15 Exercises for a Bigger Butt and Stronger Glutes

Strong glutes are more than just about aesthetics. Building muscle in your hips, glutes, and quads improve your stability and power as a runner, as well as in other sports. This improves your performance and reduces your risk of injury.

With these 15 bodyweight exercises, you can create your own butt workout at home for a firmer, bigger butt.

Pick 4-6 exercises from the list below
Repeat for 3-5 rounds
Do a butt workout at least 3 times a week

Exercise list: 15 best home exercises for a bigger butt and stronger glutes

1. Bridge

The Bridge is a great starting exercise. It will work your glutes,back and abs. Working on core stabilization and glute strength might even help relieve some back pain. Add a resistance band around your knees to make the exercise harder, or choose other variations below. Make sure to check these exercise mistakes before your start.

How to do a Bridge:

Lie on your back. Bend your knees and lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from knees to head. Keep your heels under your knees, not too far forward or backward. If you feel this exercise straining your back, make sure your abs are tight and you are lifting from your hips, not your chest.

2. Single Leg Bridge

The Single Leg Bridge is a more challenging variation of the Bridge.

How to do a Single Leg Bridge:

Lie on your back with your knees bent. Extend one leg. Push up with the heel of the other leg to lift yourself off the floor. Keep your hips level. If you don’t feel this in your glutes, try this: bend the extended leg and place that foot on the knee of your bottom leg. Repeat with the other leg.

Banded Butterfly Bridge

The Banded Butterfly Bridge requires good hip stability. It also is an excellent warm-up exercise for other workouts.

How to do a Banded Butterfly Bridge:

Put a resistance band around your thighs. Lie on your back with your knees bent. Lift your butt. Let your knees fall open like a butterfly flapping its wings. Lower your hips back towards the ground, but make sure they’re not touching it.

Good to know:

You can do this exercise with, or without a resistance band.

4. Lunge to High Knee

Lunge to High Knees will build muscle mass in your glutes and strengthen your core. Doing this bodyweight exercise regularly will improve balance and stability.

How to do a Lunge to High Knee:

Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart. Move one foot back and bend both knees (90 degree angle). Your rear knee should not touch the ground while bending, and your front knee should not extend past your toes. Bring your back leg and knee forward, and raise it as high as possible, keeping your front foot facing straight.

5. Lunge to Straight Leg

You shouldn’t miss doing this exercise if you want a bigger butt! Lunge variations, such as the Lunge to Straight Leg, help you effectively tone your legs and glutes.

How to do a Lunge to Straight Leg:

Step into a lunge. Bend your knees until your back knee is a few inches off the floor. At the end of this movement, your front thigh should be parallel to the floor. Press back to the starting position. Your weight should be on the heel of the front foot.

6. Fire Hydrant

The Fire Hydrant is a great exercise for an intense glute pump. Add a resistance band around your knees for more burn!

How to do a Fire Hydrant:

Start on all fours. Lift one leg up to the side. Go only as high as you can without shifting your torso to the side. Don’t arch your back, keep it stable and neutral. Initiate the movement from your glutes/hip. Repeat with the other leg.

7. Plié Squats

Here is another great muscle builder for your glutes: the Plié Squat. While the regular squat builds strength in gluteals, quads, and hamstrings, this squat variation also works your inner thighs.

How to do a Plié Squat:

Go into a squat position. Turn your toes out to the side (45 degrees). Your feet should be wider than shoulder-width apart. Now, descend into a squat position. During this movement, your weight should be on your heels. Push your weight back up and stand straight again.

8. Donkey Kicks

The Donkey Kick is a popular move for targeting the glutes. It works great when used in a superset with the Fire Hydrant for an all-around glute pump. Add a resistance band around your knees to make the exercise harder. Make sure to check these exercise mistakes before your start.

How to do Donkey Kicks:

Get on all fours. Lift one heel up towards the ceiling while keeping your knee bent. Don’t arch your back to lift your leg up – initiate the movement from your hips/glutes. It’s all about activating your glute to lift your leg, not about lifting your foot as high as possible. Repeat with the other leg.

9. Pistol Squats

Are you ready to bring your squats to a whole new level? Then the Pistol Squat is for you!

How to do Pistol Squats:

Stand on one foot. Extend the opposite leg in front of you. Engage your core, bend your knee and lower into a squat. Hold your arms straight in front of you to keep your balance. Push back into a standing position.

10. Curtsy Lunges

With Curtsy Lunges, you can feel your glutes working!

How to do Curtsy Lunges:

Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Take a step back to the side so that the back leg crosses behind your front leg while your hips still face forward. Keep the weight mainly on the front leg. Push the front foot’s heel to the ground to get back up. Repeat on the other side.

11. Side Lunges

Apart from working your front thighs and glutes, Side Lunges add some extra work for your inner and outer thighs.

How to do Side Lunges:

Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Lift one leg and step to the side, while pushing your hips back. Keep your knee pointing straight ahead in the direction of your toes. The other leg stretches out, with the foot planted on the floor. Push off from the floor with the heel of the bent leg to lift yourself up. Repeat on the other side.

12. Backward Lunges

Compared to the Forward Lunge, the torso angle in the backward variation activates your glutes more and puts less stress on your knees.

How to do Backward Lunges:

Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Step back with one foot until your front knee is bent at about 90 degrees. A slight forward lean at the torso will emphasize the glute work, but don’t lean too far forward. Push off from the floor with the front heel to get back up. Repeat on the other side.

13. Hip Abduction

Great isolation exercise for extra work on your side glutes. Add a resistance band around your ankles to make it harder.

How to do a Hip Abduction:

Stand tall with one hand holding onto something for support. Lift one leg away from your body, with your toes pointed forward, not up. Initiate the movement from your hips, not by leaning your torso to the side. Try moving the leg a little bit backward or leaning slightly forward to see if it helps you feel your glutes working more.

14. Single Leg Deadlift

Glutes, lower back, and single leg stability all in one – Single Leg Deadlift is one of those exercises that should be done slowly to get the most out of it. If it feels easy, try doing it with your hands on your waist, and check that your heel is lifted all the way up to the same level as your hips. If this is hard, start lower and move it up over time.

How to do a Single Leg Deadlift:

Stand on one leg with the other leg slightly bent. Bend the knee of the standing leg and push your hips back, bending at the waist, to lean your upper body towards the ground. Use your hips to get back up to the starting position. Your goal is to stay stable throughout the whole movement. If you’re feeling very wobbly, hold on to something for support and reduce the range of motion.

15. Kneel & Stand

This advanced move will target your glutes and improve your balance while keeping your heart rate up.

How to do a Kneel & Stand:

Kneel on the floor. Now step into a half kneel with one knee up. Push off the floor with the heel of the front leg and bring the other leg up. Kneel back down with one leg first, followed by the other. Repeat on the other side.

Are butt exercises without weights effective?

These butt exercises give you a good foundation for shaping your glutes and building a bigger butt without weights. Stay consistent and really feel your glutes burn after each workout. If you have dumbbells, a resistance band, kettlebells, or similar equipment, make sure to include them, too. Muscle building is based on progressive overload, so you need to keep it challenging!

Ready to start working on strong glutes and a bigger butt?

You can find most of these exercises with detailed video instructions in the adidas Training app along with a 12-week bodyweight workout plan you can do at home.

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