To grow your glutes, you’re going to need a solid set of glute exercises to add to your arsenal (no pun intended) to help shape and strengthen them, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
Below, I’ve rounded up my top three glute exercises for building muscle and strength in your glutes. But remember, you’ll need to schedule these exercises regularly as part of your strength program to see results.
Your glutes are active in most of your daily leg exercises like squats and deadlifts, but they’re commonly underactive, which can put extra strain on your lower back and force other muscles (like your quads) to work too hard. These three exercises put your glutes front and center, leaving you nowhere to hide.
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Your gluteal muscles are lesser known core muscles. These muscles help support your posture, protect your lower back, and help you move efficiently. All strength programs should include glutes training, as weak glutes often lead to injuries and poor form at the gym.
Grab the best adjustable dumbbells and try these moves. To learn how to use them as part of your workout, we cover that too.
3 best glute exercises
1. Hip thrusts
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You can thank “The Glute Guy” Bret Contreras for that. His creation—the hip thrust—shaped peaches globally. We recommend a dumbbell or barbell to perform the exercise, and you can learn how to do hip thrusts step-by-step here.
The move uses hip extension to target the gluteus maximus maximus, gluteus medius (outer glutes), quadriceps, adductors (inner thighs), hamstrings, and calves. You will also use your core to drive the movement with control.
It’s an accessible exercise because you can tailor it to fit most fitness abilities, but I don’t recommend lifting heavy loads until you’ve perfected your form, and those suffering from back pain should consult a personal trainer or doctor first. Bank it for leg day workouts.
Start with your back against a bench or box in line with your shoulder blades
Plant your feet shoulder-width apart and place the barbell or other weight on your hips
Lean your elbows against the box and keep your gaze straight ahead
Grab the bar and tuck your chin in, then squeeze your core and inhale
Exhale and drive through your heels, driving your hips up with explosive power
Keep your pelvis, ribs and chin tucked under and squeeze your glutes up
Slowly lower your hips to the starting position against the box. Keep your spine neutral at all times.
Practice a glute bridge to nail the movement pattern first, then move on to using weights. Olympic barbells weigh 15-20kg, so build to a minimum before moving on to barbells. Find out what happened when I did hip thrusts every day for a week.
2. Bulgarian split squats
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The exercise divides the crowd as it burns legs and glutes and people struggle to balance on one leg. The split squat emphasizes one leg and core muscles to keep your body stable, working your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves.
It is also a unilateral exercise, meaning it works one side at a time, helping correct imbalances and weakness caused by the dominant side of the body. Here’s how to perform Bulgarian split squats in more detail.
Start by stepping forward by stepping away from a box or bench and placing your left leg behind you, placing your left foot on the raised surface
Your feet should be approximately shoulder-width apart and your right front foot should be far enough forward for you to lunge
Engaging your core, lean forward slightly and lower into a lunge, bringing your left knee toward the floor
Press through your right foot and push through your standing leg to return to standing. Repeat all reps on this leg before swapping sides.
If you swing a lot or sink to the knee, take a small step forward to give yourself more space. Hold a barbell, kettlebell, or dumbbell to progress through the exercise.
3. Bandaged lateral walks
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Lateral movements involve the gluteus medius or external buttocks. You will feel this burn on the outsides of your legs and test your posture as you try to maintain a neutral spine. The external gluteal muscles are often less involved than the gluteus maximus. But these muscles support hip abduction and lateral movement on a daily basis, so strengthening them is key.
Wrap your mini band above your knees
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your feet pointing forward
Push your knees into the band and lower into a squat.
Engage your core, put your glutes back and keep your back flat and shoulders relaxed
Step to the left, maintaining a hip-width distance between your feet after each step. Avoid turning your feet out, bending your knees in, or leaning to one side
Complete reps in one direction, then move in the opposite direction.
I recommend one or two dumbbells or kettlebells to add weight to this exercise. Move with control and focus on keeping your chest up.
How to grow buttocks
Resistance training is the best way to strengthen and grow bigger muscles, but you’ll need to focus on consistency and overload to challenge your muscles to repair, adapt, and grow. This is where the principle of progressive overload comes into play; focusing on your variables (sets, reps, and load, for example) can stimulate muscle growth.
And while exercises like squats and lunges work the glutes, athletes who dominate the quads will inevitably find it more difficult to activate the glutes properly. According to research, weak glutes could lead to sports-related injuries, so you need a well-rounded leg day to get a well-rounded butt.
How to plan glute exercises
If you prefer “traditional” resistance training programs, start with 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps per exercise substituted (no rest between exercises) or with no more than 30-60 seconds between them. Rest between sets, loading a challenging weight (the last few reps should be hard to finish).
Here’s more on hypertrophy versus strength training.
If you want to combine these movements into a three-movement glute workout, complete 8-12 reps of one exercise in one minute, resting no more than 10-15 seconds until the next minute. Every time a new minute begins, move on to the next exercise, completing 4-5 rounds.
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