8 Exercises You Need To Grow Your Glutes
How are you feeling about your glute gains lately? Don’t lie - I know that glutes are some of the hardest muscles to grow. If you’re training your legs 1-2 times a week and still seeing a pancake butt when you look back at it, chances are you’re making some big mistakes that are keeping you from the big booty you’re after.
How do I know this? Because you’re most likely making some of the same mistakes I did at first. Believe it or not, but glutes have always been one of the hardest muscle groups for me to target. When you think glute exercises, you probably think squats, right? I used to never skip my squats, because I thought they were the holy grail glute exercise.
But since I’m very quad-dominant (like a lot of you ladies out there) squats would actually hit my quads more and I’d find it really hard to engage my glutes. Once I started implementing different exercises that targeted my glutes better, I FINALLY started to see the results I wanted - and you can too.
Keep reading to uncover my 8 go-to glute exercises and other non-negotiable tips that have proven to help me and my clients build our booty’s! Scroll to read in order or click a link from the list to jump to a specific booty-building exercise:
1. KAS Glute Bridge
First up on my best glute exercise list is the KAS Glute Bridge. I love the way this simple strength move burns your booty because it’s essentially just an isolated hip thrust.
How Do I Do A KAS Glute Bridge?
You basically want to set up like you are going to do a hip thrust. You’ll need a bench or box and a heavy dumbbell or barbell to place on your hips. The key to making this exercise glute focused, however, is your range of motion. Instead of dropping your hips just a few inches above the floor, You want a tight, small, controlled range of motion so you can really target your butt.
Here’s my step-by-step guide to the KAS Glute Bridge:
Step 1: Sit on the floor with the center of your shoulder blades resting against a bench or box. Bend your knees and keep your feet planted on the floor slightly wider than hip-width distance. Then place a barbell or dumbbell in your hip crease and hold with both of your hands. Trust me - you don’t want to drop it!
Step 2: Keep your lower back flat, tuck your chin, and gaze forward. Then engage your glutes, push through your heels, and raise the weight to the ceiling by extending your hips. Keep in mind that your knees should be in line with your heels and bent at 90-degree angles. When you’re at the top of your range of motion your body should be in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
Step 3: Next, slowly lower your hips only about two to three inches. Remember: the reason why this hits your glutes so hard is because it’s a small, isolated movement! Then, push through your heels engage your booty to lift the weight back up again.
2. Glute Kickbacks
The second booty-building exercise I cannot live without are glute kickbacks. This is an exercise you can do with either a cable machine at the gym or with resistance bands at home. Either way, it’s still a great move to help you get those glute gains.
This is another glute isolation exercise that will make you feel the burn in all three areas of your glute muscles (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus).
How Do I Do A Glute Kickbacks?
I’ll give you the instructions for how to do this at the gym, but feel free to modify with a resistance band just above your knees.
Step 1: Attach an ankle strap to a cable machine, then loop it around your ankle. Then add the desired amount of weight to the machine. Stand with your feet together and lean forward slightly, keeping your back flat and core engaged throughout the entire movement.
Step 2: Next, squeeze your glute to activate the muscle, then lift the leg attached to the machine straight back behind the body with control.
Step 3: Once you get your leg completely up at the top of your range of motion, slowly lower back to your starting position with control
3. 35 Degree Kickbacks
You didn’t think you were done with kickbacks, did you? The great thing about glute kickbacks is that there are super versatile. So let me know introduce to you the 35 degree kickback!
How do I do a 35 Degree Kickback?
This is one that helps you get that shelf butt. Instead of kicking your leg straight back, you want to turn your working foot out about 35 degrees. This makes your gluteus medius work extra hard. Just read the instructions above but turn that working foot out.
4. Hip Abductions
The fourth exercise on my list to help you finally grow your glutes are hip abductions.
Hip abductions are another exercise you can do on a machine, with bands, or just with your body weight at home. For the goal of building a booty, I’m going to suggest using the machine or a heavier band to really see those gains.
How Do I do Hip Abductions
Hip abductions are fairly straightfoward One of my client’s calls these “bad girls” (because you’re essentially opening your legs 😂).
Step 1: Sit in an upright position on the abductor machine with your feet on the bottom and your knees against the pads. Set the weight.
Step 2: Hold the handles to stabilize your trunk and maintain an upright position
Step 3: Slowly press your knees outward against the pads as far as you can without pain, then return slowly to the starting position
5. Glute-Biased Step Ups
Next up we have glute-biased step ups. This is another favorite of mine because it’s a really functional movement, so you’re really going to feel this help in everyday life. Think about all the times you climb the stairs!
