The 5 Best Glute Exercises for a Strong Butt

Trainers often joke about the difference between “show” muscles and “go” muscles—in other words, muscles that look pretty versus muscles that can actually pull their weight when it counts. Whenever you walk into the weight room, you’re usually choosing one over the other: pump up your pecs or bolster your lower back. However, there is a middle ground in this Venn diagram, and that’s where you’ll find the glutes—your body’s most powerful drivers of athletic performance, and the muscles responsible for getting your rear to resemble, incidentally, a Venn diagram.

Why Should You Work Out Your Glutes?

Glutes play an important role in supporting our day-to-day activities.

“Glute training isn’t just for athletes or bodybuilders; it’s essential for everyone,” says Jenny Liebl, CPT, senior content developer for the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) and author of ISSA’s Glute Specialist course. “The glute muscles are among the largest and most powerful muscles in the human body, and they play a central role in nearly every fundamental movement pattern. Strong, well-functioning glutes contribute to better posture, reduce risk of injury, and enhance athletic performance and daily movement efficiency.”

Which Glute Muscles Should You Target During Your Workout?

The glutes are made up of three sections, and the key to packing on serious muscle mass is to target the lot, Liebl says.

“The gluteus maximus is the big, strong muscle that gives your rear its shape. It’s the powerhouse behind hip extension and helps you stand up, climb stairs, sprint, and lift things. Then there’s the gluteus medius, which sits more on the side of your hip. This one helps with balance and stability, especially during single-leg movements like walking, running, or lunging. And finally, there’s the gluteus minimus, the smallest and deepest of the group, which works with the medius to keep your hips stable and aligned, especially when you’re on one leg.”

The Best Glute Exercises

Here, expert trainers share their preferred glute exercises—based on both experience and published electromyography (EMG) research, which analyzes muscle activation—to help you fill out your shorts while it’s still warm outside.

1. Step-Up

“The EMG research says a squat, a step-up, a lunge, and a leg press are all almost the exact same in terms of recruiting the glutes,” says Luke Carlson, founder and CEO of Discover Strength. Emphasis on the word “almost.”

Compared with most other lower-body or glute-specific exercises, the step-up brings something unique to the table in that it has you moving through space as you load the muscles, resulting in an overall greater muscle recruitment.

“Step-ups have one of the highest levels of glute activation, due to the stabilization requirements,” personal trainer Josh Schlottman, CSCS, says. That means more bang for your buck and less time waiting for the squat rack to open up.

How to do it:

• Grab a pair of dumbbells and stand facing a sturdy box or bench. Carlson recommends a surface that is about the height of your kneecaps.
• Holding the dumbbells at your sides, step your left foot up onto the box.
• Press through your left foot to lift your body up onto the box, keeping your trailing leg loose and relaxed.
• Allow your left leg to extend fully—pausing just before lock-out—and let your right foot touch down lightly on top of the box.
• Step down back down slowly, reversing the movement with control to maximize the eccentric phase. That’s one rep. Repeat on the right leg and continue alternating to complete the desired number of reps.