We live in an ass-less society. Despite the rise of the booty girls on Instagram, a large and growing number of the population – both male and female – is lacking in the butt department. Flat, shapeless glutes are becoming the norm, and a lot of people who’ve got bigger butts are just fat and soft.
Why are good glutes in such short supply? It’s probably because we now spend the majority of our time sat on chairs. This not only completely unloads your butt; it also places it in a stretched position.
The combination of inactivity and a stretched position causes hypotonicity. This means the glutes lose their firmness or tone as it’s properly called.
The good news is that, with some time, effort, and dedication, you can wake up your glutes and restore them to their former, firm, and powerful glory.
Glute Anatomy
Glutes is usually short for gluteus maximus. However, there are other muscles that make up the glute complex that are no less important.
Providing you use the best glute exercises, you should have no problem building a muscular butt. Still, it’s always useful to know a little about the underlying anatomy of the muscles you want to develop.
And don’t for a moment underestimate the importance of the glutes. They are biomechanically similar to your deltoids or shoulder muscles. In fact, some people call them the deltoids of the hip.
The muscles that make up the glutes complex are:
Gluteus maximus
This is the muscle you are currently sat on, but it’s more than just somewhere convenient to sit! The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body and also potentially the most powerful. Located on the back and side of your hip, the functions of the gluteus maximus are:
- Hip extension
- Hip lateral (external) rotation
- Hip abduction (superior or upper portion)
- Hip adduction (inferior or lower portion)
Gluteus medius
The gluteus medius is located above and beneath the gluteus maximus near the iliac crest of the pelvis. It works alongside gluteus maximus and also has some additional functions.
- Hip abduction (movement away from midline of body)
- Hip medial (internal) rotation
- Pelvis stabilization
Gluteus minimus
This is a small triangle-shaped muscle located within the posterior aspect of the hip. Like the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus also works alongside the gluteus maximus, and its functions are:
- Hip abduction
- Hip medial rotation
- Pelvis stabilization
Tensor fascia latae
Meaning white tissue, the TFL is part of the glute complex despite not having the word gluteus in its name. It’s a biaxial muscle which means it crosses two joints – the hip and the knee. As part of the glute group, TFL is involved in:
- Hip internal rotation
- Hip abduction
- Pelvis stabilization
Gluteus maximus might be the most prominent muscle in the glute complex, but the other muscles deserve your attention too. They might not contribute much to butt mass, but they are critical for hip stability and performance.
If these other, smaller muscles are neglected, your hips won’t be as stable, and that will affect your athletic performance. Because of the complexity of this part of your body, you must train your glutes from several different directions to ensure you include all of these muscles.
The 12 Best Glute Exercises for Mass
Don’t waste your time on second-rate exercises. Instead, build your best glutes ever with the best exercises! Include at least a few of these 12 exercises in your lower body workouts to sculpt the ultimate butt.
1- Barbell back squat
The barbell back squat is often thought of as a quadriceps exercise. While that is definitely the case, it’s also a great glute mass exercise too. Make it even more so by wearing a booty band around your knees the next time you do squats.
How to do it:
- Rest and hold a barbell across your upper back. Step out and into a shoulder-width stance, with your feet turned slightly outward. If using a booty band, make sure you push your knees outward against the material. Brace your abs and lift your chest.
- Push your hips back, bend your knees, and descend until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor. Do not round your lower back. Make sure you keep your weight on your heels.
- Stand back up and repeat.
Benefits:
- A very functional exercise
- A great total lower body move
- Useful for building muscle mass and strength
2- Romanian deadlifts
Romanian deadlifts exercise provides your glutes with a good stretch and also works your hamstrings and lower back. It’s a strong exercise that lends itself well to lifting heavy weights, which is what makes it a superior mass builder.
How to do it:
- Hold a barbell with an overhand, shoulder-width grip in front of your thighs. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, knees slightly bent but rigid.
- Push your butt back, hinge forward from your hips, and lower the weight down the front of your legs as far as you can without rounding your lower back.
- Squeeze your glutes, drive your hips forward, and stand up straight.
- This exercise can also be performed using dumbbells.
Benefits:
- A useful exercise for increasing conventional deadlift performance
- Works not only the glutes but the entire posterior chain
- An excellent upper back and forearm exercise too
3- Single leg Romanian deadlift
We could have just added this exercise as a post script to #3, but it’s such a good glute move that it deserves its own mention. Using one leg, this exercise not only works gluteus maximus, but medius, minimus, and TFL too.
How to do it:
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand or a kettlebell in both. Stand with your feet together, knees slightly bent but rigid. Shift your weight over onto one leg.
- Hinge from your hips and lean forward, lowering the weight(s) down the front of your leg as far as you can without rounding your lower back. Extend your non-working leg out behind you for balance.
