Do you feel like your butt has disappeared since your pregnancy?
You’re not imagining it. It is totally possible to get a flat butt after pregnancy.
The good news is, you can get it back!
The best way to get your bum back after pregnancy is to train your glute muscles with the right exercises.
But it’s also important to know what you must avoid so that your mom butt doesn’t get worse.
Keep reading.
What Is The Mom Butt?
The mom butt is when your butt gets a little flatter or saggier than what it used to be before pregnancy.
Some women say that when looking from the side, their back goes straight all the way down with no curves.
If you notice that your butt has changed shape since giving birth, you aren’t alone.
Here’s why it happens.
Why Is My Bum Getting Flatter?
So what gives?
Why does your butt get flatter after pregnancy? Here are the four most common causes.
Bad Posture
As you gain weight in pregnancy, that extra weight is unevenly distributed in your body.
The majority of the weight is gained on the front side of your body. As a result, this extra pressure shifts your center of gravity forward.
To compensate, your spine and your pelvis have to tilt forward to help keep you upright.
As you could imagine, this change in posture will over-activate some muscles (your hip flexors) while under-activating others (your glutes). I discuss postpartum posture in more detail here.
Which leads to the second point.
Inactivity/Inactivation
If you don’t use it, you lose it.
A tilted pelvis stretches out and weakens the butt muscles.
This is worsened by the fact that you will likely become less active the further along you get in your pregnancy.
Postpartum is no better. You probably won’t be exercising nor activating your glute muscles after delivery either. This is totally reasonable since you now have a beautiful baby!
Which leads to the third point.
Prolonged Sitting
In the late third trimester and early postpartum period, you will likely be sitting a lot.
It’s normal! But it is important to know that the more you sit, the more you encourage the forward-tilted pelvis.
So do yourself a favor and walk!
Breastfeeding
Last but not least, breastfeeding can contribute to your flat butt.
How?
Because breastfeeding takes up a lot of energy. Women will need an additional 300-500 calories per day just to keep up with the energy demands of breastfeeding.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to forget to feed and take care of yourself when you have a newborn.
So it’s not uncommon for women to lose fat and muscle mass from breastfeeding, making their muscles look flabby. You are in a caloric deficit!
If you noticed a flabby butt after breastfeeding- that’s why.
Check out my breastfeeding meal plan that will help guide you ensuring that you are consuming an adequate number of calories.
Will My Butt Come Back After Breastfeeding?
A lot of women feel that breastfeeding is the major culprit in losing their bum.
Unfortunately, your bum will not come back as soon as you stop breastfeeding. There is only one way to get your curves back.
You need to reverse the things that caused your flat butt in the first place.
It starts with exercising.
What Not To Do
So if you want to get your curves back, here are a few things that you need to avoid.
Avoid Exercises That Train Your Hip Flexors
As you just learned, having bad posture and inactive glute muscles contribute to a saggy bum.
And if you have weak and inactive glute muscles, that usually means you have tight and overactive hip flexor muscles.
So, it makes sense that you would avoid exercises that would further activate and tighten the muscles of your hips.
This includes exercises like sit-ups and leg raises.
Avoid Cycling
It is also important to avoid exercises that involve sitting. Whenever you are sitting, you are shortening your hip flexors and putting your glutes to sleep.
That is why you need to avoid exercises where you are sitting for long periods of time, like cycling!
While cycling is a great exercise to improve your cardio, you are better off walking.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about what you should do to get your bum back.
How To Start Fixing Your Mom Butt
Ok, I have three easy tips to help you get your booty back. To get the most out of this section, it is important that you do at least one of these things every single day.
The first thing you should do is…
Stretch The Tight Muscles
If you have a mom bum, it is likely that your hip flexors are really tight. Don’t feel bad, a lot of people have tight hip flexors.
One simple way to stretch this muscle is to put your foot on an elevated surface.
Next, squeeze and activate your glute muscles and lean forward. You should feel a nice stretch along the front side of your back leg.
