Learn how to grow your glutes with the BEST exercises! Plus, learn everything you need to know about Gluteal Amnesia!
Be sure to also check out our Hip Resilience Program!
Glute Anatomy & Function
The glutes consist of 3 muscles – the gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus.
The gluteus maximus, the most visible of the three, is the largest muscle in the human body. It’s often categorized into upper and lower portions based on its diverging attachments to the IT band and femur. Although the muscle actions of the gluteus maximus can vary based on the position of the hip, it’s typically considered to have 4 primary functions:
1. Hip extension, which involves straightening of the hip, such as when rising up from the bottom of a squat or performing a cable kickback.
2. Hip abduction, which involves kicking the leg out to the side, such as in standing or side lying.
3. Hip external rotation, which involves rotating the leg outward. This muscle action is often trained in combination with hip extension and hip abduction.
4. Posterior pelvic tilt, which involves “tucking your tail”, such as when squeezing your glutes at the top of a hip thrust or 45 degree hip extension exercise.
The gluteus medius is a much smaller, fan-shaped muscle that attaches to the side of the hip. It primarily acts to abduct the hip in a non-weight bearing position and stabilizes the pelvis when standing on a single leg.
The gluteus minimus, as the name suggests, is even smaller and lies underneath the gluteus medius.
Common Training Mistakes
When it comes to training the glutes, people tend to make 5 common mistakes. The first 3 mistakes relate to exercise selection, technique, and overemphasizing the importance of sensation.
A recent study comparing barbell squats to hip thrusts found that participants performing the hip thrusts felt their glutes working more, but that increased sensation didn’t result in greater muscle growth or gains in strength. Similarly, despite popular belief, EMG doesn’t predict long-term changes in strength or hypertrophy.
To maximize the development of the upper gluteus maximus, lower gluteus maximus, and the gluteus medius, a well-rounded program needs to include exercises involving hip extension, hip abduction, and hip external rotation while using proper technique.
Let me show you the five categories of exercises you should be doing and how to execute them correctly, while not putting too much focus on what you’re feeling in the moment.
Squats, Lunges, Split Squats, and Step Ups
The first category includes squats, lunges, split squats, step ups, and any other exercise that involves simultaneous hip and knee extension, such as a leg press.
To emphasize the glutes, aim for deep hip flexion and some degree of forward trunk lean while maintaining a relatively flat low back. Combining these cues ensures that you are fully stretching the glute max in the bottom position and distributing the external load in such a way that challenges your glutes more than your quads.
For example, a heels elevated goblet squat places a greater emphasis on your quads while a low bar back squat places a greater emphasis on your glutes because of the angles of your torso and knee, and the location of the weight relative to your hip.
Since your anatomy and range of motion can influence what your barbell back squat looks like, a rear foot elevated split squat is an excellent alternative as you’re able to better control each individual joint position. Strive for full hip flexion and a forward trunk lean, but don’t exaggerate either to the point that you sacrifice your overall technique.
If that is too difficult, perform a regular split squat. If you want to increase the difficulty, try a deficit rear foot elevated split squat.
For any variation, you can use a barbell, dumbbells in both hands, or a dumbbell in one hand. If using a dumbbell in one hand, you can hold onto something for balance if needed.
An exercise similar to the rear foot elevated split squat is the front foot elevated reverse lunge. Step back, drop your back knee to the floor, and then return to the starting position in one continuous motion.
When you drop your back knee to the floor, your front shin should be relatively vertical and your torso angled forward, like the previous movements. If your step back is too short, you’ll move through more knee flexion and place a greater emphasis on the quads.
Start with a 2-4 inch elevation and increase the height if needed. If the exercise is too difficult with the front foot elevated, just do a regular reverse lunge on flat ground.
Once again, you can use a barbell, dumbbells in both hands, or a dumbbell in one hand. If using a dumbbell in one hand, you can hold onto something for balance if needed.
A variation of the reverse lunge commonly used to target the glutes is a curtsy lunge, which involves stepping back and across your midline.
