Fitness Tips

How I Got a Bubble Butt: My Story, Personal Strategy, Secrets

So, so you want to have that head-turning, conversation-starting, envy-provoking bubble butt? Welcome to the club, because today, bubble butts are all the rage when it comes to female physique. 

The popularity of bubble butts really skyrocketed in 2013 according to Google Trends, and is mainly a result of celebrities and Instagram models proudly showing off their round behinds.

And if you’re ready to sacrifice some time and energy, you CAN build a Insta-worthy bubble butt for yourself.

Trust me.. I did it, and I got straight shafted with junk genetics…

Flat, almost inverted looking butt with little legs and small calves… yeah that was me.

If I can do it, so can you.

In this guide, I’m going to just tell you what I learned in my past three years of dedicated glute training. If you follow every step, you will see serious changes sooner than you would expect.

I learned from my own personal experience just exactly what works to build a nice bubble butt and thick, yet toned thighs.

But before we go on to the steps, let’s start from the beginning.

So, what is a bubble butt? 

What Is A Bubble Butt?

how to get a bubble butt

There’s, of course, no strict definition of a bubble butt. The urban dictionary ideas range from simply “a nicely rounded behind” to the “proof that God exists.”

But though the term inspires different interpretations, most people can agree on one thing.

A bubble butt, contrary to the “fat ass” is a firm, round booty that usually follows a slender body and is a possible result of 1 of the two things below. 

1. Good genes

These are the very select few people in the world that are naturally gifted with a bubble butt and don’t have to work for it. This is more likely not you and never will be.

You’ll have to work for yours as I did mine.

2. Exercise

How most people achieve that oh so perfect round, big, yet firm bubble butt that everyone so craves. This is how I did it, and is how you WILL do it too.

Don’t live life with a skinny flat booty or a fat saggy mom butt

If the Mother Earth didn’t grace you with a round booty, there’s no need to feel less confident or reach for expensive, and unnecessary cosmetic procedures.

If you’re ready to put in hard work and sacrifice bad eating habits for the purpose, you can transform your not so good looking butt into a perfect looking bubble butt by yourself.

The result won’t only be a nice physique. Strong glutes support your back and lower leg muscles during daily tasks, minimizing back and knee pain.

They also improve your power and athletic performance, which is why you’ll see most volleyball players and sprinters sporting a round booty. 

The biggest Benefit a bubble butt will give you is the huge confidence boost that nothing else can possibly match. For me, it changed my freaking life!

I’m not even kidding, wearing jeans never felt so darn good and just knowing that the guys are looking at me is such a good feeling.

It’s worth it even if it meant I would have to work out 6 days a week or even 7 days a week.

It’s those things that you do not think about that are the biggest and most important changes that having a bubble butt will do for you.

My Journey to Getting a Bubble Butt

how do you get a bubble butt

My name is Alex, I’m the girlfriend of the owner of this fitness site (fitlifefanatics) his name is Ben_Mayz.

I’ve been a big fitness enthusiast for more than five years now.

Am I a professional trainer?

No, but I’ve been through this first hand and what I have learned is by far more usable than what you would get from a trainer.

This is not the same old cookie cutter junk you more than likely would hear from an average joe or trainer.

What I learned, worked for my junk genetics, so I can almost promise it will work for you as well.

Starting out with a little more weight than my skinny self? This will be even easier for you. It’s harder for a skinny person to build a nice bubble butt than it is for someone starting out with some meat on their bones.

What makes me someone you can trust is my dedication towards building that picture-worthy bubble butt, as I’ve been doing it for more than three years now, backed with constant experiments and learning.

I know three years sounds intimidating…

However, my first two years were a period of trial and error. I arguably made every single mistake one can make when trying to build such a large muscle.

I went through it, so that you do not have to.

I even purchased several programs from the world’s most popular butt trainers, tried every diet possible, but with mediocre results. 

And although this lack of continuity and constant search for that “ideal training program” was the reason why I didn’t get any serious changes in my booty in the first two years, it also helped me to understand what I have to do to finally make it grow. 

In the last year, I switched to a single program that I created for myself, with little to no variations, and started seeing huge changes in my body.

