What are the best butt exercises? Everyone knows about squats and hip thrusts. What else is there? Find out here.
I only really get two types of questions from women. The most common is obviously “How do I lose weight?” but close behind (pun intended) is “How do I develop a bigger butt?”.
Taking this into consideration, I decided to write an article to help all of the ladies who asked the second question.
First, I want to point out that I limited the list to five exercises because these are the five exercises I feel are the absolute best for working the glutes. I am the type of trainer who needs to be really convinced an exercise works and is going to be beneficial before I use or recommend it. So here is the list!
1. Back Squat
The squat is not only the most well-known “butt exercise,” but it’s also one of the best as well! The squat is a compound movement that involves a lot of muscles and engages a lot of muscle fibers.
Compound movements are generally best for when you really want to make a change to your body. I can tell you this: you are going to have a better chance at changing your body by doing squats as opposed to doing step-ups!
To really engage the glutes and hamstrings take a wider stance when and make sure you go all the way down. The further you descend into the squat, the more glutes and hamstring become involved.
2. Walking Lunge
Like squats, lunges are another great compound movement to work the glutes. Are you starting to see a trend? I hope so because I am a firm believer in basing your workouts around compound movements.
I would rather pound out multiple sets of a couple of exercises I know work great than mess around with 15 that might work in a small way. Like with every exercise, it is important to use
proper form on lunges.
Also, if you get strong enough to add weight, I prefer to use a bar on the back as opposed to holding dumbbells. This serves two purposes.
One, it prevents your grip from limiting you. After taking a few steps holding heavy dumbbells your grip is most likely going to give out before your lower body does.
Secondly, the weight on your back puts all of the resistance in a straight vertical plane, whereas with dumbbells, the weight is distributed differently.
3. Romanian Deadlift (Stiff Leg Deadlift)
Once again, another compound movement, Romanian Deadlifts, is a great all-around posterior chain exercise.
Although Romanian Deadlifts are normally considered primarily a hamstring exercise, they work the entire posterior chain from the lower back, glutes, and into the hamstrings.
When doing this exercise, it is important to drive through the hips and squeeze your glutes and hamstrings on the way up. Also, exaggerate the finishing movement at the top, pushing your hips forward to fully engage the glutes.
4. Hip Thrust
The hip thrust (weighted and unweighted) is definitely one of the best glute builders. There are
a few progressions to this exercise that can enhance your results.
Unweighted: You can do the exercise on the floor like traditionally done, on an exercise ball, with your feet elevated, or to really enhance the resistance even more, use one leg at
a time with feet elevated.
Weighted: Put your shoulders on a bench with your feet on the floor. Then, place a barbell or weight plate across your hips to add resistance. From there, you just perform the movement in the same manner as unweighted.
An important point to remember on these is to always use a full range of motion, especially at the top of the movement.
5. Kettlebell Swing
Kettlebell swings are a great exercise that works the entire posterior chain. They will really help your leg drive and pelvic tilt associated with the squat and deadlift as well.
If you have never used a kettlebell before, this exercise is going to be tricky. You will need to have someone experienced to show you how to do it.
If you can master the kettlebell swing, then you can transition to a kettlebell squat swing, which will enhance the activation of the glutes even more than just doing the swing alone.
Wrap up
All five of these exercises can be singularly added into your leg workout to help focus on the glutes. If you really want to focus on your butt, you can even group these five exercises together as your leg workout.
If you have any questions regarding any of the exercises listed or arranging them into your
workout, feel free to email me at kylehuntfitness@gmail.com and I will be happy to help you out!
Until next time, “One dream, one reality”
Kyle Hunt