How to transform a pancake butt - sharing my transformation story
serapel
Posts: 502 Member
I had the dreaded pancake butt all my life. People used to joke around about my butt all the time. I'm now 49 years old and I finally have a bum that is not flat and embarrassing. Here's what I learned:
1. Squats did NOTHING but make my quads bigger and it killed my knees
2. Despite everything - resistance bands, lunges, my pancake held up steady
3. I assumed it was genetics and it IS genetics, but you can enhance those poor genetics
How I transformed my dead pancake butt muscles:
My bum was dead and the muscles did not know how to work, I began hip thrusts 2 years ago at age 47. I'm now hip thrusting 3 sets of 10 at 240 lbs. I have no more back pain and I'm strong as an ox.
1. Hip thrust, hip thrust hip thrust - wake up those glutes!!! Go heavy!!! Progressive overload on the barbell hip thrust!!!
2. After hip thrusting 200 lbs, I tried squatting again and found that my quads were no longer doing all the work; my glutes were no longer dead and my hips were also engaged. It no longer hurt my knees because my glutes could do the work instead of my quads.
3. Took up kick boxing and began working on mobility. At first, my knees were really stiff and I couldn't do a lot of bending, etc. The more I kick box, the more agile my body becomes and the more mobility I develop.
4. Began doing hard core ab work, planks, etc. on a regular basis and it's making a huge difference.
So people, glutes for pancake people are really hard to build. When they say, "just do squats" that's a load of BS. If you have a pancake, it means your glutes are inactive and dead. You gotta wake them up with hip thrust variations first and then begin the squatting. Glutes don't wake up with a squat if they are dead. Hip thrusting wakes those babies up.
I still have a small bum bc it's my genetics, but it is nice, round and perky. Some of us are just not meant to have the coveted "bubble" butt and that's ok I'll settle for a small peachy posterior
1. Squats did NOTHING but make my quads bigger and it killed my knees
2. Despite everything - resistance bands, lunges, my pancake held up steady
3. I assumed it was genetics and it IS genetics, but you can enhance those poor genetics
How I transformed my dead pancake butt muscles:
My bum was dead and the muscles did not know how to work, I began hip thrusts 2 years ago at age 47. I'm now hip thrusting 3 sets of 10 at 240 lbs. I have no more back pain and I'm strong as an ox.
1. Hip thrust, hip thrust hip thrust - wake up those glutes!!! Go heavy!!! Progressive overload on the barbell hip thrust!!!
2. After hip thrusting 200 lbs, I tried squatting again and found that my quads were no longer doing all the work; my glutes were no longer dead and my hips were also engaged. It no longer hurt my knees because my glutes could do the work instead of my quads.
3. Took up kick boxing and began working on mobility. At first, my knees were really stiff and I couldn't do a lot of bending, etc. The more I kick box, the more agile my body becomes and the more mobility I develop.
4. Began doing hard core ab work, planks, etc. on a regular basis and it's making a huge difference.
So people, glutes for pancake people are really hard to build. When they say, "just do squats" that's a load of BS. If you have a pancake, it means your glutes are inactive and dead. You gotta wake them up with hip thrust variations first and then begin the squatting. Glutes don't wake up with a squat if they are dead. Hip thrusting wakes those babies up.
I still have a small bum bc it's my genetics, but it is nice, round and perky. Some of us are just not meant to have the coveted "bubble" butt and that's ok
I'll settle for a small peachy posterior 22
Replies
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Pics, or it didn’t happen. 😉
J/K. I had AMRAP hip thrusts yesterday. First set, five second hold at the top. Second set, three seconds. Third set, one second. 315 pounds. My glutes were on 🔥!10 -
I was just thinking today that I have no close ups of when my glutes were really flat, but I can take a pic of my glutes now? I'm warning you...they are not very impressive due to crap genetics, but no more pancake for sure LOL
Amazing weight of 315 lbs WOW!!! My goal is 300 lbs in 2021 to do 3 sets of 10.
Hip thrusting saved my life. No more back pain; no more weaknesses in my core. My pre-hip thrusting bikini bottom is too tight for me now, so that's a bonus.
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Heck yeah!!3
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I love hip thrusts. But don’t have the set up for it at home. I hope my gym opens back up soon!!1
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For me, heavy squats and deads both did the trick. I did do hip thrusts for a while, as well as split squats, and they are very effective... But I hated them. So I figured, meh, I'm happy now. Haha
Congrats on the butt. Though all butts are beautiful... both pancake and bubble butts alike!5 -
Great work! Hip thrusts are the way to go to build the butt!
