Training glutes is about more than just bridges. Learn how often and why to train glutes as well as the best glute exercises for both building the buttocks and creating strong glutes. Then, reap the rewards of better performance, less pain & a gorgeous backside!
If you want to grow your glutes you’re in the right spot!
Grab a protein shake and settle in as a Certified Strength Coach walks you through the basic ins and outs of glute training.
Though not complex, most people believe that the fastest and best way to build strong glutes is with traditional loaded squats, deadlifts, and lunges.
Though those exercises are amazing and will target the glutes, they won’t provide optimal growth (especially if you don't learn how to engage your glutes properly).
Instead, learn more about what the glutes do, why you want to train and the best exercises to target glutes both at home and in the gym.
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What are the glutes?
The glutes are a series of three muscles that make up the buttocks (check out a breakdown of gluteal anatomy). Broken down, these muscles are the gluteus maximus (the largest part of your bum), the gluteus minimus (on your outer hip), and the gluteus medius (just above the hip and is over top of the minimus).
Though there are three muscles, they all work together to bring you a variety of functions:
- Hip extension (think bridges or a barbell hip thrust)
- Hip abduction (taking your leg away from your body to the side)
- Hip external rotation (turning your leg outwards)
Every glute exercise you use will target all of the muscles. However, it is possible to place extra emphasis on one over the other.
For example glute bridges will target more of the gluteus maximus muscle whereas abductions will target more of the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. Check out these wicked exercises for the gluteus Maximus and these gluteus minimus exercises.
Benefits Of Strong Glutes
The glutes do more than just fill out leggings; they support your back, knees, posture, and daily movement. But thanks to all the sitting we do, they often stop firing properly.
That’s why step one in any glute workout plan is learning how to activate your glutes (learning to hip hinge helps too).
Strong glutes mean:
- Less back and knee pain
- Better posture and performance (running, jumping, lifting)
- Easier parenting tasks (hello, toddler squats)
- Less pregnancy-related pain (see glute exercises for pregnancy)
To train glutes effectively, you need good hip mobility and full range of motion. It’s not just about the booty burn, it’s about building strength that prevents injury. Learn more about the benefits of strong glutes.
Hack: Want to skip the guess-work? Check out the Glute Training E-book. A 25-page guide that gives you the exact glute workouts I use with clients.
The Best Glute Exercises
Like anything else, the best glute exercises are the ones you’ll perform consistently! Learn how to activate glutes before anything else.
The thing is, the glutes respond to variety. This means they do well with:
- A variety of exercises
- A variety of loads and tensions
- And lots of different repetition ranges
Though glute exercises done with a mini band or even ankle weights are wonderful for engagement and volume (check out this banded glute workout), if you really want to grow your glutes, you need weighted variations. Below are just a few of my favorite glute exercises.
However, the best glute exercises for mass include weighted variations. Regardless, you’ll want a variety of:
- Glute bridges (and all the bridge variations)
- The hip thrust (with all variations and an emphasis on the barbell thrust)
- Quadruped hip extensions
- Extended range hip abductions
- Posterior pelvic tilt
- Kickbacks
- Side lying hip raise
- Reverse plank
- Sumo walks
- Seated, forward leaning abductions
- Monster walks
- Deficit lunge
- American deadlift
- Band or cable pull through
- Reverse hyperextensions
- Curtsy lunges
- Crossack squats
Learn more about the best body weight glute exercises, glute isolation exercises, and glute activation exercises so that you can customize a program to maximize your training.
Learn How To Perform a Glute Bridge
The glute bridge is a basic glute exercise that you'll need to master in order to reap the benefits of its variations.
- Begin in the starting position by lying on your back, bending your knees and bringing your heels close to your bum. Feet shoulder width apart roughly.
- Push through your heels and lift your hips by squeezing the glutes. Do not excessively arch the lower back. But aim for a full range of motion (get to the top!).
- Pause at the top for maximum glute squeeze before releasing the tension and bringing the hips back to the starting position.
Perform anywhere from 8-25 repetitions.
Pro Tip: A lot of people forget to release their glute muscles as they return to the starting position. It's hard to strengthen a muscle that's permanently "tight" and has a lackluster range of motion. So make sure to relax the glute muscles too!
Glute Bridge Vs. Hip Thrust
Glute bridges and hip thrusts both build strong, powerful glutes, but they’re not the same.
Bridges are the foundation: simple, low-impact, and a great place to start. Hip thrusts move through a bigger range of motion, which can be more intense (and trickier to master), but also give you better gains.
Neither is better, they’re just different. For best results, include both in your workouts with different variations, loads, and rep ranges.
How To Grow Glutes
If you want to grow your glutes, not just feel them during workouts, you’ll need more than just a few reps of banded kickbacks.
Real glute development comes from using different types of training stress:
- Tension (lifting weight or adding resistance)
- Control (slow, focused reps—especially on the way down)
- Burn (high-rep movements that make you feel the fire)
To keep your glutes responding, mix up how you train:
- One day, go heavy with fewer reps (think dumbbell hip thrusts).
- Another, slow it down with eccentric moves like deficit lunges.
- Then, toss in light but high-rep exercises like banded kickbacks or fire hydrants to finish it off.
And don’t forget: while the glute max gets most of the attention, training the glute med and min (your side glutes) is key for balance, stability, and a well-rounded shape.
