Effective Upper Butt Workout: Make a Peachy Booty at Home 

You wake up, get out of bed, walk to the bathroom, run around the park, trek to the store, lift a bag and carry it to your apartment, sit on your chair to enjoy a delectable lunch, watch a TV show, work on your laptop…

These and many other daily activities seem so regular, but understand this, you wouldn’t be able to do any of them without your gluteus medius. Your gluteus medius is in your upper glute area. This muscle is responsible for internal and external rotation of the hip joint, abduction, and stabilizing of the hip while working out.

Your upper glutes are beneficial for stability, balance, and overall biomechanics. When you complete typical activities, like walking or running, your upper glutes help stabilize the pelvis. They keep your lower body moving optimally and efficiently. 

I’ve started the article in this way because working out your upper butt is not only great for the enticingly-perky booty, it’s also crucial for your overall lower body health. Having strong glutes can better support the hips and lower leg region, playing a preventative role in factors such as  knee pain, lower back pain, and ankle sprains. 

Luckily, there are many award-winning exercise routines you can incorporate in your house or apartment. The key to a more sculpted booty lies in consistency, proper diet, and challenging weights. Note, your body doesn’t care whether you commit to workouts at home or at the gym.

That said, today let’s look at an effective upper butt workout: make a peachy booty at home.  

How do you get a shelf on your upper glutes?

Do these four steps and you’ll increase your shelf butt:

1. Integrate upper glute isolation exercises;
2. Focus on the progress;
3. Eat enough calories; 
4. Ramp up your protein intake. 

Now let’s dive deeper into each step. 

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Integrate upper glute isolation exercises

There are specific upper glute exercises with no equipment or with equipment that target upper glutes. It’s better to do them with weights and gradually increase them if you want visible results. Later in this article I will disclose the 9 upper butt-burning exercises you can easily do at home. Patience, please. 

Focus on the progress

Glute Isolation Exercises, matched with challenging weights create a perfect combo. Why? Your glutes benefit from progressive overload: increasing your weights over time. 

Your upper glutes will initially respond to the slightest tension, but over time you must challenge yourself by following a progressive overload by incorporating heavier weights, volume or time under tension. Continually increasing the difficulty will ensure progress is continued, to support growing a stronger and bigger booty.

Eat enough calories

If you are interested in developing the upper glutes and attaining a round shelf butt, you need to consume enough calories to support healthy weight gain. Energy surplus is your additional key to maximizing muscle hypertrophy (2).

Ramp up your protein intake

For sure, eating enough calories doesn’t include junk food and sugary drinks. You must pay attention to consuming key foods rich in essential macronutrients and micronutrients like  vitamins and minerals. Obviously, protein is an important macronutrient  on this list. Make sure you eat enough protein. Why are so many athletes obsessed with protein? 

The reason is logical: this nutrient provides the building blocks that help your body build muscle and repair damage after physical activity (1). How many proteins should you consume? Well, one source suggests an intake anywhere from 1.6g to 2.2g of protein, per kg of body weight, to optimally support increased muscle mass with resistance training.  (4). 

Some sources of high-protein foods are: 

• lean meats – beef, lamb, pork
• poultry – chicken, turnkey, duck
• eggs
• fish and seafood – fish, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, clams
• dairy products – milk, Greek yogurt, cheese (especially cottage cheese)
• nuts and seeds – walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, cashews, pine nuts, macadamias, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
• legumes and beans – all beans, lentils, tofu, chickpeas, split peas (3).

Why is my bum flat at the top?

Round perky booties are everywhere: in social media, on the streets, even in your dreams. They play with your mind causing you to doubt the beauty of your booty. It’s not round enough, it’s not perky enough, it’s not firm enough. You keep asking yourself why is your booty so flat while other people bedazzle you with big butts? 

I have to say that the flatness of your butt at the top can have many reasons. Some of them may include: 

• genetics
• age
• glute use
• your lifestyle

The most common cause of a flat butt is the weakness of your gluteal muscles and tightness in hip flexors. This means they are not working as efficiently as they should. 

A sedentary life over time may lead to the flatness of your booty. 

Pay attention to your daily activities. If you’re sitting for too long and lead a sedentary lifestyle, it might make your butt look flat. 

No worries, the flat booty is not an unchanged condition. With the proper exercises, diet, and regime your booty can shape up. Obviously, it takes time. Yet, results come with enough consistency, discipline, and progression. 

With that in mind, don’t trust bloggers who promise you speedy results. 

Read more: Bubble Butt Workout 101: Achieve Your Booty Goals with These Proven Exercises

What targets upper glutes?