I guess I've been "blessed" with a bigger butt, although didn't feel that way in the 90's when the waif look was in--but thank God for Sir-Mix-A-Lot (my friends joked that was about me!). However, it was just mostly fat, because my glutes were still fairly inactive, or disproportionate with some butt muscles disproportionately doing more work than others. Since I've started really working my glutes, I've had much less back pain.
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I’m doing my hip thrusts at home. I was really lucky that my husband had plates and a bar in the garage. We pulled those rusty things out lol. I also purchased 2 45 lb plates I was lucky enough to find at Walmart. I have a bench also. I have about 290 lbs in plates before I max out
I’m thankful for my husbands rusty plates from his teen years lol 3 -
I had the dreaded pancake butt all my life. People used to joke around about my butt all the time. I'm now 49 years old and I finally have a bum that is not flat and embarrassing. Here's what I learned:
1. Squats did NOTHING but make my quads bigger and it killed my knees
2. Despite everything - resistance bands, lunges, my pancake held up steady
3. I assumed it was genetics and it IS genetics, but you can enhance those poor genetics
How I transformed my dead pancake butt muscles:
My bum was dead and the muscles did not know how to work, I began hip thrusts 2 years ago at age 47. I'm now hip thrusting 3 sets of 10 at 240 lbs. I have no more back pain and I'm strong as an ox.
1. Hip thrust, hip thrust hip thrust - wake up those glutes!!! Go heavy!!! Progressive overload on the barbell hip thrust!!!
2. After hip thrusting 200 lbs, I tried squatting again and found that my quads were no longer doing all the work; my glutes were no longer dead and my hips were also engaged. It no longer hurt my knees because my glutes could do the work instead of my quads.
3. Took up kick boxing and began working on mobility. At first, my knees were really stiff and I couldn't do a lot of bending, etc. The more I kick box, the more agile my body becomes and the more mobility I develop.
4. Began doing hard core ab work, planks, etc. on a regular basis and it's making a huge difference.
So people, glutes for pancake people are really hard to build. When they say, "just do squats" that's a load of BS. If you have a pancake, it means your glutes are inactive and dead. You gotta wake them up with hip thrust variations first and then begin the squatting. Glutes don't wake up with a squat if they are dead. Hip thrusting wakes those babies up.
I still have a small bum bc it's my genetics, but it is nice, round and perky. Some of us are just not meant to have the coveted "bubble" butt and that's ok I'll settle for a small peachy posterior
Hi there; Could be my story! Same age and did exactly the same thing. I am unlucky that I currently don't have a gym and only dumbbells at home so focussing on upper body at the moment but my glutes have definitely changed for the better!1 -
I had the dreaded pancake butt all my life. People used to joke around about my butt all the time. I'm now 49 years old and I finally have a bum that is not flat and embarrassing. Here's what I learned:
1. Squats did NOTHING but make my quads bigger and it killed my knees
2. Despite everything - resistance bands, lunges, my pancake held up steady
3. I assumed it was genetics and it IS genetics, but you can enhance those poor genetics
How I transformed my dead pancake butt muscles:
My bum was dead and the muscles did not know how to work, I began hip thrusts 2 years ago at age 47. I'm now hip thrusting 3 sets of 10 at 240 lbs. I have no more back pain and I'm strong as an ox.
1. Hip thrust, hip thrust hip thrust - wake up those glutes!!! Go heavy!!! Progressive overload on the barbell hip thrust!!!
2. After hip thrusting 200 lbs, I tried squatting again and found that my quads were no longer doing all the work; my glutes were no longer dead and my hips were also engaged. It no longer hurt my knees because my glutes could do the work instead of my quads.
3. Took up kick boxing and began working on mobility. At first, my knees were really stiff and I couldn't do a lot of bending, etc. The more I kick box, the more agile my body becomes and the more mobility I develop.
4. Began doing hard core ab work, planks, etc. on a regular basis and it's making a huge difference.
So people, glutes for pancake people are really hard to build. When they say, "just do squats" that's a load of BS. If you have a pancake, it means your glutes are inactive and dead. You gotta wake them up with hip thrust variations first and then begin the squatting. Glutes don't wake up with a squat if they are dead. Hip thrusting wakes those babies up.
