Building strong glutes is an extremely popular goal for our clients. While there’s nothing wrong with setting fitness goals based on aesthetics, having defined glutes does so much more than make you look good; it’s a goal that the Nielsen Fitness team is happy to help with for many reasons. Solid glutes improve your posture by keeping your pelvis in a neutral position, reducing strain on your spine and promoting a more upright posture.

On top of this, your glutes provide the power and stability needed to make everyday tasks like carrying groceries, playing with kids, or maintaining balance during dynamic movements much more manageable. Strong glutes also benefit walking, climbing stairs, standing up from a chair, lifting objects, and bending down with good mechanics. This is vital for preventing strain and injury. “If you’re not already incorporating movements that target your gluteal muscles into your workouts, you’re missing out on strengthening arguably the most important muscle group in the human body” (Healthline, 2020).

Whether you’re looking to boost your strength or create a more sculpted appearance, focusing on the right exercises will help you achieve glute gains. Here are 5 of the Nielsen Fitness team’s favourite movements to target and build your glutes. (Click here to see trainer Liz demonstrate them!)

How to build your glutes

SPLIT SQUATS

Why We Love Them: Split squats engage the glutes as you lower into the squat and push through the front leg to return to standing. By keeping one foot forward, this unilateral movement places emphasis on the front leg to increase load and intensity. Split squats also challenge your balance and stability, which our in-home and virtual personal trainers love to incorporate with older adults.

How To: Start in a staggered stance with one foot forward and the other behind you. Keep your chest up and your core engaged. Lower your back knee toward the ground, creating a 90-degree angle in both knees. Push through the heel of your front foot to return to standing. To increase difficulty, you can add weight or elevate your back foot for a Bulgarian split squat.

HIP THRUSTS

Why We Love Them: “The hip thrust, or hip thruster, is a glute bridge variation, but it is performed using a barbell and with the body lifted off the floor. It targets the gluteal muscles better than many other lower-body movements” (Very Well Fit, 2024). Hip thrusts minimize quad involvement, ensuring that the glutes do the majority of the work. This is key for targeted growth. Our in-home and virtual personal trainers will often interchange this movement with a glute bridge, depending on the client.

How To: Sit on the ground with your upper back resting against a secure bench (or seat) and your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Roll a barbell (or hold dumbbells) over your hips. Drive through your heels and lift your hips toward the ceiling, squeezing your glutes at the top. Your shoulders should stay on the bench, and your body should form a straight line from knees to shoulders at the top of the movement. Lower your hips down with control, ensuring your core stays braced; don’t let your ribcage flare or your back arch. For maximum glute activation, pause and squeeze at the top of each rep.

BACK SQUATS

Why We Love Them: Back squats target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core. They’re essential for supporting activities of daily living (like sitting down and standing up) and highly effective for glute growth, as your glutes provide stabilization during the movement.

How To: Start by positioning a barbell across your upper back, gripping it with both hands and keeping your feet shoulder-width apart. With your chest up and core braced, lower your hips back and down, keeping your knees in line with your toes. Aim to descend until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, but only if you can maintain a neutral spine and upright posture. Push through your heels to return to a standing position, driving the motion with your glutes.

DEADLIFTS

Why We Love Them: Traditional deadlifts recruit the glutes to extend the hips. They’re also fantastic for developing total-body strength.

How To: Stand with feet hip-width apart and your toes under a barbell. Grip the bar with both hands just outside your knees. Keep your chest up, shoulders back, and spine neutral as you drive through your heels and push your hips forward to stand tall, squeezing your glutes at the top. Lower the bar back to the ground with control.

ROMANIAN DEADLIFTS

Why We Love Them: “There are many deadlift variations that do wonders for training your backside, but the Romanian deadlift, aka the RDL, is one of the best moves for reaping the glute-building benefits of the hip hinge. That’s because when you’re doing an RDL, the movement primarily comes from your hips” (Livestrong, 2023). Traditional deadlifts start from the floor, with the barbell being lifted from a dead stop, focusing on hip extension and involving the glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and quads. Romanian deadlifts emphasize the eccentric phase (lowering) of the lift, starting from a standing position and maintaining a micro-bend in the knee throughout. RDLs specifically target the glutes and hamstrings with less involvement from the quads compared to traditional deadlifts, which can make them even more effective for glute hypertrophy. They’re also ideal for in-home personal training, as they can be performed very easily without a barbell.

How To: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell or dumbbells in front of your thighs. Keep a slight bend in your knees, engage your core, and maintain a neutral spine. Hinge at your hips, lowering the weight slowly down the front of your legs until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings and glutes. Drive your hips forward to return to standing, squeezing your glutes at the top.

FINAL WORDS

Consistency and progressive overload are key when building your glutes. Incorporating these exercises into your routine 2-3 times a week, along with proper form and gradual increases in resistance, will help you achieve your glute-building goals. An in-home or virtual personal trainer can mix and match these movements for an effective lower-body workout that strengthens and tones your glutes over time. Contact us today for a free first workout!