Best Glute Exercises to Perfect Your Peach

When it comes to finding the best glute exercises to sculpt your butt, you may be lacking inspiration.

To help you craft your peach, we’ve collected a list of the best, most effective glute exercises that will transform both the shape and size of your butt muscles.

It’s never been more important to work your glutes.

Not only do you get the incredible bonus of a perky derriere when you start including glute exercises in your workout routines, you could be improving your body health too.

In the modern world we spend an awful lot of time sat down, on our butts.

While this might not seem all that dangerous, it can have some terrible effects on your overall muscular structure.

When you don’t use your muscles (aka. When you’re sat down on your butt all day), the muscles essentially go to sleep. They gradually weaken, which can have effects throughout your posterior chain.

Other muscles begin to weaken too, or they overcompensate to make up for the lack of support from your glutes and your posture will eventually go. You may see this and even feel it as aches and pains.

Even if you work out, unless you’re specifically targeting glute exercises, you may struggle to ‘wake up’ those muscle fibres and make the most of these big, powerful muscles.

As you can see, you really shouldn’t neglect working your butt, for more than just that coveted peachy look.

Check out these glute exercises and begin sculpting, and strengthening your booty today.

Banded glute exercises

Clams

1. Lie on your side with your knees bent at around 45 degrees and your ankles and knees together
2. Place the resistance band just above your knees
3. Keeping your hip and upper-body still, raise your top knee up and out to the side like a clam opening. Ensure your feet still stay together
4. Raise your knee as far as you can before returning it to your other knee
5. Before the required amount of reps on both sides

[Related Article: 5 Best Resistance Bands for Glutes]

Side raises

1. Lie on the ground on one side with the resistance band placed just about your knees
2. Keeping your upper leg still, bend the bottom leg at the knee so you create a 90-degree angle
3. Ensure your top leg is still straight and lift it directly upwards until it reaches about 50-degrees
4. Lower it back down to complete the rep
5. Complete the required amount of repetitions on both sides

Hip bridges

1. Place the resistance band just above the knee and lie on your back with your arms on the floor by your sides
2. Put your feet flat on the ground as close to your butt as possible
3. Push your hips up until you create a straight line along your spine, from your shoulders to your knees
4. Return your butt to the ground to complete the rep

Monster walks

1. Pull the resistance band up so it’s looped around your knees
2. Drop into the bottom of a squat, being sure to keep your chest high and your feet around shoulder-width apart
3. Maintaining this position, step out to the side with one foot, then bring the other foot in so your feet are once again at shoulder-width apart
4. Each full step is a rep, continue in one direction, then swap legs to change the focus onto the other butt cheek

Kick backs

1. Put the resistance band around your ankles and stand next to a wall or rack to hold on to for balance
2. Plant one foot firmly on the floor and push the other out and up behind you as far as you can in a smooth sweeping motion
3. Return the back foot to the floor next to the front, before performing the movement again

[Related Article: Grace Beverley – Girls Who Lift ]

Barbell glute exercises

Hip Thrusts

1. Sit on the floor alongside a bench with you back resting on it
2. Roll your barbell so it sits above your hips. Use a barbell pad to avoid bruises from the weight of the bar
3. Plant your feet flat on the ground about a foot in front of your butt
4. Grip on to the bar and ensure your shoulders can roll on to the bench
5. Tuck your chin in and keep your back straight as you push your hips up in a slow, controlled motion to raise the bar off the floor
6. Stop when your body is completely straight, at this point clench your glute muscles
7. Bend at the hips again to return the bar to the ground. On the way back down be sure to keep your chin tucked and your back straight – do not dip your hips.

Weighted walking lunges

1. Rack the bar across the back of the shoulders as if you were going to do a back squat
2. Ensuring you have enough space, step out into a lunge position. This should be a large stride forward and half a stride outward
3. Once in position, dip your back knee to about an inch above the floor by bending the front knee. Your front shin should always be at a 90 degree angle to the floor and your knee should not track over your toes. Keep you back upright and your core strong throughout
4. Push through your front glute and your back foot to stand up again, bringing your back foot forward to meet the other
5. Step out with the opposite leg to begin the next rep

[Related Article: 3 Resistance Band Workouts for Women]

Stiff leg deadlifts

1. Stand with your feet at around hip-width apart, holding a bar in your hands
2. Break slightly at the knees
3. Keeping your back strong and straight, bend at the hips by pushing them back, so the weight is transferred onto your heels
4. Continue bending and pushing back, whilst sliding the bar down your legs until it’s a few inches below your knees
5. Stand back up again by reversing the motion, keeping your back flat and pushing your hips forward by powering from the glutes

Bulgarian split squats

1. Stand next to a bench, facing away from it with the bar across the back of your shoulders
2. Pick one foot up and place it on the bench behind you
3. Step the other foot out so you’re a good stride away from the bench
4. Keeping your chest high and your back straight, bend the front knee so your back knee dips towards the floor. Your front shin should be completely perpendicular to the floor, so it doesn’t track over the toes on your front foot
5. When the thigh on your front leg is parallel to the floor, push up through your front foot and your glute to raise your back knee again
6. Complete the required reps on each leg

[Related Article: Best Butt Workout for Women]

Back squat

1. Rack the bar across the back of your shoulders, gripping on either side to keep it in place
2. Stand with your feet at shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing outward slightly
3. Keep your chest high and your back flat as you move your hips back and downwards
4. Stop moving down when your hip crease is just below your knee crease
5. Firing through the glutes and quads, push upwards until you’re standing once again

Bodyweight glute exercises

Reverse lunge

1. Stand in a neural position with your feet around hip-width apart
2. Step one foot out backwards so your back foot is a long stride away from the front, and about half a stride out to the side. This should be a stable position
3. Keeping your chest high, bend the front knee, so your back-knee dips to around an inch from the floor. In this bottom position, ensure the shin of your front leg is at 90-degrees to the floor and the knee isn’t tracking over your toes – you should still be able to see the front of your foot
4. Push up through your glute to step your back foot in towards the front again and stand up fully
5. Alternate your legs as you move through your reps

Single leg hip thrust

1. Lie on the floor and plant your feet flat on the floor about a foot from your butt
2. Raise one foot off the floor so it’s slightly bent, but not touching the ground
3. Push through the other heel and your glute to bring your hips up to a straight, neutral position. Don’t over-extend at the hip as you get to the top of the movement
4. Return your butt to the floor before starting the next rep. Keep your floating foot off the floor as much as possible
5. Complete all the reps on one foot before starting on the next

Split squats

1. Stand with your back to a bench
2. Place one foot behind you on the bench
3. Step the front foot out so you’re in a lunge position, where your front shin is perpendicular to the floor at all times throughout the movement
4. Bend your front knee so the back knee dips to the floor
5. Push up through your glute to return to the top of the lunge position.

Butterfly hip thrust

1. Lie on your back with and bring the soles of your feet together
2. Push your hips up until your body is straight from your shoulders to your knees
3. Lower your butt back to the floor to complete your rep

Feet elevated hip thrust

1. Find a bench and lie on the floor, with your feet on the bench
2. Keep your flat on the floor by your sides and push your hips up until your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees
3. Ensure you don’t overextend at the hip
4. Return your butt to the floor to complete the rep

The final word

With the best glute exercises in your arsenal, you can take your butt workout anywhere.

Whether you’re in the gym, at home or on the go, nothing can get in the way of you achieving your booty goals.