It should come as no surprise that a great booty is a common fitness goal. But the best glute-building exercises do more than just make your backside look great. They also strengthen your entire posterior chain. The glute muscles can be found under the fatty tissue of your buttocks and are made up of three main muscles, including the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus.
They are big, powerful muscles that help you walk, run, sit, and stand. Strong glutes benefit your posture and athletic performance while preventing lower knee, back, and foot pain.
There’s a class for that
Group fitness classes are designed to keep you moving and challenge you in a group environment. Bodypump is the original barbell class and leverages The Rep Effect—a breakthrough in resistance training that helps create long, lean muscles and a toned, strong physique. Using The Rep Effect, BODYPUMP classes give you sculpted shoulders, defined biceps and triceps, strong lean legs, firm glutes and a tight core. Peddling and climbing in a LES MILLS SPRINT workout is another way to target the hamstrings, calves, glutes, and hip flexors.
Studio fitness classes are small and focus on specific activities or parts of the body and are taught by our best instructors and trainers. Kettlerow is an innovative new workout exclusive to FITNESS PROJECT. It combines kettlebell flow sequences with rowing intervals, both of which are great for targeting your glutes. The Tour 10 Circuit HIIT Training also offers a number of booty-building stations to help you work the entire gluteus complex.
Work with a Booty Building Expert
Level up your health with your very own fitness coach. A FITNESS PROJECT Personal Coach will get to know you and where you want to go. Together you’ll set your goals and build customized workouts, including the best exercises to help you target your glutes. They’ll be there to motivate you and ensure that you know how to do each exercise properly. Every FITNESS PROJECT trainer is backed by certifications in exercise physiology, anatomy, training program development, exercise application and fitness assessments. Sign up for a free personal training session, get a free 3D body scan and start building that great booty today.
Squat, lunge, step, repeat
Barbell glute bridges, split squats, lunges, sumo squats and step-ups are just a few of the best exercises that focus on tightening, toning, and lifting your booty. Our Build the Booty workout and Build your Butt Workouts highlight some of the top exercises to target your glutes. Your FITNESS PROJECT location has all the equipment you need to perfect your booty-building routine.
When you get to work on building your glute muscles, you’ll notice your whole body getting stronger. Before you know it, your butt will look rounder, perkier and lifted. But most importantly, your lower body will become much more powerful and will help you kick butt at the gym and in your day-to-day life.
The Best Exercises for a Toned Tush
Exercise 1: Lateral Band Walks
The lateral band walking exercise looks (and feels) pretty strange, but it’s actually the perfect way to improve hip stability, strengthen the hip abductors—particularly the gluteus medius—and increase the stability of the knee joint.1 As a part of a warmup routine, the lateral band walking exercise engages many of the deep muscles that stabilize the pelvis. Doing this exercise before working out can improve hip, foot, and ankle stability as well as knee joint stabilization. This, in turn, improves overall body mechanics and movement efficiency during a workout or competition.
What you’ll need: A lateral resistance band.
How often to do it: Step to each side 20-25 times, 3 times a day.
Exercise 2: Curtsy Lunge with Band
Although squats, lifts, and lunges are considered the ‘kings’ of leg exercises, there’s another exercise you shouldn’t neglect- curtsy lunges for your lower body. It is one of the exercises that helps us to sculpt the butt! Curtsy lunge is one of the most effective exercises for your lower body. It engages the gluteus primarily. It will also help you shape the gluteus and strengthen it to the maximum extent. In addition to this, it also engages the calves. They also receive most of the pressure, and it can be performed anywhere from the gym or home, wherever you are comfortable. It also activates your glutes and inner thigh area, giving you an excellent shape and look. The Curtsy lunge will build serious lower body strength.
What you’ll need: A lateral resistance band.
How often to do it: Perform 10 lunges on each side, holding each lunge for 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times.
Exercise 3: Squats with Pulses
There may be no better exercise than the squat. It builds muscle, strength, power, and overall body coordination. But what about squat alternatives? This is where the pulse squat can be a great tool in your training program. The pulse squat isn’t just a good exercise alternative, but it may be a great fat-burning tool. The pulse squat is simple: you hold a deep squat position and slightly move—or pulse—up and down. This is a great way to fatigue the muscles of the lower body, which can lead to more muscle growth and burn calories at the same time.
The muscles of the lower body don’t have time to relax during the movement and it leads to more muscle fiber engagement. This can lead to greater gains in muscle. The pulse squat can also make everyday activities such as walking and climbing the stairs easier.
What you’ll need: No equipment is needed.
How often to do it: Perform 2 sets of 20-25 reps.
Exercise 4: Glutes Bridge
A glute bridge is a physical exercise that helps to strengthen the gluteus muscles (located in your buttocks) and hamstrings. Glute bridges are done by laying on your back with both feet planted on the ground and lifting your pelvis. It can help to increase hip flexibility and lower back health. Glute bridges are an effective exercise to include in your workout routine if you spend long hours sitting in a chair, which can limit your hip flexor mobility. They’re also a popular warm-up exercise that prepares for hip flexibility.
What you’ll need: No equipment is needed.
How often to do it: Hold the bridge for 20-25 seconds. Perform 2 sets of 10 bridges.
Exercise 5: Bridge-Up with Leg Lift
A single-leg glute bridge is a unilateral glute bridge variation that targets muscle groups throughout your body like the hamstrings, hip flexors, lower back muscles, and gluteal muscles—including your gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Perform single-leg glute bridges by lying on your back with your palms face-down by your side. Extend one leg, squeeze your glutes, and push into your other leg. While keeping your upper back in contact with the floor, lift your hips until your extended leg forms a straight line with your back.
What you’ll need: No equipment is needed.
How often to do it: 3 sets of 15 reps.
