No two butts are created equal, and if you’ve ever looked around at the variety of bottoms are out there, it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that there is such a thing as different butt shapes.
Knowing which butt shape you have can be important because you may not have the butt that you want right now.
Knowing where you stand right now, and comparing this to where you want to be, is critical when it comes to setting goals and developing a plan to achieve them. Creating your best butt ever is no different, so let’s get educated!
The idea of shaping is that you can make changes in specific areas of your butt in order to achieve a particular overall shape.
There are two ways you can go about this: naturally, through methods such as diet and exercise; or surgically – through cosmetic procedures.
This post will talk about the types of exercises that you can do to try and help shape your butt.
What Causes the Different Types of Butt Shapes?
Your skeletal structure determines the main framework for your body shape, and the overall shape that you end up with is determined by the distribution of fat and muscle on top of your skeleton. For the butt, the main factor which causes the particular shape of the buttocks is your hip bone, followed by your fat distribution which is largely genetically determined.
In general, for most people who do not do specific glute training, muscle does not contribute a lot to butt shape as the glutes are generally underdeveloped in most people.
Females and males obviously have very different butt shapes, but this article will focus mainly on the different types of female butt shapes.
Types of Butt Shapes
Cosmetic surgeons dealing with procedures like buttocks augmentation, liposuction and the like ended up categorizing most women into one of these four main butt shape categories:
- Round – “C” or “O” shape
- Heart/pear – “A” shape
- Inverted – “V” shape
- Square – “H” shape
That’s not to say that there aren’t more types/categories, but these are the ones that seem to be most widely recognized.
It can be helpful to know which shape you are closest to, as this will can determine what kind of shaping exercises you can to do to work the butt shape that you’ve got into a more desirable one. Your butt may not match the above examples exactly, but you should be able to choose which shape your butt most closely resembles.
Round “C” or “O” Shape
Commonly referred to as bubble butts due to their round appearance, a round butt shape is characterized by a fat distribution around the cheeks of the butt – including the upper portion of the cheeks, which causes a rounded effect when viewed from behind. This shape often sits high when viewed from the side, and is usually quite perky and full.
Heart/pear “A” Shape
The heart or pear shape is generally considered to be the most feminine of the butt shapes, and is a result of fat distribution around lower portion of the butt and thighs. This results in a more tapered look from the waistline to the bottom of the butt (hence the “A” shape or “upside down heart” description).
Inverted “V” Shape
The V shape is more commonly seen in older women as lower estrogen levels result in the shift of fat storage from the butt to the midsection. This can result in an inverted shape where the base of the butt is less full than the top of the butt. Perhaps because of this, this butt shape is also associated with sagging.
Square “H” Shape
This particular shape is caused by either higher more prominent hip bones (you may even have hip dips), or a distribution of fat in the ‘love handle’ area. The overall effect is that the butt looks square shaped and is closer to appearing as a straight up-and-down right below your waist, rather than tapering to the waist with a smooth curve.
How to Change Butt Shape?
Depending on your weight and if you are carrying excess fat or lack muscle in the gluteal region, there are a few things you can do to make your butt appear to be a softer shape naturally:
Exercises
Incorporating the right kind of exercises that shape the butt can build out those muscles that will give you a better shape. A strong butt is a sexy butt. Bigger glutes will give you a rounder, tighter booty and accentuate your natural curves.
Diet
If you’re carrying a bit of extra weight around your hips, thighs or butt, this can give you a flabby shape. Watching your diet and what you eat is probably the best and fastest way to lose weight from your whole body, including the butt.
Clothing Choice
Choose clothes that flatter your butt and draw attention to the aspects of your shape that you like, while down-playing any of your less attractive features. Poor clothing choice can make even the best body look bad, and good clothing choice can take an average looking body to be incredibly sexy.
Consider Enhancement Underwear
Butt enhancing underwear and shapewear is a great way to shape your booty to the way you want it to look. This option is inexpensive and can give you an instant boost when it comes to the way you present yourself to the world.
Surgical Alternative
There’s always the “easy” option out – surgery to change the shape and appearance of your butt. But it’s worthwhile to first try to shape your butt naturally through healthy methods first.
Shaping Your Butt Through Exercises
This is generally achieved by trying to target specific butt muscles to help even out your shape. If you’re unfamiliar with the anatomy of the butt muscles, be sure to brush up on your Buttocks Anatomy first so that you can understand which muscles sit where when it comes to your butt.
“C” or “O” Shapes – You don’t need to be too selective in terms of butt exercises that you choose. Any general butt exercises will benefit you and keep your butt perky – for example, squats, glute bridges and bulgarian split squats.
“A” Shapes – To ensure you don’t get too wide at the bottom part of your butt, keep up a steady dosage of the butt-lifting types of exercises such as arabesque, plie, and straight leg kickbacks. Use squats and glute bridges to fill out the tops and rest of your butt and maintain an overall lift to your rear.
“V” Shapes – Try plie, arabesque, kickbacks, and froggy glute lifts to focus on the lower glutes, which may help fill your butt out at the bottom. Glute bridges may also help build some volume generally, if you can make your butt bigger and rounder this may distract from your V shape a little.
You are unfortunately limited by your genetic disposition to this particular fat distribution, but could perhaps see benefits from training the gluteus maximus.
“H” Shapes – Your butt is lacking volume on the sides, and will benefit from exercises which target the gluteus medius to try and round out your shape. Try clamshells, lying side abductions, side lunges and ice skaters or curtsy lunges.