You’ve seen the "shelf" on Instagram. You know the one. It’s that perfectly rounded, gravity-defying shape that makes everyone run to the nearest rack to start a set of ten. But here’s the cold, hard truth: you can squat for bigger buttocks every single day for a year and still end up with nothing but sore knees and slightly bigger quads. It’s frustrating. Honestly, it’s enough to make most people quit and just buy padded leggings.
The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in your body. It should be easy to hit, right? Wrong. Most people are "quad dominant," meaning their thighs take over the second they descend into a rep. If you don't learn how to shut those quads up and wake the glutes up, you’re just spinning your wheels.
The Biomechanics of Why You Aren't Growing
The squat is a "compound" movement. That’s fancy trainer-speak for "a lot of stuff is happening at once." When you drop down, your hips, knees, and ankles all have to play nice. If your ankle mobility is trash, your heels pop up. If your core is weak, your back rounds. But for glute growth specifically, the magic happens at the bottom.
According to a 2020 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, deep squats (full ROM) produce significantly more glute hypertrophy than partial squats. Why? Because the gluteus maximus is most stretched at the bottom of the movement. Muscle growth is heavily driven by mechanical tension under stretch. If you're "ego lifting" 200 pounds but only moving four inches, you aren't doing a glute workout. You’re doing a calf raise with a heavy backpack.
Stop cutting your reps short.
You need to get your hip crease below your knee. This is often called "breaking parallel." When you do this, you force the glutes to produce the most force to get you back up. It’s hard. It burns. It’s exactly what you need.
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Squat for Bigger Buttocks: The Setup Secrets
Most people stand with their feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointing straight ahead because that's what they saw in a textbook once. That might work for some, but if you want to target the backside, you need to go wider.
Try a "sumo" or wide-stance squat. Open your feet up. Point your toes out at about a 30-degree angle. This position creates more "hip abduction," which recruits the gluteus medius and minimus—the muscles on the side that give you that rounded look.
Also, think about your "drive."
When you start coming up from the bottom, don't just think about standing up. Think about pushing the floor away through your heels. If you find yourself leaning onto your toes, you’re shifting the load to your quads. You might even want to try wiggling your toes inside your shoes mid-squat just to make sure the weight is centered on your mid-foot and heel. It sounds weird, but it works.
The "Butt Wink" and Other Gains-Killers
We have to talk about the posterior pelvic tilt. People call it the "butt wink." It’s that little tuck your pelvis does at the very bottom of a squat. Some people say it’s fine; others say it’ll explode your spine. The reality is somewhere in the middle.
If your pelvis tucks too much, you lose the tension on your glutes and put it on your lower back discs. Not great. Usually, this happens because your hamstrings are tight or your hip sockets are just built a certain way (shoutout to Dr. Stuart McGill’s research on hip anatomy). If you wink, don't go quite as deep. Go as deep as you can without your tailbone tucking under.
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Another huge mistake? Not squeezing at the top.
If you just stand up and go right back down, you’re missing the peak contraction. At the top of the rep, tuck your pelvis slightly and squeeze your glutes like you’re trying to hold a coin between your cheeks. Hold it for one second. It makes a massive difference over 12 reps.
Variations That Actually Matter
Don't just stick to the standard barbell back squat. It’s the king, sure, but it’s not the only way to squat for bigger buttocks.
- Low Bar Back Squat: Instead of resting the bar on your traps (the muscles near your neck), rest it further down on your rear deltoids. This forces a slight forward lean, which shifts the center of mass and puts way more stress on the posterior chain. Powerlifters do this for a reason.
- Goblet Squats: Hold a dumbbell against your chest. This is the best way to learn how to keep your chest up and sink deep into your hips. It’s hard to mess this one up.
- Box Squats: Sit down onto a box or bench, pause, and then drive up. This breaks the "stretch-shortening cycle," meaning you can't use momentum to bounce. You have to use pure glute power to get moving again.
The Mind-Muscle Connection Isn't Bro-Science
There was a study by Bret Contreras (often called "The Glute Guy") that used EMG (electromyography) to measure muscle activation. He found that simply thinking about the muscle you're working can increase its activation.
Before you even touch the bar, do some "glute activation" work.
- 20 bodyweight glute bridges.
- 15 "clamshells" on each side.
- A 30-second plank.
You want those muscles "awake" so they don't let the quads and lower back take over the heavy lifting. If you can't feel your butt working during the warmup, you definitely won't feel it with 100 pounds on your back.
Nutrition: You Can't Build a House Without Bricks
You can't tone what isn't there. If you’re in a massive calorie deficit, your body isn't going to build new muscle tissue in your glutes. It’s going to use that energy just to keep your heart beating.
To grow, you need a slight calorie surplus. We aren't talking about eating everything in sight—just about 200–300 calories above your maintenance. And protein? Aim for about 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 150 lbs, eat 150g of protein. Chicken, lentils, Greek yogurt, steak—whatever works for you. Just get it in.
Recovery and Frequency
Don't squat every day. Muscle doesn't grow while you're at the gym; it grows while you're sleeping.
Hit your glutes hard 2–3 times a week. Give them at least 48 hours of rest between sessions. If you're still incredibly sore, wait another day. Chronic inflammation is the enemy of hypertrophy.
Practical Next Steps for Your Next Workout
Stop overcomplicating the "perfect" routine and just start applying these three things tomorrow. First, film yourself from the side. Check your depth. If your hip crease isn't hitting knee level, strip the weight off and go lower. Second, widening your stance just two inches and see how it feels in your hips.
Lastly, track your progress. If you squat 100 pounds for 10 reps this week, try 105 pounds next week. Or do 11 reps. This is "progressive overload," and it is the only legal way to actually change the shape of your body. Consistency is boring, but it’s the only thing that actually works. Focus on the stretch at the bottom, the squeeze at the top, and eating enough to fuel the change.
The results will follow the effort, but only if the form is right first.