Why Progressive Overload Matters for Glute Growth
If you’ve been doing the same glute workout for months and wondering why your results have stalled, this is why. To actually build muscle (glutes included), your body needs a reason to adapt. That’s where progressive overload comes in.
It means consistently challenging your muscles a little more over time by:
- Adding weight (heavier dumbbells or thicker bands)
- Increasing reps or sets
- Slowing down your reps (especially on the way down)
- Shortening rest time
- Leveling up the exercise (think: glute bridge → single-leg bridge)
The glutes are a strong, stubborn muscle group, so if you want them to grow, you can’t just go through the motions. Learn 14 ways to make workouts harder.
How To Grow The Glutes Without Growing The Legs
This is a common issue when people stick to the “I only have to squat” mentality. While bridges, hyperextensions, and the like are wonderful, they primarily target the gluteus maximus muscle. You need more than that.
Though your body does work as a WHOLE (which means all of your leg muscles will fire in some way during your glute training), the key to this is to use a variety of glute isolation exercises.
These isolation exercises below are just what they’re named: they focus the glutes.
No-Equipment (Body weight) Exercises
- Glute bridge (and all glute bridge variations)
- Single leg hip thrust
- Quadruped hip extensions
- Extended range hip abductions
- Posterior pelvic tilt
- Kickbacks
Band Exercises
How Often To Train Glutes
The glutes respond well to frequent, high-volume training, especially when you rotate exercises.
A solid starting point? Aim for 10-minute glute-focused sessions about 4 times per week. This could be a quick glute circuit or just tacking on a few targeted moves to your existing workouts. Or, aim for a full glute workout (20-30 minutes) twice per week with another 10 minute circuit once per week.
Start with 12 reps per exercise. Once you can hit 15 reps easily, it’s time to scale by adding resistance or using a heavier band.
To keep progressing, reduce rest time (from 60 to 45 seconds) every couple of weeks or add a tempo pause at the peak of the movement. Small tweaks = big gains.
Skip the guessing and grab my Glute E-book, which has 10 weeks of done-for-you programs.
What Equipment Do You Need For Glute Training?
You don’t need equipment to train your glutes, but it definitely speeds up progress.
If you’re not using dumbbells or barbells, grab a mini loop and a couple of strength bands, they’re affordable, versatile, and perfect for home or travel. I recommend at least one mini loop and two different resistance bands to get started. These are some of the most cost-effective pieces of home training equipment.
Glute Workouts At Home
Below are three of my favorite workouts you can do at home (but you can find more on the glutes playlist in my follow along workouts)
They’re done in under fifteen minutes and are a great way to begin building and strengthening your glutes (and reaping the benefits!). I also love this glute hypertrophy workout and this glute HIIT workout for women.
FAQs
Most beginners skyrocket their results by simply learning to perform glute-dominant exercises correctly. From there, start by training glutes four times per week with a variety of exercises and loads. Then, make sure you’re eating enough to support muscle growth and continue to progressively train (keep challenging your glutes in new ways).
You’re not eating enough. In order for a muscle to grow, it needs fuel and nutrients (think building blocks). If you’re consistently in a calorie deficit or burning your calories with exercises like steady-state running, it’s hard for your glutes to grow past a certain point.
You want to use a variety of hip extension exercises like the glute bridge and hip thrust. Those two exercises can be done unilaterally (with one leg), with resistance, pauses, etc. Use multiple variations of those exercises and progressively load them (add tension) to really target your lower butt.
No! although it’s not necessary to work your glutes every day, they do respond well to volume. So long as you’re not training heavy, compound lifts (like loaded barbell hip thrusts to failure) or eccentric exercises (deficit lunges) daily, your glutes will adjust to the stimulus.
Keep in mind though that strong glutes and hip mobility go hand in hand to optimal performance.
Yes! If you want to boost performance, prevent injury, and reduce back pain, training glutes with glute-specific exercises multiple times per week is necessary.
The hip thrust is the king of all glute-based exercises. The target the glutes in horizontal hip hyperextension and are an amazing way to boost power and performance. There are a variety of hip thrust variations and all of them will be beneficial for your glutes.
Yes! Regardless of equipment, you can grow your glutes so long as you make good use of glute-specific exercises like hip thrusts, abductions, and bridge variations. The glutes respond well to variety so use multiple exercises and vary your sets, reps, and time under tension to see the best results.
Start with your mid to upper back on a bench or elevated surface. Dip the hips towards the ground with both feet flat on the floor. The shins should be angled backward a bit. Raise the left leg and place the weight into the right. Keep the hips square as you push through the foot and raise the hips toward the ceiling. Keep a straight left leg if it's comfortable, if not, bend the knee. At the top of the lockout position the upper back will be mostly flat on the bench and the hips extended. Release the glute squeeze and lower the hips back to the starting position.
Final Tips and Step-by-Step Guide
Remember that the most important part of training glutes is activation. Make sure you’re fully contracting the glutes on each and every rep. Once you engage glutes, follow the steps below to get stronger.
- Start with glute activation (e.g. clamshells, glute bridges)
- Incorporate 2–3 glute-focused exercises per session
- Use progressive overload: increase weight or reps weekly
- Train glutes 3–4x per week with variety
- Use glute stretches and proper recovery to maximize gains
Want glute workouts laid out for you—complete with reps, sets, and how to progress? Grab the Glute Training E-book for everything you need to build strength and feel powerful.
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