I finally built my dream booty.

And now, I’m ready to share my knowledge so you can achieve the same, in half the time that I did. 

And no, I am not gonna charge you for it.

How Long Will It Take You To Build Your Bubble Butt?

how i built my bubble butt

If you’ve explored the vast world of booty shaping content, you likely stumbled upon those “Build your Booty In A Month” programs.

I’m going to be straight with you now, those kinds of guarantees are pure bullshit. 

If you could completely transform your body in a month, we would all be walking around like Greek statues and obesity wouldn’t even have a place in our dictionaries. 

There is one program that I have found that did help me as a beginner. It helped me learn the basics and taught me the exercises and routines to do that would directly target my glutes for the desired look I wanted.

It’s called the Bigger Better Butt Program. Feel free to check it out here if you want.

I will say that it was a worthwhile program for me, mainly because as I am a bit lazy, value my time, and prefer to not be working out non stop.

Work harder not smarter.

Depending on where you are now, it will probably take a year and a half to get where you want to be – that final goal.

You will need to give your body some time before it starts looking comparable to that model you’re following on Instagram. 

If you’re dealing with a “skinny fat” body and already have some muscle tone, you might need half the time to achieve your goals. If your goals are realistic, not turning from a slender ballerina to Kim Kardashian. 

Bear in mind though, that these are only estimates I saw from my experience and that from other girls I spoke with.

The time you really need will depend on how heavily and consistently you’re working out, and how seriously are you taking your diet. 

Of course, you will see first results in a month or two. 9 months to a year is what you’ll need to build that final shape you want.

In the next chapter I will speak about exercises that I would recommend everyone to include in their weekly training if they want to build that perfectly round bubble but.

So, let’s hop right into the juicy part! (pun intended)

Bubble Butt Building Warm Up Exercises That Worked For Me

First, off ladies, you need to get a set of dumbbells. You can check out the best womens weight sets here.

You will need these for at home weighted lunges.

You can usually get weights and dumbbells just about anywhere but I have found the best place to get weights is typically amazon or your local sporting goods store.

Activation Warm Ups

If I had to choose a single thing that helped me get huge results in the past year it would be warm up activation exercises before every single leg and glute workout.

This is why you need a dumbbell weight set, so that when you are at home you can do lunges either when you wake up or right before you get to the gym.

Activation is particularly important if you feel your quads more than glutes when doing compound movements such as squats. Also, if you spend a lot of time sitting, it is important to wake up your glute muscles before you hop into the heavy lifts.

So what is glute activation? It is a series of warm up exercises that you do with a band or your own bodyweight and some weights, it’s meant to activate the right muscles and help you establish a proper mind-to-muscle connection. 

The warm up activation exercises I use before every bubble butt workout are:

Lunges – Mainly Only Lunges At Home Before My Workout

dumbbell lunges to build a bubble butt

Do these at home either right when you wake up or before you go to the gym for your leg workout.

Band Walks

band walks to get a bubble butt

Preferably with a band, get in a squat position and slowly walk towards one side, then repeat the same number of steps to the other, staying in the squat position the entire time. 

To properly activate your glutes, do at least 50 reps of chosen activation exercises for each side, playing with different variations and rep ranges.

Donkey Kicks

donkey kicks to get a bubble butt

start on all fours, with your knees right below your hips, and your arms in line with your shoulders. With the knee still bent, elevate one leg towards the ceiling, lower the leg without touching the floor and repeat the motion. 

Fire Hydrants

fire hydrants to get a bubble butt

Start in the same position as with the donkey kicks, but instead of pushing your leg upwards, open it up to the side with the knee still bent. 

Clamshells

clamshell exercise to get a bubble butt

Lie on your side, with your knees bent at a 45% angle. Rest your head on your hand and, keeping your feet touching, lift the upper knee towards the ceiling. 

Bridges

bubble butt building exercises

Lie on your back, with knees bent and feet just behind your glutes, and let your hands rest beside you. Elevate your hips and squeeze your glutes at the top, lower back down and repeat the motion. 

After you’ve completed your activation, it’s time for the heavy lifts.

The ones that really build that bubble booty.

