“Ozempic Butt”: What Changes and 5 Exercises to Build Glute Strength

By Amanda Boike Fitness

If your jeans fit differently after losing weight on Ozempic or Wegovy, a smaller or flatter-looking butt can be an unexpected part of that change. The phrase “Ozempic butt” has become shorthand for it, often with the implication that something has gone wrong. Changes in shape can involve less fat, changes in skin, and sometimes muscle loss during weight reduction. Appearance alone cannot tell you how much of each has changed.

For the part you can train, progressive resistance exercise gives your glutes a reason to maintain strength and, when conditions allow, grow. A routine built around squats, hip hinges and bridges can do this without jumping. The useful question is how to make those movements challenging enough, repeat them consistently, and support them with adequate food while your appetite is lower.

What is “Ozempic butt,” and does it mean muscle loss?

Your buttocks contain a substantial layer of fat over the gluteal muscles. The gluteus maximus helps straighten the hip when you stand up, climb stairs or lift something from the floor. The smaller gluteus medius and minimus help control the pelvis and move the leg sideways. Losing fat over these muscles changes the outline even if their strength is maintained. Skin may also remain looser after substantial weight loss, as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons explains.

Muscle deserves attention because weight loss can include lean tissue. In a STEP 1 body-composition substudy, 140 adults with overweight or obesity underwent body-composition scans. Among the 95 assigned semaglutide 2.4 mg, total fat mass fell by 19.3% and lean body mass by 9.7% over 68 weeks; the proportion of body weight made up of lean mass increased because fat fell more.

Those percentages describe changes within each tissue category, not the fraction of lost weight that was muscle. Lean mass includes water and other nonfat tissues as well as muscle, and this exploratory analysis did not measure individual glute muscles or establish that semaglutide directly damages them. It also used the weight-management dose of semaglutide, rather than the Ozempic dosing schedule. A smaller butt therefore does not establish glute atrophy or diagnose sarcopenia.

Strength training addresses the muscles underneath that changing outline. It can support strength and muscle size; it cannot replace lost fat or reliably tighten excess skin. Keeping those expectations distinct helps you choose a goal that exercise can actually serve.

For the broader picture beyond your glutes, read the complete guidcope to GLP-1 body changes and muscle loss.

Why walking and sitting breaks need a strength-training companion

Walking uses your glutes and remains valuable for fitness and daily activity. Hills and stairs can add demand. Sitting breaks also give you more opportunities to move. However, an accustomed walking route may provide relatively little new challenge as you become fitter, and sitting itself supplies no meaningful strengthening load.

Resistance training lets you deliberately increase the work your glutes do. A chair squat can progress from body weight to holding a dumbbell; a hip hinge can progress from learning the motion to lifting heavier weights. The American College of Sports Medicine’s 2026 guidance supports training all major muscle groups at least twice weekly, with effort and workload suited to the person’s goals.

Food intake matters alongside that loading. A meta-analysis of resistance training during energy restriction found smaller lean-mass gains than training without an energy deficit, while strength gains were comparable. These were general training studies, not GLP-1 trials. During active weight loss, maintaining strength and limiting muscle loss may be more realistic immediate goals than rapidly adding visible size.

Five low-impact exercises for glute strength

These movements offer ways to load the hips while adjusting support, resistance and range of motion. Low impact describes the absence of jumping or landing; comfort still depends on the exercise and your joints. ABF’s guide to low-impact strength exercises explains how those adjustments can help.

There is no proven five-exercise cure for “Ozempic butt.” In a nine-week trial involving 34 untrained college-aged adults, loaded squats and hip thrusts produced similar gluteus maximus growth. That supports having several training options, although the study did not test floor bridges or people taking GLP-1 medication. Two authors who sell exercise products and services helped fund the study.

1. Glute bridge with a brief hold

Lie on your back with knees bent and feet about hip-width apart. Press through your feet and lift your hips until your shoulders, hips and knees form a comfortable line. Hold for three seconds, then lower with control. Keep the ribs settled so extra height does not come from arching your lower back.

Start with body weight. Adjust your foot position if your hamstrings cramp, and use a smaller lift if needed. Once the prescribed repetitions feel easy, a securely held dumbbell across a padded hip crease can increase the load.

2. Side-lying clamshell

Lie on your side with your head supported, hips stacked and knees bent. Keep your feet together as you open the top knee without rolling your pelvis backward, then lower slowly. The range may be small when your pelvis stays still.

A loop band above the knees adds resistance. Use a lighter band or no band while learning the movement. A side-lying straight-leg raise is another option for the outer hip; choose one variation for the routine and use the same per-side dose. The AAOS hip-conditioning guide includes side-lying hip work and prone hip extension as general conditioning exercises.

3. Romanian deadlift with dumbbells

Stand with feet about hip-width apart, holding dumbbells in front of your thighs. Soften your knees and send your hips backward, keeping the weights close to your legs. Stop where you can control your back position, then press through your feet and stand by bringing your hips forward.

