ma génétique car même quand je faisais beaucoup de sport mes fesses étaient plus bombées de profil mais ne remontaient pas et de vu de face arrière elles ressemblaient quand même à ce truc moche, carré et pendant que je n’aime pas. Comment remédier à cela ? Je suis ouverte à la chirurgie aussi mais je crois que c’est très difficile de corriger cela avec des techniques chirurgicales

I gain some weight and realized my lower butt became flat....like it's a weird flat under my butt....how can I workout this specific part?

Hi! This is my 3.5 month progress so far. Nothing has changed in terms of intensity, diet, and workouts since my last post here. I do however think I'm gaining weight too fast although it might be the creatine I started back then..but I'm up to 138 lbs compared to 125 lbs in the beginning. I've decided to trim my calories from 2.3k to 2.2k from onwards. I'm super excited about my progress so far :)

I do legs 2-3 times a week

I progress incrementally in weights every two or three weeks because I focus more on reps to build good form before jumping higher in weights.