The Best Exercises To Grow Your Glutes

Here is my list of my favorite exercises to grow glutes in the gym. Add these 7 exercises into your workout plan to get the results you were looking for!

It is important to add, that in order to grow any muscles, you need enough fuel, which means enough calories and protein to allow the muscles trained to repair and grow.

On top of that you need to work at the right intensity. After your first month training consistently at a higher rep range, with lower weight, work yourself up to a hypertrophy workout intensity. You should be working at a weight between 70-85% of your 1RM (rep max), which means you would be able to perform between 6 and 10 reps on each set. Ideally perform 3 to 4 sets of each exercise.

I have added a link to youtube videos I find helpful, if you need a visual explanation of the exercises, just click on “the move” to get redirected!

Hip thrusters

The first exercise on my list are hip thrusters. Ideally you want to do these weighted using a barbell or a dumbbell, if you are doing this at home you can use a box of water bottles as a weight, or use a resistance band places around your thighs to increase the intensity. Another way to increase the intensity would be to do the exercise with one leg lifted, turning it into a single leg hip thrust.

The move: Start sitting down with your shoulder blades against a bench, and the weight on your hip crease. The feet are hip distance apart, when lifting up your feet should be below your knees. Lift you butt up into a bridge, squeeze your glutes at the top. Slowly return to almost touch the ground before lifting back up.

Split squats

The second exercise on my list to grow glutes are split squats. This is probably the exercise that I feel the most the next day. i like to do this on the smith machine in the gym, but you can do these with a barbell or holding dumbells by your side too.

There are some variations of split squats you can try too, it is always a good idea to alternate exercises between workouts so the body does not adapt to a movement, here’s some alternatives:

• Walking lunges
• Bulgarian split squats
• Curtsy lunges

The move: Take a big step backwards to get into position, your feet are hip distance apart for balance, bend both knees to lunge down, to form a 90 degree angle with both legs. At the lower position you back knee, your hip and shoulder should be in a parallel line. Use your glute of the front leg to lift yourself back up.

Single leg deadlifts

Deadlifts are another great exercises to build your glutes. If the focus is glutes ideally you want to do romanian deadlifts. This is why on my list I have added single leg deadlifts instead, it is easier to keep the leg straight which leads to use mainly hamstirngs and glutes for this movement.

I would usually use a kettlebell for this movement, but you can 1 or 2 dumbbells or a barbell too. This exercise is also an efficient exercise to do with bodyweight only. You do need to have a little bit of balance when doing this version of the deadlift.

The move: Start in a standing position holding the weight in front of you with both hands. bend you torso towards the floor allowing one leg to lift up. you are bending from the hip crease, both legs remain straight, as well as your torso. once your torso and back leg are in a horizontal line return to starting position using the glute and hamstring of the standing leg to lift yourself up.

Step ups

I don’t like this exercise but it is very efficient, and it gets your heart rate up too. Ideally do step ups with some weights in your hands, but if you are new to exercising bodyweight will do too.

The move: Start standing in front of a box or bench, step up as if you were stepping up stairs, then return to starting position. You can perform all repetitions on one side then change or alternate legs.

Grow your glutes with the seated hip Abductor

Do this exercise on the seated hip abductor resistance machine in the gym. If you don’t have access to this machine or have used it for a while, do side leg raises instead, ideally with some resistance, for example through a resistance band, ankle weights, or a cable machine. This exercise targets the abductors, the muscles on the side of your glutes, you want to target these in your workouts if you goal is a rounder lifted butt.

The move: Start seated on the resistance machine, open your legs to the side squeezing your glutes, hold at this position for 2 seconds then slowly return to the starting position.

Glute kickbacks

You will feel these in your upper booty, this the perfect exercise to add to your workout plan to lift the butt. You can add resistance to this move using the cable machine, using ankle weights, or a resistance band.

The move: start standing with your torso, slightly leaning forward, ideally hold hon to something in front of you. Kick one leg up, keeping the leg straight, and the foo flexed, squeeze your glute at the top, slowly return. Complete all repetitions on one side, then switch leg.

45* incline leg press

The last exercise on my list, but certainly not my least favourite, is the 45* incline leg press. With time you can really work yourself up to a heavy weight on this one. Compared to the other leg press this one focuses on using the glutes and hamstrings more than the quadriceps.

The move: Start sitting on the leg press resistance machine, the feet are hip distance apart, and ankles in line with the knees, the knees pointed in the same direction as the toes. Unlock the weight and push it up keeping a slight bend in the knees at the top, return so your legs form a 90 degree angle or deeper before lifting back up.

Conclusion

You don’t need to do all the exercises above at once to grow your glutes, but include them into your workout plans, and remember to apply progressive overload, and switch your workout routine up every 3 to 4 weeks. 

As I mentioned in the introduction, aim to lift heavy, between 70 and 85 % of your 1RM, but progressively increase the weights to avoid any injuries.

My top 7 exercises to grow my glutes:

• Hip thrusters
• Split squats
• Single leg deadlifts
• Step ups
• Hip abduction
• Glute kickbacks
• 45* incline leg press