The idea is that your hip is flexed, adducted, and internally rotated at the bottom and therefore requires active hip extension, abduction, and external rotation to stand back up.
If you choose to attempt this lunge variation, you don’t have to step as far across midline as often demonstrated.
You can also try to rotate your torso and pelvis toward your working leg to achieve a similar effect.
Regardless of which movements you choose to perform, there are 2 main advantages of this exercise category:
- The glute max is challenged in a stretched position, which may favor hypertrophy as it does in other muscle groups. However, as of right now, no research has been conducted on the glutes.
- Not only are you improving the strength and size of your glutes, you are also improving the strength and size of your quads and adductors.
If the goal is purely hypertrophy, the 1 potential limitation is that the quads often fatigue prior to the glutes.If the glutes are not the muscles approaching failure with each set, this may limit the stimulus for muscle growth. An example in the upper body would be using chin-ups to grow your back muscles, but your biceps always fatiguing first. Your back will grow, but additional exercises may be necessary to maximize growth.
Deadlift and Hinge Variations
The second category includes deadlifts and other similar hinge variations, such as good mornings.
One of the best choices here is the Romanian Deadlift, or RDL. Unlike the conventional deadlift that starts from the floor, an RDL starts in standing.
Whether you’re using a barbell or dumbbells, push your butt back and slowly lower the weight down while keeping the weight close to your shins
You’ll strive to achieve as much hip flexion as possible while keeping your low back relatively flat. You also want a slight bend in your knees. If you keep your legs too straight, you’ll put a greater emphasis on your hamstrings.
The unilateral variation of this is a single leg RDL, which can be done with a barbell, dumbbells, or dumbbell in one hand. Just like before, hold onto something for balance if needed. A benefit of the single leg RDL, especially when using one dumbbell, is that you can add a slight rotation at the bottom of the movement to increase the stretch on the glutes.
The advantages and disadvantages of these exercises are similar to the last category except instead of the quads being the limiting factor, your hamstrings and low back may fatigue first.
Bridges, Hip Thrusts, and 45 Degree Hip Extensions
The third category includes the most popular glute exercise, the hip thrust, as well as bridges and 45 degree hip extensions.
The difference between this category and the previous categories is that the glutes are being challenged in their maximally shortened position, which is where they have their best leverage.
Barbell hip thrusts can be performed with your upper body supported on a bench or box.
Since the focus of this exercise is the glutes, try to minimize excessive bending or arching of the lumbar spine. At the top of the movement when you’re squeezing your glutes the hardest, your knees should be at roughly 90 degree angles.
If your knees are too bent, you’ll feel a large stretch in your quads. If your knees are too straight, you’ll feel your hamstrings working more.
Your feet can be positioned around hip width apart while facing forward or slightly outward.
Since barbell hip thrusts can be time consuming to set up or uncomfortable to perform for some people, single leg hip thrusts are another option. These can be done with bodyweight or with weight.
Bridges, which are done on flat ground, are an alternative to hip thrusts.
If you find that you slide upward with double leg bridges, you’ll have to place something above your shoulders to keep you from moving.
You can use your hands overhead during single leg bridges.
The 45 degree hip extension is the last exercise I’m going to present in this category. The pad should be low enough that you can move from your hips.
You can keep your low back rounded or flat, but try to minimize movement of the lumbar spine as you’re performing the exercise.
Lastly, your feet can be straight or slightly turned out.
For added resistance, use a dumbbell, plate, or band.
Although these exercises don’t train the glutes in isolation, there’s a better chance that your glutes will fatigue first, especially with the hip thrusts and bridges.
Kickbacks
The fourth category includes single leg hip extension exercises with your foot in the air. Most of these options are referred to as kickbacks.
Whether the glute max is challenged most in its lengthened or shortened position depends on the range of motion and type of resistance used. Although the benefits are similar to the previous 3 categories of hip extension exercises, these movements can be useful for trying to isolate the hip extension action of the glutes without overly fatiguing other aspects of the body. To increase glute max activation and limit contribution from the hamstrings, use a bent knee when possible.
