You've probably seen the "shelf" on Instagram and wondered if it’s just genetics or surgery. It’s usually both, honestly. But for the rest of us living in the real world without a surgeon on speed dial, the question of how to get a big butt comes down to moving heavy weight and eating enough to actually support new muscle tissue. Most people fail because they treat their glutes like they’re trying to "tone" them with pink dumbbells. That won't work. You need to build.
Muscle growth, or hypertrophy, is a stubborn process. Your body doesn't actually want to carry extra muscle because muscle is metabolically expensive. It burns calories just by sitting there. To force your glutes to grow, you have to give your brain a reason to believe that your current muscle mass is inadequate for the survival tasks you're performing. In the gym, that means mechanical tension.
Why your current workout is probably failing your glutes
If you’re doing 100 bodyweight squats every morning, stop. You’re building endurance, not size. Think about the physique of a marathon runner versus a sprinter. To understand how to get a big butt, you have to look at the gluteus maximus, which is actually the largest muscle in the human body. It responds to heavy, explosive, and high-tension movements.
The gluteal group consists of the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. If you only focus on the "max," you’ll get depth but no width. If you only do abduction (moving your leg away from your body), you’ll get a bit of "hip" but no projection. You need a mix. But mostly, you need to eat. You cannot build a house without bricks, and you cannot build a gluteus maximus without a caloric surplus. If you are terrified of gaining a little body fat, you will likely never see the muscular gains you’re after. It's a trade-off.
The Big Three: Exercises that actually move the needle
There is a lot of noise in the fitness industry. Influencers love showing off "glute pumps" using cable kickbacks with five pounds of resistance. Those are "finishers," not builders. If you want to know how to get a big butt, you have to master the movements that allow for the most progressive overload.
The Hip Thrust is king. Bret Contreras, often called "The Glute Guy," popularized this move for a reason. Research using electromyography (EMG) shows that the hip thrust activates the glutes more effectively than the traditional back squat. Why? Because the tension is constant at the top of the movement where the glutes are shortest. When you squat, the hardest part is at the bottom, where your quads often take over. In a thrust, you’re pushing directly against gravity with your hips.
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Don't ignore the Romanian Deadlift (RDL).
This is where you get that "lift." The RDL focuses on the eccentric—the lowering phase—which causes the micro-tears necessary for growth. You have to feel the stretch in your hamstrings and the lower "tie-in" area of the glutes. If you aren't feeling a deep stretch, you're probably just bending at the waist. Keep the bar close to your shins. Push your hips back like you're trying to close a car door with your butt while your hands are full of groceries.
The Bulgarian Split Squat is a nightmare, but it works.
Everyone hates them. They hurt. They make you lose your balance. But because they are unilateral (one leg at a time), they force your gluteus medius to stabilize your entire pelvis. This prevents "glute amnesia" and ensures one side isn't doing all the work. If you have one butt cheek smaller than the other, this is your primary tool for fixing it.
The "Mind-Muscle Connection" isn't just bro-science
You’ve probably heard people talk about "feeling the burn." In glute training, this actually matters more than in almost any other muscle group. Because we spend so much time sitting, many of us have "dormant" glutes. Our brains literally forget how to fire those neurons efficiently.
Before you start your heavy sets, do some activation. A few sets of monster walks with a resistance band or some bodyweight glute bridges can "wake up" the tissue. You want to feel the muscle contracting before you put 135 pounds on a barbell. If you don't, your lower back and hamstrings will gladly take over the lift, leaving your glutes exactly the size they were when you started.
Nutrition: You have to eat for the "shelf"
You can't starve yourself into a larger backside. This is the most common mistake women, in particular, make when trying to figure out how to get a big butt. They want a tiny waist and a huge butt simultaneously. While "recomposition" is possible for beginners, it is incredibly slow.
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- Protein is non-negotiable. You need roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 150 lbs, you need 120-150g of protein daily. This builds the actual muscle fibers.
- Carbs are your fuel. Carbs replenish glycogen. Without glycogen, your workouts will suck. You won't have the "pop" or the energy to push through those last few reps where the real growth happens.
- The Surplus. You need to be in a slight caloric surplus—maybe 200 to 300 calories above maintenance. This provides the energy required for protein synthesis.
Think about it like this: your body is a construction site. The protein is the wood and nails. The carbohydrates are the workers. If the workers don't show up because they haven't been fed, the wood just sits on the lawn. Nothing gets built.
Genetics and the "Shape" Reality Check
We have to be honest here. Your bone structure dictates your starting point. Some people have a wider pelvis (iliac crest), which makes it easier to achieve an hourglass look. Others have a narrow frame where the glutes will grow "out" rather than "wide."
You can change the size of the muscle, but you cannot change where the muscle attaches to the bone. This is why two people can do the exact same workout and end up with different looking results. One might get a "heart-shaped" look while the other gets a "square" look. Both are improvements, but you have to work with the frame you were born with.
Moreover, fat distribution is purely genetic. Some people store fat in their hips and glutes first. Others store it in their stomach. If you are a "stomach storer," you will have to work twice as hard in the gym to build the muscle because you won't have the natural padding to help the silhouette.
Recovery: When the growth actually happens
You do not grow in the gym. You grow while you sleep. When you lift heavy weights, you are creating microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. Your body then rushes to repair those tears, making the fibers slightly thicker and stronger than they were before. This is hypertrophy.
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If you hit glutes every single day, you are constantly tearing them down and never giving them the 48-72 hours they need to rebuild. Three dedicated glute sessions a week is usually the sweet spot. Any more, and you risk overtraining; any less, and you might not be providing enough stimulus for significant change.
Sleep is a performance enhancer.
Get seven to nine hours. During deep sleep, your body releases human growth hormone (HGH). If you’re cutting your sleep to five hours, you’re essentially sabotaging your own gains. It’s that simple.
Supplements: Do they actually do anything?
Mostly no. But a few things help.
- Creatine Monohydrate: This is the most researched supplement in history. It helps your muscles draw in water and produce ATP, which lets you grind out an extra two reps. Those extra two reps over six months equal more muscle.
- Whey Protein: Only useful if you can't get enough protein from real food like chicken, eggs, or lentils. It's just food in powder form.
- Pre-workout: Mostly caffeine. It helps you focus, but it doesn't "build" anything.
Don't buy "glute growth pills" from Instagram. They are scams. They usually contain herbs that might slightly affect bloating or water retention, but there is no pill on earth that can selectively grow muscle tissue on your butt. If there were, everyone would have one.
Actionable steps to start today
Stop overthinking and start moving. If you want to see a difference in three to six months, you need a plan that you can actually stick to without burning out.
- Audit your current lift. Can you do 10 reps of a hip thrust with your own body weight? If yes, you need a barbell. Add weight every week. This is progressive overload.
- Track your protein. Download an app for three days and just see how much you're actually eating. Most people realize they’re only getting half of what they need.
- Prioritize the stretch. In your next workout, slow down the lowering phase of your lunges or RDLs to a three-second count. The soreness you feel the next day is the result of that eccentric tension.
- Measure, don't just weigh. Your weight might go up as you build muscle. This is good. Use a soft measuring tape to track the circumference of your hips versus your waist. That is the only number that matters for this specific goal.
Building a significant amount of muscle takes time. It’s not a 30-day challenge. It’s a 12-month commitment to being slightly stronger every single time you walk into the gym. Consistency is boring, but it’s the only thing that actually moves the needle when it comes to how to get a big butt. Forget the "hacks" and focus on the heavy lifting.