What if we told you your glutes weren't only the foundation of a healthier set of legs but also part of having a strong, functional core? That's right: as important hip-stabilizer muscles, your glutes act as a crucial part of your core — the "powerhouse of your body," says Kira Stokes, creator of The Stoked Method and the KSFit app.
Training your glutes helps build major foundational strength that benefits your entire body whenever and however you move. And in case you didn't know, your glutes aren't just a singular muscle: there are actually three. "Your glutes are the largest muscle in your posterior chain and made up of three muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus," Stokes explains. "These three muscles work together to provide foundational strength for the lower body in order to perform both athletic movements and daily tasks in life."
If you suffer from lower-back pain — especially from sitting for long periods — you might need to wake up your glutes. "Strengthening your glutes can help reduce or eliminate low-back pain by providing support for your low-back muscles," Stokes explains. The gluteus medius (or side butt), specifically, is partially responsible for stabilizing your low back and pelvis when standing or walking.
Even though heavy squats, deadlifts, and weighted glute bridges are sure to build butt muscles, there are plenty of bodyweight glute exercises you can do to activate and build strength in your butt without any equipment needed. Try these 10 no-equipment glute exercises, and you'll see that you can build a powerful — and very awake — butt right at home. (And if you want to make it more challenging, you can add dumbbells, ankle weights, or a mini resistance band to all of the moves.) Incorporate them into your workouts, or do them all together for a seriously challenging at-home butt workout.
Clamshells are a favorite of Stokes. They require you to rotate your leg outward, which is done by the gluteus maximus and lots of other little stabilizer muscles.
You can do this move with ankle weights (as shown), with a mini resistance band looped about your ankles, or with just your bodyweight. No matter which variation you try, remember to keep your core engaged and try not to arch your back.
Bridges are the antithesis to sitting too much, Stokes says. "Bridging wakes your glutes right up by working into hip extension and engagement. When in doubt, bridge it out!" This marching version temporarily places all your weight on one leg, which increases the challenge. If it's too difficult, try working your way up with standard glute bridges first.
Donkey kicks are one version of all-fours glute kickbacks, a move Stokes loves for waking up your glutes. You can perform this glute exercise with ankle weights (as shown) for an added challenge or with just your bodyweight.
Curtsy lunges can be a real glute burner, especially if you add weights, but you can still wake up your butt muscles with just the bodyweight version of this glute exercise.
This combo move works your whole lower body (during the squat) and then fires up your gluteus medius, which pulls your leg sideways away from your body.
Lunges are a super-functional movement since they most closely mimic the movement pattern of walking, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). And research shows that forward lunges target the glutes much more than stationary lunges (aka split squats).
Reverse lunges are a great exercise for both your glutes and quads (the muscles on the front of your thigh).
If you don't have a resistance band, you can do this glute exercise move with just your bodyweight.
Bulgarian split squats really work your gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and quads. The higher the step you use, the more weight goes into your front foot, and the harder it will be. You can also add weights to make this glute exercise even harder.