Some gyms have machines designed specifically for glute kickbacks like the one being shown here.
If you don’t have access to machines, you can do kickbacks in standing with a cable attached to your ankle.
You can also do them in quadruped with a dumbbell, ankle weight, resistance band, cable column, or smith machine.
Hip Abduction and External Rotation
Up to this point, I’ve only discussed exercises that train the hip extension action of the glutes. The recent study I mentioned in the beginning comparing hip thrusts to back squats demonstrated that both exercises lead to significant growth of the gluteus maximus. However, the lower portion of the glute max grew nearly twice as much as the upper portion. Additionally, there was very little growth of the gluteus medius and minimus.
Therefore, to fully maximize the development of the glutes, exercise selection should also include movements that involve hip abduction and external rotation. Hip abduction will be the primary motion for most of these exercises with hip external rotation as a secondary action. Some exercises will include hip extension, abduction, and external rotation.
Just like I didn’t cover every possible exercise for the previous categories, I can’t do that here even if I tried because the options are limitless.
Hip abduction can be performed in side lying on flat ground or on a bench to increase the range of motion. For added resistance, use an ankle weight, weight plate, or bands. Keep the hip neutral or in slight internal rotation.
Another side lying option is the side plank clamshell in which both hips are moving into relative hip extension, abduction, and external rotation.
An even harder exercise is the elevated side plank thruster using a single leg.
In standing, you can do side steps with a band around your knees or you can use a cable attached to your ankle.
With a cable, you can kick straight out into abduction or incorporate elements of hip extension and external rotation. As long as you’re moving from relative hip adduction and/or flexion into relative abduction and/or extension for any of these exercises, you’ll probably be okay.
Some gyms have machines designed for standing hip abduction, such as the multi-hip, or you can make a machine work for hip abduction like I’m doing here with this glute kickback machine.
Seated hip abduction can be performed using a machine or with a band around your knees.
It’s also important to point out that lateral step downs, step ups, single leg deadlifts, and other similar exercises train the hip abductors because these muscles help control the position of the pelvis when standing on a single leg.
Hip drops, a common exercise prescribed in physical therapy clinics, involves dropping and lifting the pelvis by relaxing and contracting the glutes of the standing leg.
Two other exercises often seen in the rehab setting are quadruped and standing fire hydrants with a band around the knees. The goal is to maximally contract the glutes by moving into extension, abduction, and external rotation simultaneously.
Programming and Intensity/Effort
Earlier I stated that when it comes to training the glutes, people tend to make 5 common mistakes. The first 3 mistakes were related to exercise selection, technique, and overemphasizing the importance of sensation. The second to last training mistake relates to programming.
To optimize development of the glutes, you need a comprehensive program that includes at least one exercise that trains the glutes at a long muscle length like squats or deadlifts, one exercise that trains the glutes at a short muscle length like hip thrusts or bridges, and one exercise that has a hip abduction component.
If you trained your legs 2 days per week and took the exercise categories from this blog at face value, your program might look something like this:
If you just wanted to develop your legs in general without worrying about some of the redundancy in exercise selection in the previous example, your program might look like this:
But some people may want an additional training day dedicated to their glutes that isn’t too fatiguing on the rest of their body, so they may include a Saturday that looks like this:
As you can see, there are unlimited possibilities. How often you train, how many sets you do per week, and the number of exercises you choose to perform per session will depend on your training experience, goals, and other factors.
Part of good programming is getting the most out of the least effort. People often do the opposite by trying to do as much as possible as quickly as possible, but change takes time. Start with fewer exercises and less sets per week and gradually do more, only as needed.
Part of this concept of doing more over time, often referred to as progressive overload, ties into the last training mistake, which relates to your intensity or effort. It’s not uncommon for people to primarily focus on the “burn” or the “pump” by only doing high repetition sets with short rest periods. This is fine in some scenarios, like toward the end of your workouts, but it helps to know that you’re getting stronger by doing more repetitions and adding more weight over time.