I still have a small bum bc it's my genetics, but it is nice, round and perky. Some of us are just not meant to have the coveted "bubble" butt and that's ok I'll settle for a small peachy posterior
Hi there; Could be my story! Same age and did exactly the same thing. I am unlucky that I currently don't have a gym and only dumbbells at home so focussing on upper body at the moment but my glutes have definitely changed for the better!
If you've got dumbbells then look at using them in conjunction with Bulgarian split squats. You don't need much extra weight for them to slay your legs and tush!
20lb dB in each hand for 3 sets of ten and I am wobble walking up the stairs! Haha3 -
Yeah, I do the single leg hip thrusts, Bulgarian split ones too (yes they are hard!) I still feel that the regular hip thrusts are superior though. Very powerful exercise for me.
If you've got dumbbells then look at using them in conjunction with Bulgarian split squats. You don't need much extra weight for them to slay your legs and tush!
20lb dB in each hand for 3 sets of ten and I am wobble walking up the stairs! Haha [/quote]
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You can still just lay on the floor and do single leg hip thrusts. While you may not have the resistance you need at a gym, keeping them ACTIVE is still what you want to do.youngmomtaz wrote: »I love hip thrusts. But don’t have the set up for it at home. I hope my gym opens back up soon!!
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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when you say squats don’t do anything for the butt do those include
goblet squat
stuff leg deadlift
sumo squats
all with weights?3 -
trulyhealy wrote: »when you say squats don’t do anything for the butt do those include
goblet squat
stuff leg deadlift
sumo squats
all with weights?
What she said is easy to misunderstand. They didn't do anything for HER butt because she wasn't activating those muscles properly. For most people they WILL make a difference. She later stated that she returned to squats after having done some hip thrusts and she noticed the muscles felt different.
My butt is all barbell back squat and deadlifts now.6 -
Okay this was helpful I believe I will give these thrust a try. I am very small with a very little flat booty. I don't know how to thrust but since I know now to do them i will research how to do them. Thanks ladies!!! Wish me luck!!!4
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trulyhealy wrote: »when you say squats don’t do anything for the butt do those include
goblet squat
stuff leg deadlift
sumo squats
all with weights?
Hiya!! When my butt was a pancake, it was a dead squishy muscle and squats used to hurt my knees and build my quads. Did zero for my butt.
After a year or so of heavy hip thrusts, I went back to squatting and my glutes were active and strong enough to carry the weight.
My butt just looks normal now (SO UNFAIR!), but I’m super strong.
I’ve been afraid to try Bulgarian split squats bc I’m afraid of hurting my knees. I’m going to give them a try with my 20 lb dumbbells. Any tips to protect the knees? What is proper form?
0 -
LovelyNay870 wrote: »Okay this was helpful I believe I will give these thrust a try. I am very small with a very little flat booty. I don't know how to thrust but since I know now to do them i will research how to do them. Thanks ladies!!! Wish me luck!!!
Good for you!! Look at Bret Contreras videos on YouTube. I learned from his videos at first.
If you have small booty, results take time. My bum didn’t begin to grow until I was hip thrusting 185 lbs.
Good luck with your journey 1 -
trulyhealy wrote: »when you say squats don’t do anything for the butt do those include
goblet squat
stuff leg deadlift
sumo squats
all with weights?
Hiya!! When my butt was a pancake, it was a dead squishy muscle and squats used to hurt my knees and build my quads. Did zero for my butt.
After a year or so of heavy hip thrusts, I went back to squatting and my glutes were active and strong enough to carry the weight.
My butt just looks normal now (SO UNFAIR!), but I’m super strong.
I’ve been afraid to try Bulgarian split squats bc I’m afraid of hurting my knees. I’m going to give them a try with my 20 lb dumbbells. Any tips to protect the knees? What is proper form?
Best bet is to google YouTube videos for form. Start without a weight and video yourself doing them from front and side. Then compare to the videos. Adjust and repeat. 😊0 -
You can still just lay on the floor and do single leg hip thrusts. While you may not have the resistance you need at a gym, keeping them ACTIVE is still what you want to do.youngmomtaz wrote: »I love hip thrusts. But don’t have the set up for it at home. I hope my gym opens back up soon!!