Here’s what it looks like.
Another simple stretch is this standing quadricep/hip flexor stretch.
Bring your heel towards your glute while keeping your pelvis neutral. Make sure to squeeze the glute muscle of the leg that you are stretching.
You should feel a nice stretch on the front side of the quad.
Here’s what it looks like.
Hold this position for 30 seconds. Try to do it as often as you can.
The second thing you should do is…
Avoid Sitting For Long Periods of Time
Sitting for several hours a day only worsens the muscle imbalances that you get from pregnancy.
Your butt will remain weak and inactive, and your hip flexors will continue to get tighter.
Set a reminder on your phone to get up at least once per hour. Or get yourself a fitness tracker like a fit bit, which could be purchased on Amazon and will remind you to stand every hour. I absolutely love my Apple Watch which does the same.
The last thing you need to do is…
Strengthen The Weak Muscles
Now its time for your postpartum glute workout!
Below are 9 booty exercises you can start doing in the comfort of your home to get your curves back.
Select 3 of these exercises and do them 2-3 times per week for best results.
9 Glute Exercises To Get Your Curves Back After Pregnancy
Glute Bridge
The first exercise is the glute bridge. This is also a great exercise to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles.
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet shoulder-width apart. Next, squeeze your butt as hard as you can to start straightening your hips.
Hold the top position for 3 seconds and slowly lower your butt back to the ground.
Do 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions
If you want to make this exercise more challenging, you can do the single leg glute bridge.
Instead of having both feet planted on the ground, straighten out one knee and keep your leg extended the entire time.
Single-Leg Glute Bridge
Do 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions in each leg
Squats
The second booty exercise you can do postpartum is the squat. This is probably the best of the best exercise you can do.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed out slightly. Begin squatting down by bending at your hips and knees at the same time.
Squat down as low as you can comfortably go.
Come back up by squeezing your glute muscles hard at the top.
Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions
If you want to make this exercise more challenging, you can do a single-leg chair squat.
This exercise is much more difficult and requires you to balance yourself.
When you are first starting out, use a tall chair. The taller the chair, the easier the exercise.
Keep your core tight, and your booty engaged.
Looking for a postpartum squat challenge that is safe and effective? I have got you covered!
Single-Leg Chair Squat
Do 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions in each leg
Reverse Lunges
The next exercise is the reverse lunge.
Start with your feet together and step back with one foot as far as you comfortably can.
Next, begin squatting down by bending both knees. Your back knee doesn’t have to touch the floor.
Do 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions in each leg
If you want to make this exercise more challenging, simply stand on a platform to increase the distance you lunge.
Deep Reverse Lunge
Do 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions in each leg
Band Walks
To do this next exercise, you will need a resistance band. Try one of the Postpartum Trainer’s Resistance Bands which comes with 3 different resistance bands, that can be used for many different exercises.
Simply wrap the band around your knees and go into a quarter squat position. Keeping your feet pointed forward, begin walking side to side.
Take 6-8 steps going one way, then 6-8 steps going the other way
If you want to make this exercise more challenging, add a squat after every single step.
THESE WILL LIGHT YOUR BOOTY ON FIRE!
Band Walks with Squats
Standing tall with your feet shoulder width apart squat down. Take one step to the right and with a wide stance, squat down. Repeat this pattern on the left side.
Side-Lying Clams
The last exercise is the side-lying clam.
This exercise is simple. All you have to do is lie on your side with your knees bent.
Next, raise your knee up toward the ceiling while keeping your heels touching.
Do 3 sets of 15-20 repetitions on each leg
So there you have it.
Pick 3 exercises from above, and do them 2-3x per week. You will be well on your way to getting back your curves!
Other Factors To Consider
The last thing you need to consider is your nutrition. This is especially important if you are breastfeeding. I have written an entire post on postpartum nutrition that will help you lose unwanted baby fat.
One nutrient in particular that you should focus on is omega-3 fatty acids.