Compound Exercises That Built My Bubble Butt

These are the exercises that I found to work for me. In this order.

You may find this to be a bit different that what you would expect; leg push backs and hip thrusters come before squats?

Well here’s the thing, Squats, at least for me and I feel for every one else as well, work your thighs far more than they do your butt.

Yes.. I want thick thighs but I do not want thick thighs more than I want a bubble butt. For this reason alone, I did not want to waste me energy on an exercise that wasn’t totally building the bubble to my booty.

Many girls make this mistake thinking that squatting every workout is what is going to do the trick.. Wrong..

You’ll just end up with big legs and not a proportionate butt to go with them legs.

Not what we are going for here.

Leg Push Backs – Go for the Pump, Medium Reps, Medium Weight

leg push backs to get a bubble butt

I found that leg push backs are a perfect workout to add between your activation and heavy lifts. They will still mainly work your glutes, but the added weight won’t just warm up your booty, but also break the muscle tissues and induce great muscle growth

It would be ideal if your gym has a leg push back machine, as it allows you to rest your abdomen on a flat surface and conduct the exercise with perfect form.

However, you can also use cables, which gives you much more freedom of movement. This is, of course great because you can adapt the exercise towards your own body.

But it also opens up space for bad form.

I found that the only way to do the leg push back exercise without feeling more activation in my lower back than my glutes is putting a small bench or a box beneath my non-working leg. 

Then, I hold on to the machine for stability and lower my upper body to be parallel with the floor. Finally, I raise my other, straight leg to the level of my upper body. The added elevation on the non-working leg allows for full range of motion. 

Whichever option is available to you, start with the smallest load to perfect your form. Two sets of 12-15 reps on each leg are my sweet spot for this exercise.

You can play around with these ranges, but I found that heavy weight and a 6-8 rep scheme doesn’t activate my glutes as much as a moderate load and rep range. 

Hip Thrusters – Go Heavy! – Heavy Weight, Low Reps (8-10)

hip thrusters to get a bubble butt

Last, but certainly not least, are hip thrusts. They were popularized by Bret Contreras or the “Glute Guy” but soon everyone realized how powerful they can be for glute development. 

If you would do only a single exercise for the glutes, I would tell you to pick hip thrusters. 

Start with sitting on the floor in front of a bench, and place a barbell on your hips. With your feet steadily on the ground (turned slightly outwards) and your lats on the bench, use your hips to raise the weight of the barbell to the top.

Pause at the top for a few seconds, and lower back down.

I play around with rep ranges for hip thrusts, to constantly challenge my glutes.

Start with higher reps (15 to 20) to build your strength and form, then try out a traditional 8 rep – 4 sets method, a pyramid (for example, a set of 10, a set of 8, a set of 6, then a backoff set of 15), or pausing at the top one second more after each rep.

Experiment with rep schemes, don’t be afraid to lift heavy. I promise you, you’ll soon understand why this exercise became the holy grail of glute training. 

Squats – Focus on going low, and Squeezing at the top

squats to get a bubble butt

In the past, when you asked someone for the best exercise to build your glutes they would say squats. Today, we can hear the complete opposite, that squats aren’t beneficial to your butt at all.

Both of those statements are wrong. 

Squats won’t build your glutes by themselves.

Without proper activation you COULD feel them only in your quads, that’s why squats are amazing for toning your thighs.

But if you warmed up properly, and have a good form, trust me, you WILL feel them in your glutes.

Even more so, they can be painful as hell.

As a compound movement, squats, particularly reverse hack squats, and back squats with a barbell allow you to lift very heavy weight, which is key to building a bubble butt.

If you’re not sure that your form is good, start on a smith machine, and progress to a free barbell when you feel ready. 

I usually do a warm up set of 20 with the barbell alone, and then continue to do 4 sets of 6-8 reps. If you can’t lift the barbell 6 times, lower the weight, and if you’re not screaming in pain (figuratively speaking, please don’t scream in a gym) on the eight rep, you need to up that weight.

And although I believe that a bubble butt should be supported with lean quads and hamstrings, if you want to feel your butt alone widen your stance into a sumo position, open your feet to a 45% angle and push your knees outwards as you lift. 