How Do I do Glute-Biased Step ups
To really make step-ups grow your glutes, you can hold dumbbells when you follow these steps:
Step 1: Start at the top of a bench or box. Then hinge your hips slightly and put all of your weight on your heel and mid-foot on the planted leg on top
Step 2: Step back with the other leg in slow, controlled, eccentric movement until your toe hits the floor
Step 3: Using the leg on top of the bench or box, lift your lower foot back up while squeezing your glutes. Repeat for the desired amount of reps
I recommend holding on to something to keep your movements slow and in control. If you have to start without weights or use lighter weights, that’s fine too! Just make sure you maintain that mind - muscle connection.
6. Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs)
You might have been waiting for me to list this next glute growing exercise: Romanian Deadlifts. If you’re a client of mine, you know I work these into almost every phase because they’re THAT good.
RDLS are a necessity to building that butt and strengthening your hamstrings. It’s a great move for overloading your glutes in a stretched position, which can really help tear and rebuild the muscles. With their large range of motion, RDLS are a big butt’s dream.
How Do I DO A RDL?
Step 1: Start off with the correct positioning. Stand upright and hold a heavy dumbbell in each hand. Then place your arms in front of your thighs while keeping your chest lifted. Make that mind to muscle connection by engaging your core and glutes.
Step 2: Now hinge at your hips, pushing your glutes behind you while keeping a slight bend in your knees. Brace your core and don’t forget to keep that chest up! These cues will help you keep your back straight.
Step 3: Lower the weights toward your shins, allowing them to track down your legs. Pause briefly when the weights reach the midpoint of your shins.
Step 4: Drive through your heels and hinge from your hips to come back up. Really focus on your glutes and hamstrings to stand back up to the starting position and DO NOT round your back.
7. Clamshells
The second-to-last exercise on my list of targeted glute exercises are clamshells. This is one of the rare workouts on this list because it relies on body weights or bands - no heavy weights required. Don’t let that fool you, though. This doesn’t mean it’s easy!
Not only does this workout build your glutes, but it also helps prevent injuries and improves your knee stability. These are big added bonuses for former athletes!
How Do I do a clamshell exercise?
Step 1: Lay on your side with your knees bent and stacked at a 45 degree angle
Step 2: Next, lift your top knee towards the ceiling while keeping your feet together
Step 3: When you feel your glute activate, lower your top leg back down and repeat the movement for the desired reps
When I program workouts for my clients, I often add variations to the clamshell for them, like a clamshell bridge. Here are some clamshell variations you can add to your workout if you get bored.
8. Bulgarian Split Squats 😅
This last exercise is one you cannot skip (even though you might want to).
I would say I saved the best for last, but my clients would tell you it’s the worst. Here she is in all her glory: Bulgarian split squats.
This is a holy grail glute exercise because it allows us to really focus on the muscles we want to grow one leg at a time. This single-leg isolation will really make you sweat and feel the booty burn.
Before we get started on how to do these, you’ll need:
A dumbbell for each hand
A bench or box to elevate your back foot on
Another pro tip: Take your shoes off! Taking your shoes off or wearing a super flat shoe like converse will help keep your balance you grow your glutes the best.
How Do I DO A Bulgarian Split squat?
Thanks for staying with me. You might HATE this exercise in the moment, but I swear once you’ve finished, you’re going to feel so strong and start to see those glute gains!
Step 1: Stand a few feet in front of the bench or box and place your rear foot (top facing down) on the bench. It might take you a few tries to find the ideal foot positioning for your front leg, but you want the knee of your back leg to rest just behind your hips when you’re at the bottom of the split squat
Step 2: Learn slightly forward and split squat down until your knee is just touching the floor
Step 3: Drive through the heel on your front foot to stand back up and repeat for the desired amount of reps. Then switch sides
Get Your Glute Gains, Girl!
When I told you I built my glutes through these exercises, I’m not kidding.
I don’t look like I have a BBL or anything, but I have a strong, built behind and it’s thanks to these 8 exercises - NOT squats! If you start working these into your leg days and keep progressively adding weight, I swear you are going to start seeing the gains you’ve been looking for.
If you need a little more guidance with these workouts and tips on how to eat to best support your fitness goals, a 1:1 fitness coach could be the tool that helps you reach the next level. Apply today to see if Liv Your Fit is a good fit for you!