These fatty acids are responsible for helping in brain development, which you can pass onto your newborn through your breastmilk.
It also serves as a good high-quality fat source to help rebuild some fat around your booty.
So how can you get more Omega-3’s in your diet?
Well, if you like fish, salmon is one of the best sources of this important nutrient.
If you don’t like fish, you can also get it through plant sources such as walnuts and chia seeds.
If you are really in a pinch, you can also find an omega-3 supplement that contains EPA and DHA.
How To Get A Bigger Butt While Pregnant
So, is it possible to get a bigger butt while pregnant?
Yes!
You can actually do these exact same exercises during your pregnancy. These exercises are all low impact.
(But of course, make sure that your doctor says it is okay!)
Final Thoughts
Mom butt is real. If you don’t pay attention to your posture and your glutes, your booty can get flat.
Stretch out your hip flexors and strengthen your glutes using these simple but effective exercises.
To learn more about exercising in the postpartum period, check out my Guide to Getting Fit after Pregnancy.
Did you get a serious case of mom butt?
What have you tried in the past?
Comment below and let me know.
I’ll see you seen.
Other Posts on How to Grow Your Booty Postpartum
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Brittany N Robles, MD, MPH, CPT
Brittany N Robles is a full-time OBGYN, a NASM certified personal trainer, and health & fitness expert. She holds a Masters of Public Health degree in maternal health with a special interest in exercise and nutrition. She is also the co-author of The White Coat Trainer. Learn more about her here.
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Love this, and it made so much sense! I have a really flat butt, very tight hamstrings and experienced pain from my hip flexors when I went for a 20 min jog at 5 months post partum and haven’t jogged since. I’m now almost 8 months post partum and will be doing some of the exercises you recommend such as the squats. I would like to get into running again to lose weight, would you recommend this as an exercise for me or should I do something else first? I do go for walks with baby in a carrier. Thanks
Hi Kathryn, Thank you so much for the comment. First and foremost, before any type of activity it is important that you stretch, especially your hip flexors which are tight on most people. Squats and deadlifts are great exercises for you to perform to strengthen the glutes and posterior chain, as well as the other exercises I recommend in the post. Also if you’re looking for more information on running postpartum I have an entire article on exercises you should perform which could be found here: https://postpartumtrainer.com/running-postpartum/
This is the best explanation I have ever read about postpartum body changes! Thank you for sharing this info. I just had two pregnancies back to back with 18 months of breast feeding for each baby. Just had an a-ha moment realizing all the time I was “sitting down” breast feeding on demand. With the calories burning and sitting was not good for the lower half. I am really excited to get my body and especially the booty back. What are some additional exercises to avoid that target the hip flexors?
Thanks so much!
Hi Erica! Thank you so much for your comment and I am so glad you found this article helpful! Any exercise that involves prolonged periods of sitting should be avoided postpartum. Cycling is the most obvious example, however, another exercise that targets the hip flexors is sit ups, but these should never be avoided postpartum regardless.
I’ve been breastfeeding and my butt has practically disappeared, I’m gonna start these ASAP, thank you for the explanations, makes total sense. Just wondering if I did these 3 times a week, when would I start to see a difference? Any feedback appreciated
Hi Sharon! Thank you very much for the comment. If you practice these exercises 3 times a week, you should start to see a difference within 4-6 weeks (provided you are getting adequate nutrition). Ideally starting some sort of training program that involves progressive overload would be the most beneficial way to strengthen and develop your glutes and lower body!
Hi my butt was big before my pregnancy & butt actually runs in my family & I been breastfeeding for 3 months & lost most my butt but my baby is 6 months now & I stopped 3 months ago how long will it take for my butt to come back need advice
Hi Bre,
Thanks for the comment. Breastfeeding can definitely contribute to loss of your butt as I have mentioned above. An exercise plan designed to strengthen the legs and glutes as well as proper nutrition will help. On average you may begin to see results in 6 weeks as long as you are consistent with a program.