Jawline Exercises: Do They Actually Work?
Jawline exercises can build the muscles around your neck and face, but there's no solid evidence that they make your jawline sharper. What you see in the mirror is mostly bone shape plus the fat and skin sitting on top of it — and a workout can't reshape bone, and exercise hasn't been shown to burn fat from one spot.
Below: what the research actually shows, which exercises are worth trying, what before-and-after photos really prove, and what can strain your jaw joint. If you want a baseline first, see how your jawline rates or take the attractiveness test to see how your jaw sits next to your other features.
Do Jawline Exercises Work?
Not in the way social media promises. Jawline exercises can strengthen neck and facial muscles, and one small study found that facial exercise made cheeks look fuller, but there's no solid evidence that any exercise sharpens the jawline itself. Reviews rate the research on facial exercise as low quality.
What the studies actually say:
Facial exercise and cheeks. In a small pilot study in JAMA Dermatology, 16 women aged 40–65 did facial exercises for 20 weeks: 30 minutes a day for the first 8 weeks, then every other day. Blinded physicians rated their upper and lower cheeks as fuller. The jawline wasn't measured, and nobody under 40 took part.
Jaw exercisers. A 2024 report in Cureus followed two people who used a commercial jaw exerciser for about three months. Neither saw a change in jawline, double chin or skin tightness. Two cases prove little, but the authors also found limited scientific data behind what these devices promise. We look at these devices on their own in our guide to jawline exercise tools.
The big picture. A systematic review of 11 studies found that facial exercise improved some muscle strength measures and some signs of rejuvenation, but rated the level of evidence as low.
What Shapes Your Jawline
Your jawline is the outline of your lower jaw bone plus what sits over it: muscle, a layer of fat, and skin. Bone shape is largely set by genetics, while fat and skin change with weight and age. Exercise can only train the muscle part.
Layer | What it does | Can exercise change it? |
|---|---|---|
Bone (lower jaw) | Sets the angle, width and chin projection | No. Jaw shape and position are under strong genetic control |
Fat, including under the chin | Softens or hides the edge of the jaw | Not directly. A meta-analysis of 37 comparisons on other body parts found no fat loss from training one spot |
Muscle (chewing and neck muscles) | Sits around the jaw angle and under the chin | Yes, muscle can get stronger. In one 6-month trial, daily gum chewing raised bite force but didn't change jaw shape or muscle thickness |
Skin | Pulls tighter or looser over the jaw | No solid evidence either way |
Is Your Jawline Genetic?
Mostly for the bone, but not 100%. Twin studies find that the shape and position of the lower jaw are under stronger genetic control than its size. In a study that followed twins to age 17, genetic effects explained 76% of the variation in jaw angle and 68% in chin projection. The jaw also keeps growing for a while: in one imaging study, condyle growth in the lower jaw continued until at least 17–21 in males and stopped before 17 in females.
Fat, muscle and skin are the part you can influence, and they're what makes the same bone structure look sharp or soft. To see how your jaw compares with your other features, a facial feature analysis goes through them one by one.
What Causes a "Weak" Jawline?
"Weak jawline" isn't a medical term. It's a way of saying the jaw outline looks soft, and the usual reasons are:
Bone structure. The angle of the jaw and the projection of the chin are mostly genetic (see above).
Fat under the chin. Fat in this area is described in plastic-surgery research as blurring the line of the lower jaw.
Overall body fat. In a study of 49 young women, higher BMI went with a wider, rounder face outline. This shows a link, not that losing weight will sharpen your jaw.
Age. Facial aging includes loss of fat and muscle volume as well as looser skin.
Best Jawline Exercises
The most common jawline exercises train the neck and tongue muscles under your chin: neck curl-ups, chin tucks, tongue presses and chin lifts. They're low-risk if you go slowly, but none of them has been shown to change how your jawline looks. Treat them as muscle training for the neck and lower face, not as a way to reshape it.
These moves come from what trainers and face-yoga instructors recommend, not from trials on jawline definition. Stop if anything hurts.
Neck curl-up. Lie on your back and press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Tuck your chin toward your chest and lift your head about 2 inches off the floor, without poking the chin forward or lifting your stomach. Do 3 sets of 10 and add reps slowly. The front neck muscles are rarely trained, so they strain easily.
