Hope my ass.

September 11, 2018 8:47 AM

What is the number one most efficient way to firm up the area where your ass meets the top of your thigh? Or is this just going to be one of those things I have to learn to accept in middle age, like my mutinous armpits?
posted by HotToddy to Health & Fitness (24 answers total)

You can't target fat loss, but you can target muscle development.

Exrx has a muscle map; click to select a muscle, then click on Exercises at the bottom to find exercises that target that muscle, such as hamstrings and gluteus.

But unless you're already a fitness nut, you'd be best off with (stop me if you've heard this before) a mix of cardio and full-body weight training, including deadlifts and squats.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:59 AM on September 11, 2018 [16 favorites]

In addition to Mr.Know-it-some's great advice, ice skating is wonderful for this.
posted by jgirl at 9:12 AM on September 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

These sound like bike muscles. If possible, ditch the motor vehicle (if you haven't already), get everywhere by bike.

(Recumbent bicycles are more comfortable and still work these muscles.)
posted by aniola at 9:18 AM on September 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

Also walking for transportation.
posted by aniola at 9:21 AM on September 11, 2018

Response by poster: To clarify: My ass is pretty firm in general due to near-daily mountain hiking and fairly regular squats and lunges. And I'm not fat at all. But this area right at the bottom of my cheeks seems to have given up.
posted by HotToddy at 9:30 AM on September 11, 2018

Hey, uh, I'd just like to chime in and say that this sounds like normal aging.

One aspect of social media is that we compare our mundane lives to others' highlight reels, and this is especially true when looking at people on instagram in terms of fitness. Most fitness instagrammers are in their early 20s, have had cosmetic surgery, and often photoshop their photos and cleverly use poses to accentuate their best look.

So, if you are going to compare your butt to your dream butt, I encourage you to consider at the VERY LEAST posing the same way as the models in your "minds eye" of that dream butt, wearing LuLuLemon Leggings and after a workout. In particular, poses like this are particularly stretching butts to be perfect in a way that looking at your butt in the mirror naked will not do it. There's so many aspects - the camera angle, the TYPE of camera and camera lens, the stretch, how they are flexing, and I bet those models still ALSO look in the mirror and hate their butt.

In conclusion, I recommend you invest in some perfectly-fitted leggings, and try to compare yourself against the humans you see every day instead of the humans online. You're probably already much healthier than average!
posted by bbqturtle at 9:41 AM on September 11, 2018 [17 favorites]

I'm sad to share that despite having very firm muscle tone (from doing literally nothing besides having good genes apparently,) once I turned 40 that specific part of my body has been like Nah, we're done here. Maybe exercise/weight-lifting would help, but I always injure myself when I try to be 'active' so I just accept the situation. But maybe you'll find a solution. It sucks though, you have my commiseration!
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 9:56 AM on September 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

Bret Contreras is a sexist, objectifying creep but he can make your butt look amazing. Your question is addressed in his FAQ and probably elsewhere on his site as well. I'd also do a search of xxfitness on reddit.
posted by windykites at 9:59 AM on September 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

Seconding Brett Contreras...despite the cringe of doing a program called "gluteal Goddess", my butt looks amazing. I think deadlifts and weighted hip thrusts are what you're going to want to prioritize.
posted by elke_wood at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2018 [5 favorites]

Haha, agreed with bbqturtle -- I'm in my 20s and that part of me is starting to encounter changes in texture.

I do remember dance teachers saying that there are small muscles in the area that don't get used in lunges / squats -- for example, lie on your stomach, keep your legs straight, and lift your foot off the ground without using your glutes. Apparently there are inner thigh muscles that often get neglected?
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:19 AM on September 11, 2018

Let me join the chorus of deadlifts and squats. Middle-aged, started lifting about a year and a half ago, and have noticed a distinct difference in precisely that area.
posted by LizardBreath at 10:29 AM on September 11, 2018

Pilates is great for the deep inner butt muscles as well as your core and the best part is that it is mostly excercising while you are laying down.
posted by wowenthusiast at 10:39 AM on September 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

Just to clarify, you're talking about where the glute meets the hamstring, right?