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Your certifications are very impressive!! We can all learn from you0 -
This one looks pretty decent...
https://youtu.be/JLEyaXRMv8o 2 -
Other type of squats that hit glutes:
Curtsy squats
Sumo squats ( wide stance toes pointed out)
Side lunge squats
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 3 -
Other type of squats that hit glutes:
Curtsy squats
Sumo squats ( wide stance toes pointed out)
Side lunge squats
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutritionOther type of squats that hit glutes:
Curtsy squats
Sumo squats ( wide stance toes pointed out)
Side lunge squats
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I do curtesy squats and they are great for shaping!!0 -
KickassAmazon76 wrote: »This one looks pretty decent...https://youtu.be/JLEyaXRMv8o
Thanks. Perfect0 -
I've always had and still have flat butt due to genetics but what once were weak and flabby glutes, hips and thighs became strong and defined initally by doing (among other things) heavy squats and deadlifts 3x's/wk and more recently by rowing 5-10k/day which is equivalent to doing as many as 700-1500 burpees/day.
So, the only way that I'd achieve a bubble butt is by getting surgical impants or wearing padded shorts but at 70 yrs of age there really is no one that I need to impress in this way.
It just is what it is and I'm ok w/that.
LOL!
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Thanks!! This forum is great!!
I’m training with a certified boxer/trainer during lockdown once a week. We’re working on squats. He says my form is good, but I can only squat 100 lbs unassisted...pathetic. He spots me at 130 lbs. I hope I get stronger squatting soon. My body weight is 128 lbs and 5’8”, so I’m tall and thin. My trainer says I should be able to squat 150 lbs given my hip thrust strength.
I asked him to teach me how to split squat this week; he said he will teach me.0 -
I've always had and still have flat butt due to genetics but what once were weak and flabby glutes, hips and thighs became strong and defined initally by doing (among other things) heavy squats and deadlifts 3x's/wk and more recently by rowing 5-10k/day which is equivalent to doing as many as 700-1500 burpees/day.
So, the only way that I'd achieve a bubble butt is by getting surgical impants or wearing padded shorts but at 70 yrs of age there really is no one that I need to impress in this way.
It just is what it is and I'm ok w/that.
LOL!
Amazing!0 -
Thanks!! This forum is great!!
I’m training with a certified boxer/trainer during lockdown once a week. We’re working on squats. He says my form is good, but I can only squat 100 lbs unassisted...pathetic. He spots me at 130 lbs. I hope I get stronger squatting soon. My body weight is 128 lbs and 5’8”, so I’m tall and thin. My trainer says I should be able to squat 150 lbs given my hip thrust strength.
I asked him to teach me how to split squat this week; he said he will teach me.
OK so you're already able to squat your body weight... So none of this "pathetic" bs. That is an accomplishment and something to be proud of! ❤️
We all start somewhere and you already have a great base. You are quite light for your weight, but as you lift you will hopefully fuel your body for those gains and the weight may increase. (you need muscle growth to support heavy lifts.)
How many reps are you doing at those weights? What are your goals?4 -
KickassAmazon76 wrote: »
Thanks!! This forum is great!!
I’m training with a certified boxer/trainer during lockdown once a week. We’re working on squats. He says my form is good, but I can only squat 100 lbs unassisted...pathetic. He spots me at 130 lbs. I hope I get stronger squatting soon. My body weight is 128 lbs and 5’8”, so I’m tall and thin. My trainer says I should be able to squat 150 lbs given my hip thrust strength.
I asked him to teach me how to split squat this week; he said he will teach me.
OK so you're already able to squat your body weight... So none of this "pathetic" bs. That is an accomplishment and something to be proud of! ❤️
We all start somewhere and you already have a great base. You are quite light for your weight, but as you lift you will hopefully fuel your body for those gains and the weight may increase. (you need muscle growth to support heavy lifts.)
How many reps are you doing at those weights? What are your goals?
At the end of the sets, my trainer had me do 20 squats at 100 lbs. it seemed light after squatting 130 for 3 sets. The first set of 100 lbs I could only do 10. Funny how the brain works that way.
I don’t mind weighing more as long as it’s muscle.
I’d like to do 3 sets of 10 at 150 lbs unassisted. Do you think that’s a good goal?0 -
Well firstly... 20reps at 100 is a pretty high volume. Especially after reps at 130. So be proud.
Secondly... It's your goal. It's not up to me to judge how good it is, it's what you want to achieve.
I tend to like low volume because I get bored and lose count. Haha
It's seems like a lot of weight, but with practice, fuel and determination, I don't see why it's not possible, especially if you have a coach there with you.
Well done, strong lady!
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Great post, now I'm wondering for my at home workouts how I could improvise with something in order to do hip thrusts....any suggestions welcome 0
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