Squats made my butt smaller, I want my butt back, help?

I used to have a soft squishy butt that I loved so much. I began doing leg exercises (squats with weights, lunges, etc.) thinking it would make my butt bigger, I was completely wrong. Unfortunately for me, it seems that I have ACCIDENTALLY burned the fat in my butt :( My butt is now small and flat now. I even feel the bones in my butt which I haven't felt in years. I literally HATE my butt now and I would do anything to get my old butt back. Recently I have been eating alot, hoping I might gain fat in my butt, but no fat seems to be going to my butt. I keep gaining weight but my butt is still remaining flat :( Is it possible to get the fat I burned back?

Replies

  • always_smilin_D
    always_smilin_D Posts: 89 Member
    What other exercises have you been doing? Do you do a lot of cardio as well? How much weight are you using when you do your squats, are you doing a smith or barbell with wights -- how many squats are a time?
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    How long have you been doing these squats? You couldn't have "accidentally" made such a big change in just a few days.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Do more squats (and other glute exercises), grow some muscle on your butt instead (so long as you are eating at maintenance or in a surplus). The link in the post above mine will take you to exactly the right place for that.
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    @itsaneesham Like others have stated, you can not really spot gain or spot reduce. When you gain weight or when you loose weight you do things according to your genetics. And, where ever that might be....that is usually the first place where you gain weight and the last place from which you loose weight. And, feel free to replace "gain weight" or "loosed weight" with "gain body fat" and "loose body fat".

    So, if I carry weight on my back - for example - when I gain weight the first place that extra weight | body fat is going is my back. And, when it is time to cut and I start that process, the last place that it goes away will be - yep, you guessed it - my back.

    There is not toooooo much that we can do about that.

    Now, if you want to build the booty, there are definitely things that you can do. Remember, the booty is three muscles....so you can def make that bigger. And more shapely (whatever that might mean for you).

    Another part of building a bigger booty is the 'perception' of a bigger booty. So, if the parts around your booty get a little smaller....then your booty will appear that much bigger.

    Besides Miss Sardelsa (and a few others...) there is a dude by the name of Bret Contreras. He is the Glute God. He is your friend. He has a program out there called Strong Curves that works for lots and lots of women. You might consider looking at this program. It is freely available. Bret C also has some programs for sale. I would definitely recommend looking at the Strong Curves program and deciding if you want to follow it. Totally your call.
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    @sardelsa No, actually, we are not! You are very modest and humble. AWESOME! Good for you. I am a former high school and college athlete (long time ago...in a different world). I understand the hard work, the motivation, the focus, the attention to detail, the sacrifice, the dedication that goes into 'performance at a high level'. I also understand the drive to keep it once you finally get it. And, you said the magic word: consistency. I use a slightly different word: Adherence. In this context, both are the same (show up, every day, day-in, day-out).

    Anyway, keep on keeping on Miss Sardelsa. And, if you ever do write that program, please let me know. I know several ladies down here who would likely be interested (something different.....).
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    @sardelsa No, actually, we are not! You are very modest and humble. AWESOME! Good for you. I am a former high school and college athlete (long time ago...in a different world). I understand the hard work, the motivation, the focus, the attention to detail, the sacrifice, the dedication that goes into 'performance at a high level'. I also understand the drive to keep it once you finally get it. And, you said the magic word: consistency. I use a slightly different word: Adherence. In this context, both are the same (show up, every day, day-in, day-out).

    Anyway, keep on keeping on Miss Sardelsa. And, if you ever do write that program, please let me know. I know several ladies down here who would likely be interested (something different.....).

    Cosigned. She has not only accomplished wonderful things, she is a delightful person!
  • This content has been removed.
  • RandJ6280
    RandJ6280 Posts: 1,161 Member
    I'm about to start training (strength) for a couple of reasons. One of those is so I can GET a butt. It sounds like I have a butt like you... none existent.... flat. My wife says every pair of pants I wear are "baggy butt". I hope squatting will give me a butt.
  • itsaneesham
    itsaneesham Posts: 3 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    If you are losing weight even while doing lower body work, you will lose fat. If you carry fat on your glutes, then it will disappear from there according to your genetics (as there is no way that I know of to maintain fat in certain areas during weight loss, that would be the dream wouldn't it!). Strength training is great as it will help maintain the muscle in the area as you lose, but if your butt is small and flat (as you say) you either lost muscle or you didn't have adequate muscle to begin with.

