The glutes are the largest and one of the strongest muscles in the human body.
They work hard every day, allowing you to sit, stand, climb stairs, and lug heavy things around.
Building stronger glute muscles (yep, there are multiple) will not only improve your speed and explosiveness but will also protect your lower back and knees from injury.
Plus, all good glute workouts, at the gym or at home, target the gluteus maximus, or glute max for short — so you’ll maximize your benefits both during and after your workout.
Whether you’re trying to sculpt your glutes or build muscle strength, these simple glute exercises accomplish all that and more.
How to Target Your Glutes
When targeting your glutes, aim for exercises that activate the muscles in your rear. The most effective exercises for sculpting the glutes include hip thrusts, step-ups onto plyometric boxes, lunges, squats, bridges, kicks, and deadlifts. As you build strength in this area, you can incorporate weights into these glute exercises for even better results.
Exercises To Sculpt Your Glutes
It’s now time to add these glute exercises to your workout routine.
These exercises vary from classic bodyweight exercises like equipment-free lunges and squats to bridges and deadlifts with weights or resistance bands. Some exercises target just the gluteus maximus, others also work the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus.
1. Barbell Hip Thrust
Get ready to work those glute muscles with this butt exercise. For a balanced workout, try mixing up your reps: Some days you can go heavy for lower reps, some days you can go lighter for higher reps, and some days you can do both. But be warned, high-rep hip thrusts are brutal. The booty burn is excruciating!
A. Sit on the ground with back against a bench, feet planted firmly in front of body, and a barbell fitted with a pad (trust, you’ll want this) in lap. (No barbell? Try one heavy dumbbell instead.)
B. Keeping lower back and knees stable, push through heels and raise the barbell by extending hips, making sure to use the force of glutes rather than back.
C. Rise until body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees (full hip extension), and then slowly descend back to the ground.
Do 3 sets of 6 to 20 reps, depending on the weight used.
2. Step Up
The step-up is one of the best glute exercises you can do to focus on strength, power, and balance in a unilateral fashion (aka one side at a time).
We all perform this basic functional movement many times a day, every day. It targets all the main large muscles of the legs, particularly the glutes and hamstrings, and really helps develop a nice toned rear end.
To burn out one side during this exercise, step off the platform starting with right foot for a full set, then switch to stepping off leading with the left foot. Or spread the load by alternating which foot steps off the platform during each set.
A. Stand with right foot on a platform such as a bench or step, holding a pair of dumbbells by sides with arms straight.
B. Push through right heel and step up onto the platform with both feet.
C. Step down to the floor with right foot first, then left.
Do 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps per leg.
3. Curtsy Lunge
Turn up the power in your butt workouts at the gym or at home with this lunge variation that activates the gluteus medius — a smaller glute muscle on the side of your butt that helps to externally rotate the hip — much better than a traditional reverse lunge, which focuses more on the glute max.
To make the move more difficult, do it with a pair of dumbbells or a kettlebell held in the goblet squat position.
A. Stand with feet hips-width apart. Then, keeping weight in left foot, take a big step back with right leg, crossing it behind left leg. Make sure hips stay facing forward.
B. Slowly bend knees and lower down until front thigh is parallel to the floor, and both knees are bent at roughly 90 degrees.
C. Push through left heel to returning to starting position.
Do 3 sets of 15 reps per side.
4. Quadruped Hip Extension
While this exercise may seem simple, research has actually shown that the glute kickback or donkey kick — which are other names for this glute exercise — causes more muscle activation in the gluteus maximus and the gluteus medius when compared to other common butt workout exercises (yep, even squats).
Plus, the flexed heel curling toward your butt activates your hamstrings nicely. This bodyweight move can be done anywhere for ease, and you can make it more challenging with the use of resistance bands or a light dumbbell behind the knee.
A. Start on hands and knees with knees directly below hips and wrists directly below shoulders, fingers pointing forward.
B. Keeping core engaged to avoid arching back, lift right leg to the sky (keeping the knee bent). The foot should be flexed so sole of foot is facing the ceiling. Avoid rotating hips by keeping shoulders and hips squared to the floor during the entire exercise. Return to start to finish the rep, then repeat.
Do 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps per leg.
5. Bridge With Leg Extension
The bridge isolates the gluteus maximus because the leg is bent at the knee and therefore the hamstring is less active.
Extending the opposite leg serves to put much more work onto the glute of the stationary leg, and balancing on one foot recruits the other glute muscles on the outside of the pelvis for stability.
While you power through this move, remember to avoid overextending your hips, which causes you to arch your back and turns your butt exercise into a backbend.
To do this glute exercise effectively, make sure you know the difference between a glute bridge and hip thrust.
A. Lie faceup with knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and hands at sides.
B. Do a pelvic tilt, making sure lower back is pressing into the floor. Then squeeze glutes and press through heels to raise hips off the mat to create a straight line with body, aligning knees, hips, and shoulders.
C. Straighten right leg, keeping quads and knees aligned, and hold for 3 counts.
D. Drop right foot to the ground to return to starting position. Switch sides; repeat. Continue alternating.
Do 3 sets of 10 reps per side.