Wondering how to get a bigger butt? Strong and shapely, not flabby? You’ll need to work your glutes.
It’s one thing to have shredded abs, a big chest, and sleeve-splitting arms, but building a bigger butt brings the whole package together. Aesthetics are just one of the many benefits associated with having a bigger butt. Strong, powerful glutes can help improve balance, posture, and function, leading to an overall healthier life.
The glutes are one of the largest and most powerful muscle groups in the human body. They play a critical role in several athletic movements, including jumping, sprinting, swimming, and squatting.
Many lower-body exercises you already do help build a bigger, rounder, stronger butt. Below, we explain the best booty-building, strength-training exercises to help develop your glutes.
The glutes are a group of muscles consisting of the gluteus maximus, gluteus minimus, and gluteus medius. These muscles are posterior and lateral to the pelvis and play a major role in hip movement. So if you’re wondering how to get a bigger butt, it starts with targeting these muscles.
Each of these three muscles serves its own purpose yet works in tandem to mobilize and stabilize your core and lower body. In other words, your glutes are crucial for spine and leg function, forming the foundation of strength and mobility. And, a round bottom looks great.
You need functional glute muscles to perform nearly any exercise — even those that don’t appear to be “glute exercises.” Strong butt muscles are necessary for the following movements:
Glute exercises are an important component of any training program. Unfortunately, desk jobs and spending long hours sitting cause many of us to neglect our glutes. Over time, this leads to lower back issues, poor posture, and weak gluteal muscles.
Therefore, it’s increasingly important to train your glutes. Getting a bigger butt is just your reward for those hours spent in the gym.
Building a bigger, stronger butt starts with training your glutes. Perform these five butt exercises to help work your posterior chain and ultimately shape your butt.
Please note: We offer at-home instructions for each of the below exercises with bodyweight and resistance bands options. If you have access to gym equipment, you may perform these exercises with a set of dumbbells, kettlebells, or a barbell for added resistance.
Make it a glute workout: To transform these exercises into a butt workout, perform 20 reps of each exercise (for single-leg exercises, perform 10 reps on each side or 20 reps altogether). Perform one set of each exercise before beginning the next exercise. Perform 2-3 rounds of the entire circuit.
1. Banded Hip Thrusts and Glute Bridges
You can’t build a bigger butt if your glutes aren’t activated. In fact, weak glute activation is the number one reason people don’t see results in their glutes. Plus, weak glutes can lead to a number of injuries in your hips, knees, calves, and Achilles [1].
If you have trouble activating your glutes, we recommend beginning with glute activation exercises, like glute bridges and clamshells (described below) before moving to heavy lifts, like squats and deadlifts. These exercises help signal to your glutes that it’s time to work.
Hip thrusts and glute bridges are almost the same movement with a different starting position. In a glute bridge, you begin laying flat against the floor, while in a hip thrust your back rests against an elevated surface, such as a Bosu ball, bench, or box. In both cases, keep your knees bent with your feet flat on the floor. Wrap a mini band 1-2 inches above your knees, around your quadriceps.
From there, you’ll follow the same steps for both glute bridges and hip thrusts:
Clamshells are a hip abduction exercise that can be done anywhere. Like glute bridges and hip thrusts, we recommend performing clamshells at the beginning of your workout to help fire your glutes.
To perform a banded clamshell, wrap a mini band 1-2 inches above your knees, around both thighs. From there, keep the following cues in mind:
3. Resistance Band Deadlifts
Deadlifts are a compound exercise — meaning, they recruit a number of muscles every repetition. Unfortunately, many athletes perform deadlifts the wrong way, which can lead to lower back pain.
To perform deadlifts the right way — and help build a bigger butt — keep the following tips in mind:
4. Resistance Band Squats
Squats, like deadlifts, are a total body movement. Bodyweight and resistance band squats can be done anytime, anywhere — making it an incredibly flexible exercise. If resistance band squats become too easy, add a pulse to the movement, switch to single-leg squats, or try to perform squats on an unstable surface (like a Bosu ball).
To perform a resistance band squat:
Glute kickbacks are an effective exercise to target your glutes. While you can perform this exercise by using a weighted machine or cable pulley, the most practical approach is to use a mini-band.
Wrap a mini-band just above your ankles, around both calves. From there, do the following:
If you’re wondering how to get a bigger butt, the answer lies in glute exercises and high-quality protein.
Your glutes are one of the largest, strongest, and most important muscle groups in your body. To build stronger glutes, warm-up for each lower-body circuit with glute activation exercises like clamshells and glute bridges. Next, move onto your heavy lifts, such as deadlifts and squats.
While lifting heavy weights will certainly help strengthen your glutes, you can also get a great butt workout with resistance bands. Plus, resistance band workouts are convenient since you can perform them from the comfort of your home or while traveling.
On a final note, remember that nutrition plays a huge role in sculpting your glutes. To see the best results, be sure to consume high-quality protein, like Transparent Labs Whey Protein Powder, within 30 minutes after you finish your glute workout.
Elliot Reimers, M.S.(C), CISSN, CNC
Author
Elliot holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Minnesota, as well as being a Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN) and Certified Nutrition Coach (CNC). He is currently pursuing a Master's of Science in Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology at Michigan State University. Elliot began freelance writing circa 2012 and has since written 100s of articles and several eBooks pertaining to nutritional science, dietary supplements, exercise physiology, and health/wellness. Being a “science whiz,” he has a passion for helping people understand how nutrients (and other chemicals) and exercise work on a cellular and molecular level so they can make smarter choices about what they put in, and do with, their bodies. When Elliot is not busy writing or studying, you can find him pumping iron, hiking the mountains of beautiful Colorado, or perusing nutraceutical research.