30 Minutes to Bigger Glutes: The Hip Thrust and Split Squat Workout

A few hard sets of the right movements build bigger glutes, and 30 minutes is enough time to do them.

Hip thrusts and squats each give your glutes something different. In one study, the barbell hip thrust activated the glutes more than the back squat. In a 9-week study in untrained college-aged adults, the two exercises built about the same amount of glute muscle, and the squat built more thigh muscle on top (1, 2). That’s why you’ll do both patterns here: a hip thrust to load your glutes at full hip extension, and a split squat to train them in a deep stretch.

30-Minute Glute Workout: Overview

Train this workout once or twice a week as part of your workout split, with at least two days between sessions. It slots in on leg day or on its own day, and it pairs well with our 30-minute leg workout if you want to split your lower body over two days.

Before you start, spend 5 minutes on easy cardio and a few dynamic mobility exercises for your hips. Then do one or two light sets of hip thrusts before your first working set.

Why this workout fits in 30 minutes

Three choices keep it short without cutting the work that builds muscle:

• Rest periods of 60 to 90 seconds. A 2024 meta-analysis found a small benefit to resting longer than 60 seconds between sets for muscle growth, but no clear extra benefit beyond 90 seconds (3).
• One superset. A 2025 meta-analysis found supersets let lifters do the same reps and volume in a shorter session, with similar long-term gains in strength and size (4). Pairing two glute exercises costs some load on the second one, which is why the kickbacks are light and high-rep.
• Enough sets. The workout has 15 hard sets for the glutes, plus the burnout. A review on time-efficient training recommends at least 4 weekly sets per muscle group, and more volume tends to produce more growth (5, 6).

Take each set close to failure, stopping with no more than one or two reps left in the tank.

30-Minute Glute Workout: Exercise Instructions

Use a weight that lets you hit the bottom of each rep range with good form. When you can do the top of the range on every set, add weight next session.

1. Barbell hip thrust

The hip thrust loads your glutes hardest at the top of the rep, where your hips are fully extended. In the 2015 study, it produced about twice the mean upper and lower glute activation of the back squat at a 10-rep-max load (1). Use a bar pad, and if your gym has one, a hip thrust machine works too.

How to do it:

1. Sit on the floor with the bottom of your shoulder blades against the edge of a flat bench. Roll a padded barbell over your legs until it sits across your hips.
2. Plant your feet about shoulder-width apart, close enough that your shins are vertical at the top of the rep.
3. Tuck your chin, brace your abs and drive through your heels to lift your hips until your torso is parallel to the floor.
4. Squeeze your glutes hard for one second at the top. Don’t arch your lower back to get higher.
5. Lower your hips under control until they’re just above the floor, and repeat.

2. Bulgarian split squat

The Bulgarian split squat trains your glutes at long muscle lengths, in the deep stretch at the bottom. Working one leg at a time also shows up any difference between sides. A slight forward lean of your torso puts more of the load on your hips.

How to do it:

1. Stand about two feet in front of a bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Place the top of your rear foot on the bench.
2. Lean your torso forward slightly and brace your abs.
3. Bend your front knee and lower yourself until your front thigh is about parallel to the floor.
4. Drive through your front heel to stand back up.
5. Do all your reps on one leg, then switch. Rest for 60 seconds after both legs.

3a. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is a hip hinge that loads your glutes and hamstrings in a stretch. Go as heavy as you can without rounding your lower back.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs. Bend your knees slightly.
2. Brace your abs and push your hips back, lowering the dumbbells down the front of your legs.
3. Stop when you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings or when your back starts to round, usually around mid-shin.
4. Drive your hips forward and stand up, squeezing your glutes at the top.
5. Go straight to the kickbacks.

3b. Cable glute kickback

Kickbacks isolate the glutes on one leg at a time, so they’re a good second half of the superset when your hamstrings are already tired from the Romanian deadlifts. No cable stack? Our list of cable kickback alternatives has options for bands and machines.

How to do it:

1. Attach an ankle strap to a low pulley and fasten it around one ankle.
2. Face the machine, hold the frame for balance and hinge forward slightly at the hips.
3. Keeping your leg almost straight, push it back until your hip is fully extended.
4. Squeeze your glute for a second, then return under control. Don’t arch your lower back to get the leg higher.
5. Do all your reps on one leg, then switch.

4. Hip abduction machine

Hip abduction trains the gluteus medius and minimus on the sides of your hips, which the other exercises here don’t target directly. Use the machine if your gym has one. If not, do banded lateral walks.

How to do it:

1. Sit in the machine with the pads against the outsides of your knees. Hold the handles.
2. Push your knees out as far as the machine allows.
3. Pause for a second, then let the pads come back in slowly. Don’t let the weight stack touch down between reps.

5. Glute bridge burnout

Finish with one set of bodyweight glute bridges to failure. Your glutes will already be tired, so it won’t take many reps.

How to do it:

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
2. Drive through your heels and lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders.
3. Squeeze your glutes for two seconds at the top, then lower.
4. Keep going until you can’t reach full hip extension.

More Glute Workouts:

• Top 15 Glute Exercises for Maximum Size and Strength Gains
• 10 Best Dumbbell Glute Exercises to Build a Better Butt
• 15 Best Upper Glute Exercises
• 8 Best Lower Glute Exercises
• Cable Glute Workouts and Exercises
• B Stance Hip Thrusts

30-Minute Glute Workout: Wrapping Up

The glutes are big muscles, and they respond to the same things as every other muscle: hard sets, enough volume and steady progress in the weight you lift. This workout gives you all three in half an hour.

Record your hip thrust and split squat weights each session. If both numbers go up over the next two months, keep going.

References

Fitness Volt is committed to providing our readers with science-based information. We use only credible and peer-reviewed sources to support the information we share in our articles.

1. Contreras, B., Vigotsky, A. D., Schoenfeld, B. J., Beardsley, C., & Cronin, J. (2015). A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyographic Activity in the Back Squat and Barbell Hip Thrust Exercises. Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 31(6), 452-458. DOI: 10.1123/jab.2014-0301. PMID: 26214739.
2. Plotkin, D. L., Rodas, M. A., Vigotsky, A. D., McIntosh, M. C., Breeze, E., Ubrik, R., et al. (2023). Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift. Frontiers in Physiology, 14, 1279170. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1279170. PMID: 37877099.
3. Singer, A., Wolf, M., Generoso, L., Arias, E., Delcastillo, K., Echevarria, E., et al. (2024). Give it a rest: a systematic review with Bayesian meta-analysis on the effect of inter-set rest interval duration on muscle hypertrophy. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 6, 1429789. DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1429789. PMID: 39205815.
4. Zhang, X., Weakley, J., Li, H., Li, Z., & García-Ramos, A. (2025). Superset Versus Traditional Resistance Training Prescriptions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 55, 953-975. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-025-02176-8. PMID: 39903375.
5. Iversen, V. M., Norum, M., Schoenfeld, B. J., & Fimland, M. S. (2021). No Time to Lift? Designing Time-Efficient Training Programs for Strength and Hypertrophy: A Narrative Review. Sports Medicine, 51, 2079-2095. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-021-01490-1. PMID: 34125411.
6. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(11), 1073-1082. DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2016.1210197. PMID: 27433992.