Chin tuck (head retraction). Sit or stand tall with your head level. Pull your head straight back, as if making a double chin on purpose, until you feel the muscles at the front of your neck tighten. Hold for a few seconds, then release. Do 3 sets of 10.
Tongue press and hum. Press your whole tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, just behind your front teeth, then hum so you feel a vibration under the chin. Do 3 sets of 15.
Chin lift. With your mouth closed, push your lower jaw forward and lift your lower lip. You should feel a stretch under the chin. Hold for 10–15 seconds, then relax. Do 3 sets, and keep the movement small if your jaw joint clicks or aches.
Vowel sounds. Open your mouth wide and exaggerate "O", then "E", without showing your teeth. Do 3 sets of 15. This is the most face-yoga-style move on the list and mainly works the muscles around the lips.
How Often to Do Jawline Exercises
There's no established dose for jawline exercises. In the one facial exercise trial above, women exercised for 30 minutes daily for 8 weeks, then every other day until week 20. Online routines for the moves above vary a lot, so start light and build up. Don't push through jaw or neck pain, and see a dentist or doctor if it doesn't go away.
Facial Exercises for Jawline and Jowls
Facial exercises, or face yoga, mostly work the small muscles of the cheeks, mouth and forehead. The best evidence is a 2018 pilot study in which cheeks looked fuller after 20 weeks in middle-aged women. It doesn't show a sharper jaw or tighter jowls, so expect, at most, a change in cheek volume rather than jawline definition.
Can Facial Exercises Help Sagging Jowls?
There's no good evidence yet. In the 2018 pilot, blinded physicians estimated the women's age at 50.8 years at the start and 48.1 at week 20, and the authors suggested muscle growth in the cheeks as the likely reason. But it was a 16-person pilot, so it can't tell you whether exercise tightens the lower face for everyone.
Downsides of Facial Exercises
Time. The trial routine took 30 minutes a day for the first 8 weeks.
Modest results. The authors described the improvement as modest and called for larger studies.
Jaw strain. Moves that clench or push the jaw hard can irritate the jaw joint, especially if you already clench or grind your teeth.
How to Sharpen Your Jawline (Beyond Exercise)
You can't change your bone structure, so sharpening your jawline mostly means working with what sits on top of it: fat, skin and how you frame your face. The realistic levers are body fat, styling, and how you light and angle photos. None of them changes the bone, and none is a quick fix.
Body fat. In research, face shape tracks overall body fat: women with a higher BMI had a wider, rounder face outline. So a change in weight can change how your jaw reads, but how much, and where it shows, differs from person to person. Skip crash diets and dehydration tricks. They don't last and they can hurt you.
Hair and facial hair. A haircut with shorter sides, or a beard line that follows your jaw, can make the outline look more defined without touching anything underneath.
Camera angle and light. Light from the side or slightly above defines the jaw, and a lens held low makes a soft jaw look softer. Check this before you judge a photo of yourself.
Fat under the chin. If a double chin bothers you, a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon can explain what's realistic for your face. That's a medical decision, so don't self-treat.
Check where you start. An AI face analysis can give you a jawline score with an explanation. It's a model's estimate of your photo, not a measurement of your face or your worth.
Jawline Exercises Before and After: How Long Results Take
Most jawline exercise before-and-after photos don't prove the exercises worked. Lighting, camera angle, head position, weight and a tensed jaw all change how a jawline looks, and there's no solid evidence of a sharper jawline from exercise alone. If you try a routine, photograph yourself the same way every time so you can judge it fairly.
How Long Do Results Take?
Nobody can give you a reliable timeline for a sharper jawline, and "a jawline in 1 month" or "in 5 minutes" is marketing. Even in the one trial that found a visible change (fuller cheeks), the age estimate had dropped by week 8 (from 50.8 to 49.6 years) and kept dropping until week 20 (48.1 years). That was a 30-minute-a-day program, in women aged 40–65, and it measured cheeks, not the jaw.
Why Before-and-After Photos Mislead
Light and angle. Side light carves out the jaw, flat light on the front of the face hides it, and a lower or higher camera changes the outline.
Head position and expression. Lifting the chin, tucking it, or clenching your teeth changes how defined the jaw looks in seconds.
Weight and water. A few pounds up or down, or a salty day, can change the lower face more than any exercise.