- Stand back up and repeat.
- Do the same number of reps on each leg.
Benefits:
- Less low back stress than regular Romanian deadlifts
- Good for developing your balance
- An excellent exercise for athletes
4- Hip thrusts with raised shoulders
While you can do hip thrusts lying on the floor, it’s a much more effective exercise when done with raised shoulders. Why? Because it increases your range of motion, and that increases the difficulty of this exercise.
How to do it:
- Sit on the floor, so your upper back is resting against a sturdy exercise bench. Bend your legs and place your feet flat. Rest and hold a barbell across your hips.
- Contract your glutes and push your hips up toward the ceiling. At the top of the rep, your knees, hips, and shoulders should form a straight line.
- Lower your butt back down to the floor and repeat.
- No weights? No problem! Just do this exercising with one leg to make up for any lack of resistance.
- Add a booty band to make this exercise more glute-centric
Benefits:
- Minimal low back stress
- Produces an intense contraction at the top of each rep
- Can be done with or without weights
5- Bulgarian split squat
This is another exercise that is often thought of as “just” a thigh exercise when, in actuality, it’s a great glute move too. Using one leg at a time, it’s ideal for training gluteus minimus, medius, and TFL, as well as glute max.
How to do it:
- Stand with your back to a knee-high exercise bench. Bend one leg and place the top of your foot on the bench behind you. Hop forward and into a split stance.
- Bend your legs and lower your rear knee down to within an inch or so of the floor. Lean forward slightly from your hips to maximize glute activation.
- Stand back up and repeat.
- Do the same number of reps on each leg.
- Hold dumbbells by your sides, a barbell across your upper back, or a kettlebell in front of your chest to make this exercise harder.
- You can also do this move with your rear foot in a suspension trainer.
Benefits:
- An excellent exercise for improving balance
- Good for hip mobility
- A useful exercise for athletes, and especially runners
6- Good mornings
Good mornings are a somewhat controversial exercise because some trainers think they are bad for your lower back. If you round your lower back, this move could definitely cause injury but, done right, it’s not really much riskier than Romanian deadlifts.
How to do it:
- Rest and hold a barbell across your upper back as though you were going to do squats. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Bend your knees slightly, but then keep them rigid. Brace your core and lift your chest.
- Hinge from your hips and bend forward as far as you can without rounding your lower back. Feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings.
- Stand back up and repeat.
- You can also do this exercise with the bar in the crook of your elbows – a Zercher good morning.
Benefits:
- Useful for developing a powerful hip hinge
- An effective strength and muscle mass exercise
- Very little grip strength required
7- Total hip machine hip extensions
With no weights in your hands or on your back, this exercise is a stress-free way to build glute mass. You can also adjust the range of motion to suit your flexibility. Most gyms have a total hip machine.
How to do it:
- Adjust the lever arm so that the leg pad is about hip height. Standing side on to the machine, lift and place the crook of your knee over the leg pad. Bend your supporting leg slightly for balance and grab the handles.
- Drive your thigh down and back against the resistance offered by the machine. Extend your hip fully but without hyperextending your lower back.
- Return to the starting position and repeat.
- Do the same number of reps on each leg.
Benefits:
- No spinal compression
- A functional, full-range exercise
- An excellent way to ensure both sides are trained equally
8- Double bench hip thrust
This exercise is the plus-sized version of #4. Raising your shoulders and your hips significantly increases the range of motion, making this one of the most effective hip extension glute mass exercises around.
How to do it:
- Set up for the shoulder raised hip thrust but, this time, also place your feet on a similar height platform. Only your butt should be resting on the floor.
- Drive down through your feet and lift your hips up into the air until they are fully extended. Take care not to hyperextend your spine.
- Lower your butt back down to the floor and repeat.
- Make this exercise harder by resting and holding a weight on your hips or using just one leg.
Benefits:
- Minimal lower back strain
- Can be done with or without weights
- Suitable for home exercisers
9- Clamshells against a wall
This exercise involves nothing but external hip rotation, which means it emphasizes the gluteus minimus and medius. If you have problems with your knees falling in when you squat, lunge or run, this exercise could be the solution.
How to do it:
- Lie on your side with your back against a wall. Bend your legs and place your feet flat against the wall too. Rest your head on your outstretched arm.
- Without moving your pelvis, open your legs and lift your uppermost knee up and out toward the wall. Your range of motion will depend on your flexibility.
- Lower your leg and repeat.
- Try to do the same number of reps on each leg.
- This exercise can also be done without the wall, but you’ll have to really focus on keeping your hips square.
