Exercises For Glutes – The Workouts That Kick Butt:

I’ve compiled a list of the best exercises for glutes that you can mix and match to get the summer butt you’ve been wanting within the first couple months of the year!

Glute Bridge:

Lie down flat on your back with your legs bent at the knees and your feet firmly planted on the ground. Lift/push your hips up towards the ceiling, while squeezing your glutes. Hold it for a moment, before lowering your hips to just a few inches off the group (not letting your butt touch the floor), and repeat.

Challenge Yourself: Add weights or a medicine ball, strategically placed on your lower stomach/pelvis to add resistance.

Single Leg Glute Bridge:

Lie down flat on your back with your legs bent at the knees and your feet firmly planted on the ground. Extend one leg out straight, and then lift/push your hips up towards the ceiling, while squeezing your glutes. Hold it for a moment, before lowering your hips to just a few inches off the group (not letting your leg or butt touch the floor), and repeat.

Challenge Yourself: Add weights or a medicine ball, strategically placed on your lower stomach/pelvis to add resistance.

Rainbows:

Get down on all fours, with your knees hip-width apart, and your shoulders positioned over your wrists. Extend your right leg out with your toe pointed and touching the ground. Lift it up towards the ceiling, squeezing your glute and place back on the ground. Lift it again, and arc it inwards, approximately a foot away from your supporting leg. Lift the leg again, squeezing your glutes, and arc it back up and over to the outer side of your body, approximately a foot away from where you started. Lift it up and arc it back to be beside your supporting leg, and repeat. Think of it as drawing rainbows with your toes.

Challenge Yourself: add resistance bands!

Fire Hydrants:

While it doesn’t sound like the most appealing exercise, it works! Start on all fours, with your legs hip-width apart, and shoulders in line with your wrists. While your leg remains at a 90 degree angle, lift your left leg out sideways until its up to hip height, then extend it straight out sideways. Bend the knee to and tilt it to bring it back to the starting position.

Challenge Yourself: add resistance bands or ankle weights!

Bear Plank Leg Lifts:

Get into a normal plank position (your body should be in a straight line between your head and heels), so your shoulders are positioned directly above your hands. Bend your right leg so it is 90 degrees and flex your foot, before bringing it (foot first) towards your butt. Make sure you keep your glutes squeezed, foot flexed, and bring your heel up toward the sky as high as you can, holding momentarily, before bringing it back to the ground, and repeat.

Challenge Yourself: add resistance bands or ankle weights!

Heel Sky Raise:

Start on knees and elbows, and put one of your legs straight out behind you with a flexed foot. Slowly lower this leg to the ground, and raise this leg so it’s inline with your body and butt, but no higher. Keep it tight and controlled so you isolate your glutes, and repeat.

Challenge Yourself: add resistance bands or ankle weights!

Mountain Climbers:

This exercise for glutes has you start in a push-up position, with your hands shoulder-width apart, and feet hip-width apart. Making sure your hips don’t rotate too much, drive one knee inwards, as high as you can, towards your chest and shoulders. Switch up legs each time, and repeat.

Challenge Yourself: Speed up, or balance your upper body on kettlebells/weights, a BOSU or medicine ball.

Lower Half Lunge:

With the best posture, including shoulders back, and stomach tucked in, get into a normal lunge position. From there, bring your right knee off the ground until you are approximately half way up, before lowering yourself back down. Repeat. This exercise doesn’t give your glutes any rest time, so pulsing for 10-15 reps will have you feeling the burn.

Challenge Yourself: Hold weights with each hand.

Bottle Top:

Lie on your stomach, with your hands flat on the ground, tucked under your chin. keep your feet flexed and side by side. Now picture lifting one leg up and over your favorite bottle of wine 🙂 and back to the starting position. Make sure you squeeze your glutes to maximize the effort.

Challenge Yourself: Add ankle weights for added resistance.

Reverse Lunge Knee Drives:

Start in a normal standing position, with your feet casually planted a hip-width distance apart. Take your right leg and move it backwards in a lunging motion, letting your knee drop almost down to the floor, (or however deep is comfortable for you). Next, use the strength of your front leg to straighten it, while driving your back leg upwards, letting it go as high as you can, while raising yourself up onto your toe on your remaining leg.

Single Leg Ballet Kicks:

While standing with your back straight, shoulders back, and stomach tucked and engaged, slowly bring one hand down to touch the opposite side’s toe, while raising the other leg up as high as you can, and repeat.

Challenge Yourself: Use resistance bands to add extra force.