5 Effective Exercises To Help You Get Bigger Glutes

Do you want a bigger butt so that you can wear that new bodycon dress, but you’re unhappy with the size you currently are? If so, you’ve found the right place.

The gluteus maximus — that is your butt for the uninitiated — is the largest muscle in your body. Even if filling out a pair of Wranglers isn’t at the top of your training priorities list, developing strong glutes will help you build better squats, deadlifts, and everything in between (yes, even overhead lifts).

Stronger glute muscles can also help you reduce the risk of injury, boost your metabolism, improve your athletic performance, and give the appearance of a lifted, rounder bum.

You can do exercises that primarily target the glute muscles. But the movements you should do for stronger glutes are multi-joint, multi-muscle movements that are also going to strengthen your whole body. That’s because all the muscles in the body work together. So, a more toned butt can also mean gains for your entire body.

If you’re convinced that you need to start working your glutes more, how do you do it? Here are five essential exercises to help you get a bigger butt and stronger glutes.

Butt exercise 1: Unilateral stiff-leg deadlift

Overview: The key to making this exercise target the glutes instead of the hamstrings is the stretch.

• Get ready: With your feet close together, hold a dumbbell in your right hand with an overhand grip and extend your arm. Keep your head up and a tight arch in the small of your back.
• Go: Bending your right knee slightly and keeping your left leg straight and locked, hinge at the hips to lower your torso toward the floor, using the weight as a counterbalance as your left leg comes up in a straight line behind you. With contracted abs, squeeze your right glute and hamstring as you pull your torso back to vertical. Repeat for reps before switching legs.

Girls tend to be more flexible than guys, so do these standing on a box for a greater range of motion.

Butt exercise 2: Split squat

Overview: This exercise works both glutes at the same time — one gets stretched while the other is contracted. To add difficulty, use a stability ball instead of a bench.

• Get ready: Stand a few feet in front of a bench. Carefully extend one foot back to place it on top of the bench with the sole of your shoe almost parallel to the floor.
• Go: Bend your front leg to lower your torso straight down toward the ground, making sure your knee stays behind your toes, until your thigh is about parallel to the ground and your back knee is within a foot of the floor. Press through the heel of your front leg and squeeze your glute as you rise straight back up.

Make sure the movement goes straight down, not forward.

Butt exercise 3: Side band walking

Overview: This exercise effectively targets the glute-ham tie-in, where most women tend to carry body fat.

• Get ready: Tie a resistance band just below your knees and descend into a quarter-squat position or stand, feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart to put tension on the band.
• Go: Keeping your abs tight and staying in the quarter-squat, step to the right with your right leg first, then your left, keeping tension on the band throughout. Repeat for reps, then switch sides to lead with your left leg.

I really like this one because it hits an area in your glutes that’s really hard to get to.

Butt exercise 4: Wall Squat With Stability Ball

Overview: A great isolator for the glutes and hamstrings, this move eliminates danger to the lower back. For added resistance, hold a pair of dumbbells.

• Get ready: Stand facing away from a wall with a stability ball between it and the small of your back. Your feet should be in front of your hips, slightly wider than your shoulders, with toes pointed out at 45° angles.
• Go: Keeping your feet flat on the floor, squat down so the ball rolls up your back, until your quads are just past parallel to the floor. Hold for a count, then lift just your toes into the air to push through your heels as you rise back to the starting position, rotating your glutes and hams inward. Lower your toes back to the floor before starting the next rep.

This is not your typical squatting motion. I hate to use this analogy, but it’s kind of like holding and squeezing a pencil [between your glutes].

Butt exercise 5: Wide-Stance Leg Press

Overview: The wide stance transfers the action from the quads to the glutes and hamstrings.

• Get ready: Lying back in a 45° leg press machine, place your feet high on the platform so only your heels are resting on it at the top outside corners, toes pointed out at 45° angles.
• Go: Unhinge the weight, then bend your knees to bring the platform toward your chest. Pause for a one count, then squeeze your glutes and hamstrings to press the weight back up.

Make sure the small of your back stays flush against the pad. It’s very easy for your glutes to come up, but that can create lower-back injuries.

How to Warm Up Your Glutes Before Training

Don’t dive into your glute training without first diving into some proper mobility work. When you’re doing them right (slow, steady, deliberate, and possibly with a band), there’s nothing easy about glute work.

One of the most effective warm-ups for any muscle group is going to be the exercises you are performing in that day’s training session. For example, if you’re performing back squats, you can warm up by performing light reps and increase intensity as you proceed towards your working sets. This ensures that the appropriate muscles and joints are being primed, reducing the risk of injury and improving your overall training performance.

About the Glute Muscles

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body and is primarily responsible for hip extension. This joint action is key for nearly every strength, power, or fitness exercise. Strong glutes can increase squatting, deadlifting, and overall athletic potential.

The gluteus medius and minimus — two more muscles that make up your glutes — are key for stabilizing the hip in both closed and open chain movements, such as squatting, running, jumping, and walking. Basically, if you’re doing pretty much anything involving moving your body, your glutes are likely a primary player.

Gluteus Max

The gluteus maximus is the largest of the gluteal muscles. It is also the most superficial, providing the greatest contribution of shape to the buttocks. This large and powerful muscle helps keeps the hip stable during walking or running, and is the primary hip extensor. It can also play a more low-key role in some acute hip stability patterns. (1)

Gluteus Medius

The gluteus medius muscle is fan-shaped and lies between the gluteus maximus and the minimus. It is similar in shape and function to the gluteus minimus. It’s broad and thick and converges from its origins on the pelvis down to its insertion point on the upper leg (femur).

It abducts and medially and laterally rotates the lower limb. It secures and helps steady the pelvis when the opposite foot is raised off the ground during walking and running as well as stabilizing the same leg when foot is planted.

Gluteus Minimus

The gluteus minimus is the deepest and smallest of the superficial gluteal muscles. It is similar in shape and function to the gluteus medius. The glute min abducts (moving the thigh away from body) and medially rotates the lower limb. It secures and helps steady the pelvis when the opposite foot is raised off the ground during walking and running.