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.
In this blog post you'll learn:
- What are the glutes
- The benefits of strong glutes
- The best glute exercises
- How to grow the glutes
- How to grow the glutes without growing the legs
- Frequency with which to train glutes
- Glute resources
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.
What are the glutes?
The glutes are a series of three muscles that make up the buttocks. 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 play an important and often overlooked function in our day-to-day life. Mostly, we sit too much and the glutes just begin to not do their job.
This is why the first step in any glute exercise program is learning how to activate & engage your glutes (learning to hip hinge can help with this too).
You can learn more about the benefits of strong glutes, but some of the common perks are:
- Less back pain
- Reduced knee pain
- Easier time carrying kids and day to day tasks
- Better posture
- Better performance (running, jumping, lifting, climbing)
- Less pregnancy-related pain (learn the best glute exercises for pregnancy)
Keep in mind that to optimally train the glutes you need to be able to take them through a full range of motion. This is why hip mobility is so important.
Training glutes isn’t just about how they look (though that’s a benefit too!). if you want to perform optimally and reduce injury, learning to train your glutes OUTSIDE of just the traditional exercises is crucial.
Hack: want t 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!
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
The best glute exercises at home are ones that can be done with just your body weight or a resistance band (though ankle weights are a great option for the smaller glute muscles too!).
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
- Upright hip thrust
- 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.
Though a lot of these exercises target hip extension and the gluteus maximus, the gluteus minimus and gluteus medius come into play as well (not just in direct glute abduction exercises).
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, bend your knees and bring 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 bring 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!
How To Grow Glutes
Learning how to build glutes at home or in the gym requires three main principles (as does all muscle growth):
- Mechanical tension (think overloading the muscle with a dumbbell, band or pause)
- Muscle damage (eccentric training)
- Metabolic stress (the pump or burn)
Regardless of whether you’re training at home or in the gym, you need those three things for growth.
This is why it’s best to train the glute muscles with a variety of exercises, loads, and repetitions. And all with a good range of motion.
Much of the time the gluteus maximus (the big glute) takes precedence in growth. But, strengthening the gluteus medius and minimus are just as important.
For example: on one day a week you may want to go heavier with a dumbbell or band for fewer reps and on a big movement like a hip thrust.
On another day you want to work eccentric movements (like deficit lunges) for moderate reps. And on another day you want to focus on lighter movements like kickbacks) but for very high reps.
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.
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.
While bridges, hyperextensions, and the like are wonderful, they primarily target the gluteus maximus muscle. You need more than that.
These isolation exercises are just what they’re named: they ISOLATE the glutes. While other muscles will kick in, these exercises won’t build them.
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
Note: the exercises above with an * are also great options for ankle weights
Band Exercises
Target those crucial muscles like your glutes with a mini band that can easily be taken anywhere you go!
How Often To Train Glutes
The glutes respond well to high-volume training so long as the exercises are rotated.
However, a good rule of thumb is to train the glutes roughly 4 times per week for 10 minutes. This could be a glute-specific circuit or adding in glute-focused exercises to your already-done workouts.
Scale-up from there.
Stronger glutes = less back pain, better posture, more power.
This no-gym workout plan builds serious strength in just minutes a day.
Quick Reminder
Remember that the most important part of training glutes is activation. Make sure you’re fully contracting the glutes on each and every rep.
Some ways you can tell that you’re on the right track:
- Your glute muscle changes shape
- You can SEE you glutes moves and change shape
- Your glutes start to “burn” after a few reps
Equipment
Though it isn’t completely necessary to have equipment for training glutes, it does make the process faster.
Dumbbells and barbells are an amazing way to target the glutes via mechanical tension. However, it’s not the only way.
If you’re not able to load up, set yourself up with a mini loop and set of strength bands!
These are some of the most cost-effective pieces of home training equipment. Bands come in a variety of tensions and are my personal favorite for growing the glutes.
Plus, they take up little to no room and you can use them when traveling!
I recommend that everyone grab a mini loop and at least two strength bands.
Glute Workouts At Home
Below are two 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!)
Common Questions About Glute Training & Exercise
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.
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