    If you want to build up your glutes you can do so by gaining weight to build muscle there.. so eating in a surplus and progressive lifting (with focus on the glutes), and hope that the fat you also gain will go to that area. There are no guarantees obviously and fat may go to your midsection or other unwanted places instead.

    That, unfortunately, seems to be exactly what happened. The calories I consumed became much lower than the amount I would burn since I began doing sports over about a month ago. While my calorie count was lower than it should have been, I was doing lots of squats with dumbells and butt exercises.

    I have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering:
    -Is there a way I can gain muscle in my glutes without going to the gym?
    -Now, the amount of calories I eat each day is the same/a little over than the amount I burn, would it be okay for me to do squats with dumbells again or would I receive the same results as before?
    -What macros would you recommend? At the moment, my diet consists of about 20% of protein, should I increase the amount of protein I consume?

    Thank you for your insightful comment you posted earlier by the way!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    If you are losing weight even while doing lower body work, you will lose fat. If you carry fat on your glutes, then it will disappear from there according to your genetics (as there is no way that I know of to maintain fat in certain areas during weight loss, that would be the dream wouldn't it!). Strength training is great as it will help maintain the muscle in the area as you lose, but if your butt is small and flat (as you say) you either lost muscle or you didn't have adequate muscle to begin with.

    If you want to build up your glutes you can do so by gaining weight to build muscle there.. so eating in a surplus and progressive lifting (with focus on the glutes), and hope that the fat you also gain will go to that area. There are no guarantees obviously and fat may go to your midsection or other unwanted places instead.

    That, unfortunately, seems to be exactly what happened. The calories I consumed became much lower than the amount I would burn since I began doing sports over about a month ago. While my calorie count was lower than it should have been, I was doing lots of squats with dumbells and butt exercises.

    I have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering:
    -Is there a way I can gain muscle in my glutes without going to the gym?
    -Now, the amount of calories I eat each day is the same/a little over than the amount I burn, would it be okay for me to do squats with dumbells again or would I receive the same results as before?
    -What macros would you recommend? At the moment, my diet consists of about 20% of protein, should I increase the amount of protein I consume?

    Thank you for your insightful comment you posted earlier by the way!

    You can do all this at home.

    Look into the already designed programs posted up thread, don't use your own.

    Eat at maintenance plus a little more to put you in a slight calorie surplus to help you gain fat and muscle whilst following a progressive overload program. Increase your protein but instead of looking at protein as a percentage, look at in terms of grams per your body weight (.8 to 1 gram).
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    If you are losing weight even while doing lower body work, you will lose fat. If you carry fat on your glutes, then it will disappear from there according to your genetics (as there is no way that I know of to maintain fat in certain areas during weight loss, that would be the dream wouldn't it!). Strength training is great as it will help maintain the muscle in the area as you lose, but if your butt is small and flat (as you say) you either lost muscle or you didn't have adequate muscle to begin with.

    If you want to build up your glutes you can do so by gaining weight to build muscle there.. so eating in a surplus and progressive lifting (with focus on the glutes), and hope that the fat you also gain will go to that area. There are no guarantees obviously and fat may go to your midsection or other unwanted places instead.

    That, unfortunately, seems to be exactly what happened. The calories I consumed became much lower than the amount I would burn since I began doing sports over about a month ago. While my calorie count was lower than it should have been, I was doing lots of squats with dumbells and butt exercises.

    I have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering:
    -Is there a way I can gain muscle in my glutes without going to the gym?
    -Now, the amount of calories I eat each day is the same/a little over than the amount I burn, would it be okay for me to do squats with dumbells again or would I receive the same results as before?
    -What macros would you recommend? At the moment, my diet consists of about 20% of protein, should I increase the amount of protein I consume?

    Thank you for your insightful comment you posted earlier by the way!

    What kind of equipment do you have at home? I workout at home, but I have barbells, plates, dumbbells, kettlebells, cable machine, pull-up bar, etc. It is easier with more equipment, but it not impossible.

    As mentioned above, definitely look into Strong Curves.. there are a variety of programs in there that are very adaptable depending on what equipment you have to work with. It is much more than squats and lunges.

    I would eat in a surplus, I would say no more than 250cals over per day to gain 0.5lb per week. Keep going until you are happy with the size or you feel your bodyfat getting too high.