Benefits:
- No lower back stress
- A good exercise for hip stability
- A prehab-rehab exercise for getting your glutes firing properly
10- Reverse Hyperextensions
Most hip extension exercises involve lifting your upper body. This can, in some cases, put a lot of stress on your lower back. With reverse hyperextensions, your upper body remains stationary while your legs move. This is easier on your lower back but still provides an effective glute workout.
How to do it:
- Lie face down on a hyperextension bench. Your hips should be on the edge of the bench, in line with the pivot point. Attach the loading strap to your ankles and grab the handles.
- With your knees slightly bent, extend your hips and lift your legs up behind you until they are roughly parallel to the floor.
- Lower your legs and repeat.
- Adjust the weight to match your current level of strength.
Benefits:
- Minimal lower back stress
- Works the glutes and hamstrings together
- Can also be done using a bench and a stability ball if required
11- Side-lying hip abductions with a booty band
This exercise emphasizes gluteus minimus and medius, which are located on the side of your hip. It’s a bit of an aerobics class classic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not useful for building outer glute mass, especially when done with a booty band.
How to do it:
- Lie on your side with your legs straight. Loop a booty band around your ankles, or just above or just below your knee. The closer the band is to your feet, the harder this exercise becomes. Lie down flat and rest your head on your outstretched arm.
- Without rolling your hips back, lift your uppermost leg up and out to the side to about 45-degrees of hip abduction, or as far as your booty band allows.
- Lower your leg and repeat.
- You can also do this exercise without a booty band or while wearing ankle weights.
Benefits:
- Easy on your lower back
- An effective way to emphasize gluteus minimus and medius
- Helps fire up the glutes before more complex exercises, e.g., squats
12- Deficit Reverse Lunge
Lunges are a great glute exercise. Working one leg at a time, they increase gluteus minimus and medius activation as these muscles have to work hard to keep your hips stable. Add an increased range of motion by using a step, and you’ve got a really useful glute mass exercise.
How to do it:
- Stand on a stable step with your feet together. Use a step that’s between 4-12 inches high.
- Step back and place your rear foot on the floor behind you. Bend your legs and lower your rear knee down toward the floor as far as your flexibility allows. It should drop below the level of your front foot. Lean forward slightly from your hips to increase the stretch on your glutes.
- Step forward and up back onto the platform.
- Either do another rep with the same leg or swap sides and alternate as preferred.
- Make this exercise harder by holding dumbbells or using a barbell.
Benefits:
- Good for developing balance and coordination
- A very effective total leg exercise
- Easier on your knees than forward lunges
Important Glute Training Tips
Get more from your glute training with these crucial and helpful workout tips.
Don’t overemphasize hip extension
Hip extension IS an important glute function, but it’s one of several movements that your glutes are responsible for. To develop your glutes to their fullest, make sure you include exercises that involve hip abduction and lateral rotation as well as extension.
In some cases, all three of these movements can be combined into one exercise, for example, by wearing a booty band during hip thrusts and squats.
Use a full range of motion
Some glute exercises involve a very short range of motion, often just the last 45 degrees of hip extension. While these exercises aren’t entirely useless, they are not as useful as those that involve a much bigger range of motion. Choose at least a few exercises that involve moving from full hip flexion to hip extension to work your glutes through their entire range of motion.
This is better for muscular development and developing functional strength, not to mention maintaining or improving flexibility.
Use a broad rep range
Your glutes are made up of fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch fibers respond best to heavy weights and low reps. In contrast, slow-twitch fibers are more aerobic in nature and do better with lighter weights and higher reps.
To maximize glute complex development, make sure you include low rep/heavy weight and higher rep/lower weight training in your workouts.
Watch your lower back
Many of the best glute exercises for mass also involve the lower back. In most cases, the lower back has to act as a stabilizer to prevent unwanted movement of the spine.
Rounding your lower back could lead to injury, so make sure you avoid doing so. Instead, make sure you hinge from your hips instead of moving your back. Not only will this reduce your risk of injury, but it will also make your chosen exercise more effective.
Don’t forget to include some single leg exercises
One of the most effective ways to activate and strengthen your gluteus minimus, medius, and TFL, is to stand and move on one leg. These small but no less important muscles will then have to work extra hard to stabilize your pelvis. If you want to increase hip stability, make sure you include some unilateral exercises in your glute mass workout.
Wrapping Up
Your glutes are one of the most important muscles in your body. Not only do they give your rear an attractive shape, but they are also involved in almost every human movement. From getting out a chair to climbing stairs to walking, running, and jumping, your glutes are the engine that drives you forward and upward.
Your glutes are also crucial for the health of your lower back. When lifting heavy objects off the floor, if your glutes are weak, your back ends up bearing more of the load, and that’s a recipe for injury.
Say “no” to weak, soft, small glutes! Add some mass to your ass with these tried and tested exercises.
