Essential Glute Exercises: Strengthen, Build Muscle, and Enhance Stability - No Squats Needed!
Strengthening your glutes is essential for maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle, and you don't need a gym membership or expensive equipment to achieve this goal. Here's a list of effective exercises for training your glutes in both lengthened and shortened positions, using minimal equipment.
Essential Glute Exercises for Home Workouts
- Glute Bridges and Hip Thrusts: These exercises primarily work the glutes in a shortened, contracted position at the top of the movement. To perform a glute bridge, lie on your back with knees bent, lift your hips upward, squeezing the glutes. For hip thrusts, use a couch or sturdy surface for support and emphasize glute activation without equipment [1][3][4][2]. Single-leg variations offer variety and unilateral focus.
- Bodyweight Squats: Squats engage the glutes throughout their range, especially as the hip flexes at the bottom and extends when standing up. Maintaining proper form by pushing through the heels maximizes glute engagement [1][2].
- Lunges and Variations (Reverse, Curtsy, Side Lunges): These exercises take the glutes through an extended range in the lengthened position when lowering and in a shortened position during hip extension when pushing back to standing. They also improve balance and coordination. Variations like curtsy lunges or side lunges ensure multi-angle glute activation [1][2].
- Sumo Holds and Plie Exercises: These target the glutes with hip abduction and external rotation, emphasizing different muscle fibers and positions for overall glute development. They can be done with just bodyweight at home [2].
While these exercises can be performed with minimal or no equipment, adding resistance like a resistance band around the thighs or a dumbbell on the hips during bridges can increase intensity [2][3].
Signs of Weak Glutes
If you're experiencing difficulties climbing stairs, standing up from a chair without using hands, or getting out of bed, instability when standing on one leg, pain in the lower back, hips, or knees, and poor posture, it may be a sign of weak glutes [5].
Building Stronger Glutes
The Bulgarian split squat is one of three exercises effective for building stronger glutes [6]. To perform this exercise, set up a bench or chair behind you, stand with feet shoulder-width apart, and place one foot behind on the top of the bench. Kettlebells can be used for added balance and stability [6].
It takes between six and eight weeks to strengthen and build the glute muscles, depending on factors like how often weights are lifted, training intensity, diet, and genetics [6]. If performing the hip thrust exercise in the gym, a barbell pad is needed to protect the hip bones from bruising.
References:
[1] American Council on Exercise. (2020). The Ultimate Guide to the Bulgarian Split Squat. Retrieved from https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/professional/expert-articles/7080/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-bulgarian-split-squat/
[2] Mayo Clinic. (2021). Gluteus medius exercises: Strengthening your hips. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/multimedia/gluteus-medius-exercises/sls-20375433
[3] National Academy of Sports Medicine. (2021). Glute Bridge. Retrieved from https://www.nasm.org/fitness/exercises/glute-bridge/
[4] National Academy of Sports Medicine. (2021). Hip Thrust. Retrieved from https://www.nasm.org/fitness/exercises/hip-thrust/
[5] American Council on Exercise. (2019). 5 Signs You Have Weak Glutes. Retrieved from https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/professional/expert-articles/6994/5-signs-you-have-weak-glutes/
[6] American Council on Exercise. (2020). The Ultimate Guide to the Bulgarian Split Squat. Retrieved from https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/professional/expert-articles/7080/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-bulgarian-split-squat/
- Aiming for overall health and wellness, consider incorporating bodyweight squats, Sumo holds, and plie exercises into your home fitness-and-exercise routine to strengthen your glutes and improve balance.
- Performing exercises like glute bridges and hip thrusts, which primarily target the glutes, can help enhance beauty by firming and toning the buttocks, contributing to a more aesthetically pleasing physique.
- By focusing on diet and training intensity during the six to eight weeks it takes to strengthen your glutes, you may see improvements not only in your fitness and health, but also in your personal wellness and confidence.
- Holistic health-and-wellness enthusiasts might be interested to know that weak glutes can lead to difficulties in daily activities such as climbing stairs, standing up from a chair, and getting out of bed, which are common signs of instability in the lower body.
- Pursuing a well-rounded health-and-wellness lifestyle, explore the benefits of science-backed exercises like the Bulgarian split squat, which can help build stronger glutes and improve overall lower-body strength.