Best you can hope for is to build up your glutes to take some of the slack from that area.

The other problem is that...that's where the excess skin gathers from when you were younger and your muscles were fuller. As an ASS-having male person, I have a little excess there, even when I'm (relatively for me) swole.
posted by notsnot at 11:03 AM on September 11, 2018

squats, deadlifts, and anything that strengthens the hip adductors & abductors
posted by poffin boffin at 11:17 AM on September 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

I started doing a weight training class about 18 months ago. We do squats (usually loaded with weights, a medicine ball, or a VIPR [like a weighted tube]). So many squats. More variations of squats than I ever thought existed. That and almost as many lunges has my ass looking better than it has in a decade.
posted by TwoStride at 11:44 AM on September 11, 2018

Batter_my_heart is correct -- you need to work the specific under-butt muscles that squats don't really engage. The exercises mentioned have substantially changed my silhouette in a way that squats and hiking never have.
posted by ananci at 12:03 PM on September 11, 2018

Deadlifts, man, deadlifts. I had a pretty squat-centric routine for a while that wasn't making me happy with my progress. My trainer put me on a program with lots of deadlift variations (trap bar, barbell, sumo, conventional, you name it) and my underbutt situation is much improved even though I have some fat to lose.
posted by blerghamot at 12:16 PM on September 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

7 underbutt isolation exercises
posted by loveandhappiness at 12:26 PM on September 11, 2018

Pure Barre has exercises that work what they call "the ledge of your seat" - you can find videos online or take a class in person.
posted by mogget at 12:29 PM on September 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

This first one she's doing, I think that's the one that works for me, YMMV of course.
posted by missmobtown at 1:02 PM on September 11, 2018

I'm a doctor.

Contrary to popular opinion, exercise can't significantly change a butt's shape or appearance. Asses sag because of biology and gravity, not lack of muscle tone

Lower estrogen levels and slower collagen production make skin less elastic, less taut and tight-stretched over contours. And loss of muscle mass--at a rate of around 1% annually after about age 30 in women--changes the relative proportion of firm vs fatty soft tissue throughout the body. This radically changes the appearance of areas disproportionately composed of fat, such as the breasts and butt.

Biology is destiny when it comes to the effects of aging. And squats don't attenuate gravity
posted by BadgerDoctor at 5:11 PM on September 11, 2018

Contrary to popular opinion, exercise can't significantly change a butt's shape or appearance.

I know we're not supposed to be arguing here, but this seems like a really strange thing to say. I mean, body-building is a thing; lifting weights can build muscle in a way that is visible to the naked eye. If you were saying "You can't spot-reduce fat", sure, absolutely. But the size and shape of the muscles underlying whatever fat there is can change with exercise, and that can change the appearance of whatever body part, including your butt (which has a lot of muscle under the fat.)

Am I misunderstanding what you were saying?
posted by LizardBreath at 7:21 AM on September 12, 2018 [4 favorites]

And loss of muscle mass--at a rate of around 1% annually after about age 30 in women--changes the relative proportion of firm vs fatty soft tissue throughout the body. ... Biology is destiny when it comes to the effects of aging.

Following up on LizardBreath, this also seems like a really strange thing to say. Though strength and muscle mass potential may decline with age, and it may become harder to build muscle, it's still entirely possible to maintain or even gain muscle mass as you age.

Just look at the images here: The incredible unaging triathlete
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:51 AM on September 12, 2018 [3 favorites]

My apologies. I meant to direct you to r/strongcurves, not xxfitness which is more generic and also assumes your gender! Strongcurves is Contereras's workout, targeted at women but men also use it successfully.
posted by windykites at 3:03 PM on September 12, 2018