Hair, beard and edits. A fresh haircut, a trimmed beard or a filter does the work the exercise gets credit for.
Selection. People post the best "after" and skip the rest, and a photo can't tell you what would have happened without the routine.
If you're also looking at tongue posture, see what mewing before-and-after photos can and can't show.
How to Take Honest Progress Photos
Pick one spot with the same light each time, such as a window in front of you, not overhead light.
Hold the camera at eye level at the same distance.
Keep your head level, your teeth apart and your face relaxed. Don't clench.
Shoot from the front and from the side.
Take them every 2 weeks and note your weight and hair or beard changes.
Compare the photos side by side, not one at a time.
Are Jawline Exercises Safe?
Gentle neck and tongue exercises are low-risk for most people, but jaw-heavy workouts can backfire. The Mayo Clinic lists gum chewing, nail biting and clenching or grinding teeth among habits that may raise the risk of jaw joint (TMJ) disorders, and the NIDCR advises cutting back on clenching and gum chewing when the jaw hurts.
Gum and jaw exercisers. In a 6-month trial, chewing gum three times a day raised bite force but didn't change jaw shape or muscle thickness. The jaw-exerciser report above found no change either. Extra load on the jaw has no proven visible payoff and adds strain to the joint. Harder gums sold as “jawline gum” put even more load on the same muscles, and we cover what the research says about jawline gum and mastic gum separately. What dentists have warned about is covered in our guide to whether jawline exercisers are safe.
Hard clenching. Squeezing your teeth together as an "exercise" is the same habit the guidelines tell people with jaw pain to drop.
Pain is a stop sign. Pain or tenderness in the jaw, aching near the ear, or trouble chewing are TMJ symptoms. Stop the exercises and see a dentist or doctor if they show up or don't go away.
FAQ
How can I sharpen my jawline?
You can't change the bone, so the realistic options are body fat, hair and facial hair, and how you light and angle photos. Jawline exercises are optional and unproven for this goal.
Can I get a jawline in 1 month?
There's no reliable timeline. The one trial with visible changes ran for 20 weeks and measured cheek fullness, not the jaw.
What exercise tightens the jawline?
No exercise has been shown to tighten the jawline. The ones people try most are neck curl-ups, chin tucks, tongue presses and chin lifts.
How often should you do jawline exercises?
There's no established dose. Start with a few short sessions, build up slowly and stop if your jaw or neck hurts.
Is jawline 100% genetic?
The bone mostly is. In twin studies, genetic effects explained 76% of the variation in jaw angle and 68% in chin projection by age 17. Fat, muscle and skin also change how the jaw looks.
Does chewing gum help your jawline?
Not in the one trial that tested it. Six months of daily gum chewing raised bite force but didn't change jaw shape or muscle thickness. Heavy chewing is also a habit linked to jaw joint problems.
Can exercises fix a double chin?
There's no evidence that they can. A report on jaw exercisers found no change in double chin after about three months, and exercising one area hasn't been shown to remove fat from that area.
How do you get a V-shape jawline?
A V-shaped jaw comes mostly from the angle of the jaw bone, the projection of the chin and how much fat sits under it. Exercise can't change the bone, so most of what you can do is on the fat and styling side.
At what age is your jawline fully developed?
It depends on the person. In one imaging study, growth of the lower jaw continued until at least 17–21 in males and stopped before 17 in females.
Is mewing a jawline exercise?
Mewing is a tongue posture, not a workout, and its evidence is thin. We cover what's known in our guide on whether mewing works.
Can exercise fix an uneven jaw?
No evidence says it can. A slightly uneven face is common, and our guide to facial asymmetry explains what's normal and what's worth getting checked.
Sources
Alam et al., Association of Facial Exercise With the Appearance of Aging, JAMA Dermatology 2018
Verma et al., Facial Contouring Through Jaw Exercises: A Report of Two Cases, Cureus 2024
Ramírez-Campillo et al., spot reduction systematic review with meta-analysis, Human Movement
Mayer et al., BMI and WHR Are Reflected in Female Facial Shape and Texture, PLoS One 2017
Twin study on genetic and environmental influence on mandibular morphology (PubMed 26503948)
Forsyth Moorrees twin study on mandibular development at ages 12 and 17 (PubMed 38217936)
Submental fat and loss of mandibular line definition, Aesthetic Plastic Surgery 2014
