Dimples of Venus are small indentations on your lower back, just above the buttocks, and they’re largely determined by your anatomy at birth. They form where a short ligament connects the posterior superior iliac spine (a bony point on your pelvis) directly to the skin, pulling it inward to create a visible dip. Because this is a structural feature tied to your skeleton and connective tissue, you can’t create true dimples of Venus through exercise alone. But you can make existing, subtle dimples more visible by reducing body fat in the lower back area and strengthening the surrounding muscles. For those without the underlying anatomy, cosmetic procedures offer a surgical alternative.
Why Some People Have Them Naturally
The dimples sit directly over two bony landmarks on your pelvis. A short ligament stretches between each of these bone points and the overlying skin, creating a tethered spot that doesn’t move with the surrounding tissue. When surrounding fat and muscle shift, that anchored point stays put, producing the visible indentation.
Whether you have this ligament attachment in a way that creates a noticeable dimple appears to be genetic, though researchers haven’t pinpointed specific genes responsible. Many people have the underlying anatomy but never see the dimples because a layer of fat or overall body composition obscures them. Others have prominent dimples from childhood. The feature is congenital, meaning you’re born with it or you’re not.
How Exercise Can Enhance Subtle Dimples
If you have the underlying bone and ligament structure but your dimples aren’t visible, building the muscles around your lower back and hips while reducing body fat percentage can make them appear. The goal is to create more definition in the tissue surrounding the dimple site so the indentation becomes more pronounced by contrast. This won’t work for everyone, but it’s the most practical non-surgical approach.
The muscles that matter most are the glutes (especially the gluteus medius, which sits higher on the hip) and the lower back extensors. Exercises that target these areas include:
- Deadlifts: Use your glutes, core, and quads to lift weight from the floor. Keep your spine long and resist rounding your back. Start light and increase weight gradually as you feel comfortable.
- Hip extensions: Start on all fours, place a light dumbbell (3 to 8 pounds) in the crook of your knee, and use your glute to lift the leg until your knee is slightly above hip height.
- Glute bridges: Lying on your back with knees bent, squeeze your glutes to lift your hips off the floor. Add a barbell across your hips for more resistance as you progress.
- Lunges and weighted squats: Stand with feet hip-width apart, shoulders back and down, and lower yourself by bending at the hips and knees. Let your glutes control both the descent and the rise.
These exercises build the muscle mass flanking the dimple area, which increases the contrast between the raised muscle tissue and the tethered skin at the dimple site. Combined with a lower overall body fat percentage, this can reveal dimples that were always structurally present but hidden. Expect results to take weeks to months of consistent training, and be realistic: if the ligament structure isn’t there, no amount of muscle building will create true dimples from scratch.
Body Fat and Visibility
Body fat percentage plays a bigger role than muscle size in whether dimples of Venus show. The dimples are essentially a surface feature, and even a modest layer of subcutaneous fat over the lower back can smooth them out entirely. This is why some people notice their dimples appear or disappear with weight fluctuations. There’s no way to spot-reduce fat from the lower back specifically. Overall fat loss through a caloric deficit, combined with strength training to preserve muscle, is the only reliable approach to uncovering dimples that your anatomy supports.
Cosmetic Procedures That Create Dimples
For people who want dimples of Venus but don’t have the natural anatomy for them, a cosmetic procedure using VASER liposuction is one option that’s gained popularity. The technique uses ultrasound energy to selectively break down fat in a targeted area, and it’s considered minimally invasive compared to traditional liposuction.
During the procedure, the surgeon makes a small incision (less than 1 centimeter) in what’s called the V-spot area, the curved diamond-shaped region of the lower back. A short cannula delivers ultrasound energy to break apart fat cells from the inside. A suction cannula then removes the fat and sculpts the dimple shape. The results typically take about four weeks to become fully visible as swelling subsides. One advantage of this technique is that the removed fat cells remain viable, so they can be transferred to other areas of the body if desired.
Like any cosmetic procedure, results vary depending on your body composition, skin elasticity, and the skill of the surgeon. The dimples created this way mimic the appearance of natural ones but are sculpted from fat removal rather than an underlying ligament attachment.
Dimples of Venus vs. Sacral Dimples
It’s worth knowing that “dimples of Venus” and “sacral dimples” are sometimes used interchangeably but can refer to different things, especially in a medical context. Dimples of Venus are the paired cosmetic indentations that sit symmetrically on either side of the lower spine, directly over the pelvis. They’re harmless and purely aesthetic.
A sacral dimple, in clinical terms, is a small pit or indentation near the tailbone, closer to the buttocks crease. Typical sacral dimples are shallow, visible at the bottom, and require no medical attention. Atypical sacral dimples, those located higher on the back, off to one side, or accompanied by skin changes like hair tufts, discoloration, or lumps, can occasionally signal an underlying spinal variation such as spina bifida occulta. This is a mild condition where the spine doesn’t fully close around the spinal cord but rarely causes symptoms. If a sacral dimple has atypical features, imaging with ultrasound or MRI is usually recommended to rule out any spinal cord involvement.
What’s Realistic to Expect
The honest answer is that dimples of Venus are primarily a genetic, structural trait. You either have the ligament-to-skin tethering that creates them, or you don’t. If you do, reducing body fat and building lower back and glute muscle can make them dramatically more visible. If you don’t, exercise will improve the overall look of your lower back but won’t produce true dimples. Cosmetic liposculpture is the only reliable method for creating them artificially, and even that is sculpting an appearance rather than replicating the natural anatomy underneath.