Most exercises can be performed in the 6 to 20 rep range. If you’re doing heavy, compound movements, such as squats and RDLs, you might stick to the lower end of that repetition range. On the other hand, if you’re doing isolation exercises, such as kickback and hip abduction variations, it’s okay to work toward the higher end of that repetition range. The main goal is that you’re pushing to failure, or a few reps shy of failure, on most exercises and getting stronger over months and years. If you do perform really high rep ranges, just know that you probably have to push beyond discomfort because that initial burn is likely when each repetition becomes more valuable for growth.
And I’m going to contradict myself a little here, but if you’re using the right exercise selection, technique, programming, and effort, it is okay to consider what you’re feeling during an exercise or after a workout with regards to delayed onset muscle soreness to help individualize your training. The sensations just shouldn’t guide everything you do. As long as you have a solid foundation in place, variations in anatomy, differences in preferences, and other related factors might mean your training isn’t identical to your favorite influencer.
The only other thing I haven’t mentioned is the speed of exercises. It can be useful to start with a slow, steady tempo on most movements while including a slight pause at the bottom of squat and deadlift variations and at the top of hip thrust and bridge variations.
Do You Need To Worry About Gluteal Amnesia?
What about gluteal amnesia? Do you need to worry about it?
No, and I’ll give you 5 reasons why:
- The participants in glute training studies are untrained subjects, often students who probably sit most of the day, yet they have no difficulty growing their glutes and increasing their strength using basic training protocols. You don’t need to do daily activation drills.
- Sitting doesn’t turn off your glutes. If you’re sedentary and sit a lot, it makes rational sense that, on average, your glutes will probably be weaker and smaller than individuals who are more active. The solution? Sit less and exercise more.
- Sitting doesn’t cause anterior pelvic tilt, anterior pelvic tilt isn’t related to your hip extension range of motion, statically or dynamically, and anterior pelvic tilt isn’t correlated with your glute strength. There’s no harm in stretching your hip flexors, but it’s not required to train your glutes.
- If you don’t feel your glutes during a 5 second single leg bridge, that’s okay. You either need to modify your technique or the exercise isn’t hard enough to warrant you feeling your glutes working. Plus, I’ve already mentioned that you don’t need to put too much stock in short-term sensations.
- People experiencing pain may have weak glutes, but it doesn’t mean their weak glutes caused their pain. It’s a chicken or egg scenario. And pain doesn’t necessarily decrease the activity of the glutes. In fact, it can increase the activity of the glutes, likely as a way to compensate for any weakness. In either case, you can still train your glutes.
Once again, you don’t have to worry about gluteal amnesia. Your glutes aren’t asleep. Whether your goals are related to rehab, muscle growth, strength, or something else, there’s plenty of good reasons to train your glutes. Just perform the appropriate exercises without worrying about made-up diagnoses or problems.
Summary
In summary, the glutes consist of 3 muscles – the gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus. Together, they contribute to 4 primary motions: hip extension, hip abduction, hip external rotation, and posterior pelvic tilt.
If you want to maximize the development of your glutes, you should incorporate these five categories of exercises:
- Squats, Lunges, Split Squats, Step Ups (and other similar exercises)
- Deadlift and Hinge Variations
- Bridges, Hip Thrusts, & 45 Degree Hip Extensions
- Kickback Variations
- Hip Abduction & External Rotation Exercises
Don’t overemphasize the importance of what you’re feeling in the moment when performing these movements. If you’re training at least 2 to 3 times per week, focusing on good technique, and prioritizing progressive overload, you’re on your way to reaching your goals.
And if you’ve been concerned about gluteal amnesia, don’t be. You don’t need to do anything special. Just follow the guidelines in this blog.
Do you want a structured plan that’s going to provide you with the knowledge and tools to feel more confident, capable, and resilient than ever before?
Check out our Hip Resilience Program!
Want to learn more? Check out some of our other similar blogs:
Gluteal Tendinopathy, Gluteus Medius Training, Return To Sport Rehab
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