Congratulations, the best exercises for upper glutes are the one and only targeting your glutes. I have collected my personal favorites as they are effective and challenging enough. Plus, completing them at home is another advantage as not everyone wants or can access a gym membership. 

Here are 9 top-notch upper glute exercises for at home use. Some of them require equipment and some don’t. If you’re just starting out, aim for lighter weights and gradually ramp up the intensity over time. 

1. Hip Thrust
2. Bulgarian Split Squat
3. Romanian Deadlift
4. Single-Leg Glute Bridge
5. Curtsy Lunges
6. Single-Leg Deadlift
7. Single-Leg Squat
8. Clam Shells
9. Lateral Lunge

Hip Thrust

How to do it: 

• Get down on the floor and place your upper back on a bench or sturdy chair.
• Bend your knees and put your feet on the floor.
• Inhale and squeeze your glutes, pushing through your heels to lift your hips to the ceiling, without overarching through your back.
• Make sure your hips align with your knees and shoulders.
• Pause for a moment, exhale, and slowly lower your butt to the floor.
• Inhale again and repeat.

The hip thrust is one of the primary gluteus medius exercises and you can challenge it with a resistance band or barbell. Adding weights in this case will activate your glute muscles with greater power which is beneficial for growing booty. 

Bulgarian Split Squat

How to do it:

• Bring your leg back and place the foot on the elevated object.
• Keep your hands on your hips, engage your abs, and bring your shoulders back.
• Bend your front knee descending into a squat position. 
• Move down until your back knee is an inch or two from the floor.
• Press through the front heel, exhale, and bring yourself to the top.
• Inhale and squat again.
• When finished, switch legs, and repeat for the same number of reps.

To make this activity more challenging, hold weights in both hands while doing the Bulgarian squat. Beginners should start with body weight, and then move to light weights once a proper foundation has been established. Don’t worry if you haven’t got any professional weights. Explore your imagination by using water bottles instead. 

Romanian Deadlift

How to do it:

• Hold a pair of dumbbells and stand with your feet at shoulder width with a slight bend in your knees, the weights in front of your thighs, and palms facing back.
• Inhale, brace your core, initiate the movement by driving your hips back while keeping your back neutral, your torso will lean   forward.. 
• Lower the dumbbells in a straight line, as if they are tracing your legs, until they are just below your knees or at your shins.Keep your knees slightly bent from start to finish. 
• Don’t push yourself down. Instead, lower yourself naturally. 
• Return to a standing position by driving your hips forward. Exhale at the top.
• Inhale again and repeat.

If you don’t have weights, use water bottles instead. Of course, it would be better for you to purchase dumbbells as working out with them is more comfortable and effective. Romanian Deadlift is a perfect exercise that promptly fires up your butt. Make sure you stick to the right technique. 

Single-Leg Glute Bridge

How to do it: 

• Lie down on the mat. 
• Bend your knees and plant your feet flat on the floor.
• Bring your shoulders back, place your arms to your sides, and have your palms flat on the ground for balance.
• Take a breath, and extend your right leg in the air.
• Push through your left heel to extend your hips. Squeeze your glute at the top and hold for a moment.
• Exhale and lower your hips to the floor.
• Inhale again and repeat.
• Once finished training one side, repeat on another leg. 

More advanced practitioners can put a dumbbell or a weight plate over their hips to increase the difficulty. 

Curtsy Lunges

How to do it:

• Stand your feet at shoulder width and arms at your sides
• Inhale and bring your left foot back moving it clockwise around your front leg.
• Simultaneously keep your arms in front of your chest for balance and squat as low as you can. 
• Hold for a moment, and drive up.
• Bring your left foot to its starting position and exhale.
• Inhale again and bring your right foot back in the same way.

By the way, you can grab two dumbbells and hold them while doing curtsy lunges. 

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Single-Leg Deadlift

How to do: 

• Grab a dumbbell in each hand and stand with your feet hip-width apart
• Hinge forward at your waist and push back, controlling  the dumbbells  toward the ground with straight arms.
• Extend your right leg straight behind you while your arms move toward the ground.
• Keep your back straight all the time. 
• Continue moving forward until your body creates a straight line.
• Slowly reverse the motion and move your right leg back to the starting position.
• Repeat on both sides.

This exercise is beneficial for your butt, legs, and your back. A must-activity in your growing- upper-booty routine. 

Single-Leg Squat

How to do: 

• Stand with your feet at a hip-width distance, keeping your shoulders back. 
• Lift your left foot off of the floor in front of you, leg straight.
• Hold your arms straight out in front of you.
• Keep your back neutral and bend your right knee, pushing your hips back as you lower down.
• Stop when your lifted leg is the same height as your bent leg.
• Repeat on each side.