Deadlifts – Hump forward at the top, Squeeze & Flex your Cheeks

Deadlifts to get a bubble butt

When you look at female powerlifters, you can see how deadlifts allow for comparatively much heavier load than most other leg exercises.

Deadlifts are a compound exercise that mainly target your glutes, hamstrings and back. You can do them on your leg day or sneak them into your back day to get that extra boost to your glutes. 

I incorporate both traditional and Romanian deadlifts in my training, and I switch them around to keep my gym sessions challenging.

While the traditional deadlift allows for heavier weight, Romanian will target your glutes more because your legs are straighter and hips higher.

As with squats a low rep/heavy load is the best way to make the most out of this exercise, regardless of the variation.

Also it is important to note that doing squats and deadlifts on the same day is not typically the best way to go about things because they are both extremely fatiguing exercises.

I separate them and do them on different days.

Lunges/Variations

weight lunges to get a bubble butt

I think single leg exercises should be a part of every glute training. Lunges and their variations build stability in your legs, tackle muscle imbalances and work on the gluteus medius a lot more than most other exercises.

For building stability and strength, go for walking lunges.

If you want to feel more activation in your backside try out reverse lunges and for the most powerful activation, that’s undoubtedly going to burn you out, do some Bulgarian split squats. 

No other exercise in the gym burns me (and my butt) out like split squats. You will need some practice to get the hang of the form. Still, regardless of experience, it is hard not to hate this exercise.

It’s uncomfortable, but like many uncomfortable things, it brings results that are well worth the trouble. 

Aim for moderate weight and 10-15 reps on each leg for all lunging exercises. 

The Importance of Progressive Overload

Many women who go to the gym do most or at least half of the exercises I described above. Yet they experience none or only mediocre changes in their body.

The most common reason why this happens is simply not lifting enough. Slackin.

Progressive overload is trying to lift more or going for 1 more rep every workout. You can do more reps with the same weight, or lift heavier weight.

 If you don’t do heavier workouts every time you’re in the gym, your butt won’t have anything to adapt to. As a result, they won’t grow and your butt will not get the bubble you are after.

Keep a training journal with the most important exercises, and write down the weight and sets for each session.

Next time you’re in the gym, look at your notes, and try to beat your last workout by a tiny bit or a lotta bit.

In addition to those exercises you might want to try cardio, for example, running is great glute development, doing cardio, in general, is great for your lower body and overall muscles growth, but too much cardio can have the opposite effect so don’t overdo it.

Getting A Bubble Butt – How Often Should I Train?

how often to workout to get a bubble butt

I think the answer to this question would be different for every trainer you asked. 

Some say once per week is enough. Others split their exercises between two trainings, the third train every day.

I say that if you’re consistent with your program, each of these can work. However, the glute day won’t look the same for the person who trains once a week and the person who trains four times. 

If you’re working out frequently, you can’t use the heaviest load during every gym session because your muscles won’t have enough time to recover.

On the other hand, if going for one day, you need to be ready for true pain and burn out your muscles so much that you can’t do another session even if you tried. 

How much bubble are you wanting?

Are you wanting the most bubble to your butt possible or are just looking for a good looking bubble. That is what will determine your intensity for each workout.

If you are just after a butt that looks good has some bubble and want to feel good in jeans, than this is more about consistency than anything.

Staying consistent with your butt workouts is going to be what builds the bubble.

I personally work my butt two days a week now and this maintains what I built. One heavy day, one supplemental day with more activation and lighter weight, and enough rest time between them.

I chose this method because I can be consistent with it. 

So make sure you also pick a scheme that you can be consistent with and which allows you to add progressive overload the most.  

What Should I Eat? – The Diet I Used to Build My Bubble Butt

perfect toned bubble butt

They say that abs are made in the kitchen and glutes are made in the gym. There is some truth in that, but it doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want and still have a firm butt.

For that round, bubble butt you want, it should mainly consist of muscle.

Some fat helps in achieving the shape, but if there’s too much of it, all the hard work you did won’t be as visible and you’ll end up with more of a jiggly butt than a bubble butt.

To each their own, but I personally think bubble booties look better than jiggle booties.

