The 20 Best Glutes Exercises of All Time-Nick Rana
We’re in the midst of a glutes renaissance. Thanks to Instagram, the increased focus on functional fitness, and/or Jennifer Lopez, men and women are trying to build stronger, more beautiful butts. And with that goal comes the quest for better, more creative glutes exercises.
But with all due respect to the #fitspo folks, the glutes aren’t just for modeling yoga pants. Combined with the hamstrings, calves, and back, the glutes are the most powerful muscles in the human body. This muscle group—collectively called the “posterior chain”—generates more force than any other human movement, whether that means power cleans, deadlifts, box jumps, or simply lifting a heavy suitcase off the floor and into the overhead compartment.
And regardless of what some Instagram influencers might have you believe, building a strong butt doesn’t require any mysterious voodoo. Nor does it require doing 1,000 squats a day. Instead, you’ll need to attack these crucial muscles with a barrage of proven glutes exercises. By varying the workload, training your muscles from multiple angles, and incorporating instability into your workout routines, you can strengthen your glutes (and sculpt your butt while you’re at it).
How these glute exercises work
Don’t expect to head to the gym and do every single one of these in a single session. (The glutes may be strong, but they’re not invincible).
Instead, break up this list of 20 moves into four or five different groups of exercises. Piece together a few moves that require the same piece of equipment—like, say, the suspension trainer, Swiss ball, or barbell.
You can combine them as a circuit: Do as many reps as possible of each exercise in 45 seconds, rest for 15 seconds, then move on to the next exercise; rest for two minutes after each round.
Alternatively, do these exercises in traditional straight sets—say, four sets of eight reps each, with 60 seconds of rest in between. Vary your rest, sets, reps, and exercise selection to ensure you make the most of these glutes exercises.
1. Barbell Hip Thrust
Rest your upper back on a bench and sit on the floor with legs extended. Roll a loaded barbellup your thighs until the bar sits on your lap (you may want to place a towel or mat on your hips or attach a pad to the bar for comfort). Brace your abs and drive your heels into the floor to extend your hips, raising them until your thighs and upper body are parallel to the floor.
2. Dumbbell Deficit Reverse Lunge
Grasp a dumbbell in your right hand and stand on a step or block that raises you a few inches above the floor. Step back with your right foot and lower your body until your left thigh is parallel to the floor and your rear knee nearly touches the floor. Keep your torso upright. Step forward to return to the starting position.
3. Walking Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and take a step forward with your left leg so you’re in a split-stance position. Keeping your front knee slightly bent, bend at the hips as far as you can without losing the arch in your lower back. Fire your glutes to straighten your torso as you step forward to begin the next step.
4. Bulgarian Split Squat
Hold a bar on the backs of your shoulders as if to squat. Rest the top of your left foot on a bench or box behind you so that your back knee is bent 90 degrees. Bend your hips and right knee to lower your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor. Keep your torso upright. If you don’t want to use a barbell, you can hold dumbbells at your sites.
5. Sumo Romanian Deadlift
Stand with your feet outside shoulder-width and toes turned out about 15 degrees. Bend your hips back and let your knees bend as needed until you can grasp the bar at shoulder-width. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, push your hips forward to raise the bar to lockout. To begin each subsequent rep, push your hips back and lower the bar to mid-shin level. Do not bend your knees more and make it a deadlift—the movement must come almost entirely from your hips.
6. Barbell Glute Bridge
Lie on your back on the floor with legs extended. Roll the bar up your thighs until the bar sits on your lap (you may want to place a towel on your hips or attach a pad to the bar for comfort). Brace your abs and drive you heels into the floor to extend your hips, raising them until they’re in line with your torso. Simply slide your body under the bar after you’ve rested, and begin the glute bridges.
7. Squat
Set up in a squat rack or cage. Grasp the bar as far apart as is comfortable and step under it. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and nudge the bar out of the rack. Step back and stand with your feet shoulder-width and your toes turned slightly outward. Take a deep breath and bend your hips and then knees to lower your body as far as you can without losing the arch in your lower back. Push your knees outward as you descend. Extend your hips to come back up, continuing to push your knees outward.
8. Side-Lying Clam
Lie on your side on the floor and bend your knees 90 degrees. Your knees and feet should be stacked. Place one hand on your glutes and push through your heel as you rotate your hip open, raising your knee until it points to the ceiling. The movement should look like a clamshell opening.
9. Suspension Trainer Single-Leg Glute Bridge
Attach the suspension trainer to a sturdy overhead object and lengthen one handle so it’s at about knee height. Lie on your back on the floor and place the heel of your left foot in the foot cradle. Bend your left knee 90 degrees and extend your right leg on the floor. Brace your abs and contract your glutes to bridge your hips off the floor while simultaneously lifting your right leg in the air until it’s in line with your left thigh.
10. Suspension Trainer Bulgarian Split Squat
Use the same setup as you did for the single-leg glute bridge, but stand facing away from the suspension trainer and rest your left foot in the foot cradle behind you. Make sure your right foot is lunge-length in front of the trainer. Bend your hips and knees to lower your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor. Hold on to something for support if you feel you can’t balance safely. Keep your torso upright—don’t bend over.
11. Suspension Trainer Glute-Bridge
Set up as you would for the single-leg glute bridge, but rest both feet in the foot cradles. Drive through your heels to raise your hips.
12. Figurehead
Lie on the floor facedown with your arms at your sides. Squeeze your glutes and raise your torso and legs simultaneously so only your hips touch the floor. Imagine touching your feet with your hands. Hold for a second at the top, and then return to the starting position so your shoulders touch the floor.
13. Feet-on-Ball Hip Thrust
Lie faceup and rest your feet on the ball. Bend your knees 90 degrees, rolling the ball toward you a bit. Brace your abs and drive through your heels to raise your hips into the air until they’re in line with your torso.
14. Butterfly Hip Thrust
Place a Swiss ball against a wall and lie back on it so your upper back is supported and your butt is in front of the ball hovering above the floor. Place the soles of your feet together and rest them on the floor in front of you. Brace your abs, push your knees out, and drive your feet into the floor to raise your hips until they’re level with your torso.
15. Swiss Ball Wall Squat
Place the ball against a wall and stand with your back against it, holding it in place. Place your feet shoulder width and turn your toes out about 15 degrees. Squat down as low as you can, rolling the ball down the wall as you descend.
16. Reverse Back Extension
Lie face-down on a Swiss ball and walk your body forward so it support your hips only, hands on the floor. Squeeze your glutes and raise your legs behind you until they’re level with your torso.
17. Single-Leg Glute Bridge
Lie faceup on the floor and place your right heel on the floor and extend the left leg. Brace your abs and contract your glutes to bridge your hips up off the floor while simultaneously raising your left leg in the air until it’s in line with your right thigh.
18. Cook Hip Lift
Lie faceup on the floor and pull your left knee up to your chest. Hug your shin. Bend the right leg and plant your foot on the floor close to your butt. Drive through the middle of your food and squeeze your glutes as you bridge your hips up—they won’t go high—until your hamstrings start to tense. You want to keep the tension on your glutes instead.
19. Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
Stand on your right leg and push your hips back as far as you can while reaching in front of you with both hands. Keeping your lower back arched, let your knee bend as needed while you allow your torso to move toward the floor. Go as low as you can and hold for one second. Squeeze your glutes to come back up.
20. Reverse Table-Up
Sit on the floor and place your hands on the floor under your shoulders, fingers pointing in front of you. Place your feet shoulder width and squeeze your glutes. Push through your heels as you bridge your hips up. Your body should form a table, with your torso and hips parallel to the floor. Hold for two seconds.
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