This is an advanced exercise that might be difficult and not suitable for beginners. That said,  you can scale this exercise by squatting to a bench. This will help develop single leg strength over time. 

Clam Shells

How to do: 

• Lie on the side with knees at a 45-degree angle, leaning your head on your right arm to support your neck.
• Keep your heels and legs stacked.
• Stabilize your core by contracting your abdominal muscles. 
• Without arching your back, lift your left knee apart from your right knee and lower.
• Make sure you don’t strain your neck keeping it in a neutral position. 
• Switch sides. 

At first glance this may seem like one of the easiest glute shelf exercises. That is, until you implement resistance bands. You will need to place the band around both legs just above your knees. 

Lateral Lunge

How to do it:

• Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Take a step to the side with your left leg,  planting your left  foot on the floor. Push your hips back and  bend your left knee.
• Lower yourself to a depth that your mobility allows, and hold for a moment.
• Exhale and push yourself up through your left heel to return to the start position. .
• Inhale and bring your right leg out in the opposite direction, performing the same movement.
• Complete both sides until you’ve done with all the reps. 

Again, you can perform this exercise with or without weights. The second option will be more effective once you have mastered the body weight movement. Just hold a dumbbell in your hand while doing lunges. 

Read more: Easy Homemade Recipes for Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies

How many sets and reps should I do for glute growth?

The number of sets and repetitions depends on your general goals and your experience. 

If your goal is to reach muscle hypertrophy and add mass, aim for heavier weights for lower rep ranges of 8 to 12  repetitions for three to five sets during your larger compound movements such as curtsy lunges, squats, deadlifts, and hip thrusts.

If you’re doing upper glute exercises to correct a muscle imbalance, start slowly with lower loads, resistance, and reps, and gradually increase them as you feel stronger. On top of that, you could be a person who engages in upper glute exercises for the first time. To begin with, you should start with body weight or light weights for 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps. 

However, the best way to realize how many sets and reps you should aim for is to rely on a proper exercise guide to start, as well as relying on your judgment of the difficulty. If the exercise seems too easy for you, consider adding more weight and resistance as well as a number of repetitions. 

Here’s a quick hack for you: each exercise should feel easy at the beginning but harder at the last few reps. Note, the exercise should feel hard but not painful. There is a big difference between the two. Although if you’re a beginner, it should be a comfortable, moderate intensity. 

Stop the exercise immediately if you feel any nagging pain and contact a physician. There are cases when people working out from home neglect the right technique. The right technique and form are significant because they might prevent injuries and target the right, hence, maximizing the efficiency and results. 

FAQs

• How do you round the top of your glutes?

There are four essential ways to round the top of your glutes: integrate upper glute isolation exercises; focus on the progress, eat enough calories, and macronutrients including protein intake. Don’t forget to challenge yourself by adding weights and resistance bands to some of the workouts. On top of that, make sure you create a discipline for yourself which includes consistency and progress.

• Do squats shrink your bum?

It entirely depends on your workout regime and your nutrition. Squats in fact are perfect for toning up your butt and good for your rear view. Still, if you stick to exercise and nutrition regimes that make you lose weight, squats will be more likely to make your butt more defined.. However, if you’re following a nutrition plan and workout regimes that cause your weight gain, doing squats will make your booty bigger and peachy.

• Can sitting make your butt flat?

For sure, many people spend their time on laptops or computers. You could be one of them. The bad news is that sitting all day combined with an inactive lifestyle for years can eventually lead to muscle loss, slightly changing the shape of your butt. Nonetheless, you can prevent this from happening by incorporating special upper booty exercises, following a nutritional diet, sleeping well, and leading an active lifestyle in general.

The Bottom Line

There you have it, an effective upper butt workout: make a peachy booty at home. I hope you found this article simple and informative for your booty transformation. 

To wrap up all the above information so that you can consolidate it for use: 

First of all, there are four primary ways to grow your upper booty: implementing glute shelf exercises, eating a well-balanced diet that includes ample intake of all macronutrients, and challenging yourself with weights and resistance bands. 

Second, consistency and discipline are your best buddies. With enough discipline and consistency you will upgrade to more intensive training which might promote your upper butt growth. 

Your butt can be flat on top for various reasons. Top among them include age, genetics, a sedentary lifestyle, and generally small activation of your glutes. 

You have explored the 9 efficient upper butt exercises which you can do either at home or at the gym. The number of sets and repetitions depends on your fitness levels and general goals. 

Last, stop exercising if you feel pain and contact a doctor. To reduce the risk of injuries, stick to the proper technique and form.