I found that no strict diet works for me long term. Instead of going on a diet, start observing what you regularly eat, and you will soon see what foods are to blame for you not seeing results.

Try to eliminate as much of those foods as you can.

Don’t be too strict as that could make you give up after a week.

Replace the things you’ve eliminated with good, whole foods. For a bubble butt, we need to consume a lot of protein, to help damaged muscle fibers restore.

You don’t have to count calories, but add a good protein source to your every meal. You can also add protein supplements to your diet to be sure you’ve consumed enough.

A good low sodium protein powder will be a tremendous help if you do not want to be cooking food all the time.

I would also recommend a good pre-workout as well. I prefer the pre-workouts with no beta alanine as it keeps my face from itching.

You can check out the one that I use by clicking here.

Good carbs and fats are also important for muscle growth and they ensure you have enough energy for your workouts. What works for me is a diet that consists of at least 30% protein and the rest divided between carbs and fats. 

Find the ratio that works for you and your lifestyle, and you’ll be able to create eating habits that will help you gain and keep your new body shape for years, rather than only those first few months when you’re extra motivated. 

The Secret Sauce for Building Your Bubble Booty

how to get a bubble butt with thick thighs

If you start following the steps I described above, I’m sure you’ll notice your butt starting to change in no time. 

However, there is one more trick that helped me maximize and accelerate my results like nothing else. 

This secret ingredient is visualization, which leads to better mind-to muscle connection. 

When you’re working your butt, don’t think about anything else other than your butt. Have a laser focus on your movement and feel the effort that your glutes are doing.

Visualize the muscles breaking and growing larger. Focus on squeezing and flexing at each and every rep.

Don’t be afraid to look yourself in the mirror and notice the pump in your muscles during a workout. 

Secondly, have a clear vision of what you want to look like.

And I mean that quite literally.

Find a girl with similar body shape as yours but with the bubble butt you desire.  The easiest way to do this would be on Instagram, or by simply checking out photos of popular gym models or bodybuilding contestants. 

Go through the photos often, and visualize that’s who you already are. I know that this may sound trivial, but I can’t stress enough how much visualization has helped me to get to where I wanted to be.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger once said : “Visualize your success. Then go do it.”

So, to sum up, eat a lot of protein, be focused during your workouts, visualize where you want to be, work your ass off in the gym.

Trust me, if you work at it hard enough next summer you could be walking around with that perfect bubble butt that you’re wishing you had right now. 

Related Reading

Ben Mayz

Hi there! I'm Ben, main author and chief editor at Fitlifefanatics.com. I have been obsessed with Strength Training and Fitness for 18 years now.
My passion for living a happy fit lifestyle is what made me realize that fitness is what I wanted for my future.
I went on to earn my Masters in Sports Training & Biomechanics.
My passion for Strength training & fitness and my love of helping others is what made me start Fitlifefanatics.
Here, myself, and a team of specialist aim to provide the most accurate, and actionable information possible in hopes to help foster the fitness community forward.
You can learn more about Fitlifefanatics on our About Page

Ben Mayz

Hi there! I'm Ben, main author and chief editor at Fitlifefanatics.com. I have been obsessed with Strength Training and Fitness for 18 years now. My passion for living a happy fit lifestyle is what made me realize that fitness is what I wanted for my future. I went on to earn my Masters in Sports Training & Biomechanics. My passion for Strength training & fitness and my love of helping others is what made me start Fitlifefanatics. Here, myself, and a team of specialist aim to provide the most accurate, and actionable information possible in hopes to help foster the fitness community forward. You can learn more about Fitlifefanatics on our About Page

3 Comments

  1. Reading your article has greatly helped me, and I agree with you. But I still have some questions. Can you help me? I will pay attention to your answer. thank you.

    1. Of course, I will. Well, my girlfriend Alex will help you. She’s the one with the butt lol. Ask your questions though and i’ll let mrs. bubble booty expert know and i’m sure she will more than happy to respond to you and help you as best she can.

  2. Heⅼlo! Do you use Twitter? I’d lіke to folloᴡ yօu if that
    would be okay. I’m absolսtely enjoying your blog and look forwaгd to
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