Practice without weights first, reaching your hips toward a wall behind you. The weights need not reach the floor. A shorter hinge is useful when flexibility or back comfort limits the movement; increase resistance as your control improves.

4. Supported chair squat

Place a sturdy chair against a wall. Stand in front of it with feet at a comfortable width, bend your hips and knees, and lower toward the seat. Touch down lightly or sit briefly, then stand. Keep your knees moving in the same direction as your toes.

Use a stable counter for hand support if balance limits you. A higher seat reduces the depth. When standing becomes easy, use less hand assistance or hold a dumbbell at your chest if you can perform the movement comfortably without support.

5. Prone bent-knee hip extension or quadruped kickback

For the prone version, lie face down with a thin pillow under your hips. Bend one knee and lift that thigh slightly, keeping your pelvis against the mat. Lower slowly. A small movement is enough; lifting higher by arching the back changes the task.

If lying on your stomach is uncomfortable, work on hands and knees with cushioning underneath them. Keep one knee bent and lift the thigh behind you without rotating the pelvis. Choose one version and complete both sides. As it becomes easy, additional resistance or a harder bridge variation may provide a more useful challenge than ever-higher leg lifts.

An approximately 20-minute routine, three days a week

This is a coaching example for someone new or returning to strength training who can comfortably use these positions. It has not been tested as a GLP-1-specific protocol. Use Monday, Wednesday and Friday, leaving a recovery day between sessions. If three sessions are initially difficult to recover from, begin with two nonconsecutive days for one or two weeks, then add the third when you feel ready. Experienced lifters should adapt their established program rather than automatically reduce it to this dose.

Have a mat, sturdy chair, dumbbells and optional loop band ready. Warm up for about three minutes with easy walking or marching, then five unweighted hinges and five easy chair rises. Complete the exercises in this order, finishing each exercise’s sets before moving on:

Exercise order	Sets	Repetitions per set
1. Supported chair squat	2	8–10
2. Romanian deadlift	2	8–10
3. Glute bridge	2	8–10, holding each lift for 3 seconds
4. Clamshell or side-lying leg raise	1 per side	10–12 per side
5. Prone hip extension or quadruped kickback	1 per side	8–10 per side

Rest 60 seconds between sets and after the squats and deadlifts. For the last two exercises, take about 15 seconds to change sides; rest 30 seconds between mat exercises. Move steadily through each repetition and finish with a minute or two of easy movement. Setup and transitions bring the session to roughly 20 minutes. Take longer rests if needed rather than rushing to meet the clock.

While learning, use a resistance that leaves several good repetitions available. Once the movements are familiar, aim to finish most sets with about two or three controlled repetitions left. When you reach the top of a repetition range with more effort to spare for two sessions, increase the weight or band tension slightly and return to the lower end. Record the change. These are practical coaching targets, not medication-specific thresholds.

Support the work, then watch what improves

The 2025 joint advisory on nutrition during GLP-1 therapy recommends adequate nutrition alongside structured resistance training, aiming for at least three strength sessions weekly. Include protein-rich foods across meals, using smaller portions more often if that suits your appetite. Yogurt, eggs, tofu, beans, fish and poultry offer different ways to do this. A dietitian can help set an appropriate protein target, particularly with kidney disease or difficulty eating enough.

Track repetitions, resistance and how easily you rise from a chair over several weeks. Glute sessions belong within a program that also trains the other major muscle groups. ABF’s explanation of what builds muscle definition gives more context for organizing that work. Persistent strength decline or pain warrants assessment; vomiting, dizziness or difficulty staying hydrated should also be discussed with your prescriber, given the medication’s dehydration warnings.

Put the exercises into a weekly plan

Choosing movements is one part of the work; deciding what to train next week and when to increase resistance takes ongoing attention. ABF Online offers two-, three- and four-day plans with follow-along demonstrations and positioning cues, using dumbbells and simple equipment at home. If that structure would help you turn these ideas into regular training, explore the low-impact strength training program for women.

References

1. Willson A. (2026). The GLP-1 effect: from body to face and what happens next. American Society of Plastic Surgeons, September 4. Professional-society reporting with clinician interviews.

2. King R, Wilding JPH, Batterham RL, et al. (2021). STEP 1 exploratory body-composition analysis. Conference poster, ABCD, October 14. Trial sponsored by Novo Nordisk.

3. American College of Sports Medicine. (2026). Updated resistance-training guidance. Official summary of the 2026 position stand, March 17.

4. Murphy C, Koehler K. (2022). Energy deficiency impairs resistance training gains in lean mass but not strength. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 32:125–137. DOI: 10.1111/sms.14075.

5. Plotkin DL, et al. (2023). Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift. Frontiers in Physiology, 14:1279170. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1279170.

6. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Hip Conditioning Program. OrthoInfo educational handout; publication date not stated.

7. Mozaffarian D, et al. (2025). Nutritional priorities to support GLP-1 therapy for obesity: joint advisory. Obesity, 33:1475–1503. DOI: 10.1002/oby.24336. See the 2026 corrigendum.

8. Novo Nordisk. (2026). Ozempic prescribing information. Revised May 2026.