    Since % can vary greatly depending on calorie intake, I go by grams per lean body mass/bodyweight.
    Pro: .8 to 1g
    Fats: .35 to .6g
    Carbs: The rest

    Anymore protein than above, especially during a bulk, really isn't necessary.
  • itsaneesham
    itsaneesham Posts: 3 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    If you are losing weight even while doing lower body work, you will lose fat. If you carry fat on your glutes, then it will disappear from there according to your genetics (as there is no way that I know of to maintain fat in certain areas during weight loss, that would be the dream wouldn't it!). Strength training is great as it will help maintain the muscle in the area as you lose, but if your butt is small and flat (as you say) you either lost muscle or you didn't have adequate muscle to begin with.

    If you want to build up your glutes you can do so by gaining weight to build muscle there.. so eating in a surplus and progressive lifting (with focus on the glutes), and hope that the fat you also gain will go to that area. There are no guarantees obviously and fat may go to your midsection or other unwanted places instead.

    That, unfortunately, seems to be exactly what happened. The calories I consumed became much lower than the amount I would burn since I began doing sports over about a month ago. While my calorie count was lower than it should have been, I was doing lots of squats with dumbells and butt exercises.

    I have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering:
    -Is there a way I can gain muscle in my glutes without going to the gym?
    -Now, the amount of calories I eat each day is the same/a little over than the amount I burn, would it be okay for me to do squats with dumbells again or would I receive the same results as before?
    -What macros would you recommend? At the moment, my diet consists of about 20% of protein, should I increase the amount of protein I consume?

    Thank you for your insightful comment you posted earlier by the way!

    What kind of equipment do you have at home? I workout at home, but I have barbells, plates, dumbbells, kettlebells, cable machine, pull-up bar, etc. It is easier with more equipment, but it not impossible.

    As mentioned above, definitely look into Strong Curves.. there are a variety of programs in there that are very adaptable depending on what equipment you have to work with. It is much more than squats and lunges.

    I would eat in a surplus, I would say no more than 250cals over per day to gain 0.5lb per week. Keep going until you are happy with the size or you feel your bodyfat getting too high.

    Since % can vary greatly depending on calorie intake, I go by grams per lean body mass/bodyweight.
    Pro: .8 to 1g
    Fats: .35 to .6g
    Carbs: The rest

    Anymore protein than above, especially during a bulk, really isn't necessary.

    All I have currently are dumbells, stretch band, and a yoga ball. I would love to get more quitment but it is on the more costly side. And sounds good, I'll check out Strong Curves and I'll calculate & follow the macros, thank you!
  • catsislife
    catsislife Posts: 4 Member
    All u have to do is lean forward and go all the way down to make squats work ur butt more. Don't lean forward so far it hurts but go all way down. U can't do as much weight that way but it will definitely build ur butt fast
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Different people - due to the way their body is built - have a different 'excellent form' when squatting.

    Leaning forward may or may not be a good idea.

    Honestly, I can not think of any way that leaning forward in the back squat can be good. I mean, you are pushing your heals through the floor, right? Normally speaking, anyway. Leaning forward will bring you on your toes....recipe for disaster. Generally speaking.....

    Anyone have any suggestions as to when leaning forward in the back squat *can* be a good thing? I am all ears and would love to learn something new....

    And, no disrespect intended, @catsislife!
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    I used to have a soft squishy butt that I loved so much. I began doing leg exercises (squats with weights, lunges, etc.) thinking it would make my butt bigger, I was completely wrong. Unfortunately for me, it seems that I have ACCIDENTALLY burned the fat in my butt :( My butt is now small and flat now. I even feel the bones in my butt which I haven't felt in years. I literally HATE my butt now and I would do anything to get my old butt back. Recently I have been eating alot, hoping I might gain fat in my butt, but no fat seems to be going to my butt. I keep gaining weight but my butt is still remaining flat :( Is it possible to get the fat I burned back?

    You can't spot gain the weight there (unless that was the last place your weight happened to come off - in which case eat more and regain the fat).

    You can work on building muscle - which will give you a shapely, but not so 'squishy' behind. Check out Strong Curves, for instance.. it focuses largely on the glutes.

    Squats, for many people, mostly target the quads (the muscles on the front of the thigh) and don't do much for the glutes.