The Best Exercises to Raise Your Glutes

You can strengthen your glutes with just a few weekly exercises. A little bit of effort can reap big rewards.
The Best Exercises to Raise Your Glutes

Last update: 29 January, 2021

It’s clear that being able to boast about having good glutes never hurts. Whether you’re male, female, or identify in a different way, we all dream of having firm, well-toned glutes. If we neglect this zone, we’ll have sunken or poorly formed muscles due to the body fat that’ll accumulate there.

How can we avoid this? Simply adopting an adequate diet and an exercise routine that’s been specially prepared for this area of the body are key elements to gain volume, firmness, and great shape here.

Achieving firm and strong glutes is possible; just like any muscle, it grows when it’s stimulated correctly.

In fact, the glutes are one of the biggest muscles in the whole body, so if you work out properly, you should see results.

The best aspect of these exercises is that they’re easy to do. Although it’s true that, to begin with, you may need help from a trainer, with a bit of practice you’ll be able to do them solo.

As you improve your technique, you can begin to introduce some changes, such as lifting dumbbell weights. This way your glutes will look more and more toned.

From here, to get the perfect glutes, we recommend that you do exercises that specifically raise and strengthen the area. Furthermore, if consistency is your thing, you may be in luck! As little as 20 minutes a day, three times a week is sufficient to get a fantastic backside.

Exercises to work your glutes

Understandably, after reading everything we’ve just said, you’re probably excited to start working on your glutes fairly quickly, which you can do through these simple exercises:

Donkey kicks

Get down onto your hands and knees whilst you tense your abdominal muscles. From here, lift one leg, keeping your knee at a 90-degree angle. You can complete this exercise by pushing your leg up in the air as high as you can whilst you lower your back, before switching legs.

Work your glutes with squats

To squat, stand still with your legs shoulder-width apart, keep your arms extended out in front – or behind your neck – and squat as if you were about to sit down. As soon as your muscles are parallel to the floor, stand up  again and return to your original position.

Bridge

This exercise, divided into two parts, starts with you lying down on your back with your knees bent and your feet supported on the floor.

Keeping your abdomen tight, raise your hips as high as you can, and squeeze your glutes as you reach the maximum height. Your shoulders should always stay in contact with the floor. Then lower your hips, but don’t let your glutes touch the floor!

Backward kick for your glutes 

For this, you need to support yourself on your hands, which should be spread shoulder-width apart, and your knees keeping your feet together (you’ll always be supported by keeping your balance). From here, lift one leg backward, as high as possible, keeping it straight. When lowering it, keep your glutes tight to increase the muscular tension.

Sumo squats

When doing this exercise, it’s important to bear in mind that the wider you separate your legs, the better this exercise activates the muscles.

With your feet separated and your abdomen tight, flex your knees as you keep your hips as far back as you can. When you go to stand up, keep your glutes tight.

Side leg squat to work your glutes 

Standing with your feet together, place your right foot to one side, and lean your hips back as you bend your knee to do this kind of squat.

Keeping your knee still bent, shift to the other side so that the left knee remains bent and the right knee is straight. From here, push up until you’re back to standing, and then repeat.

Crossover with backward kick

On your hands and knees, raise your leg backward and trace a circular shape with your foot from above to the side. After this, repeat the same process with the other leg. Your knee should be kept at 90 degrees to the floor throughout the exercise.

Strides

On your feet, spread shoulder-width apart, bring one leg forward ensuring you keep your torso straight.

It’s important to concentrate on raising and lowering your body correctly. By which we mean you should keep your weight on the leg in front to better balance yourself.

Steps

In order to do this exercise, you have to place a step on the floor in front of you. Go up and down the step whilst you move your arms in a way that echos a military march.


This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.