The 10 Best Exercises for Bigger Glutes for Women and Men
Want to build bigger glutes in the gym? I’ll guide you through 10 of the best exercises for bigger glutes. Each exercise comes with an instructional GIF and clear, easy-to-follow explanations. So even if you're a complete beginner, you'll have everything you need to get started. Let's begin!
1. Barbell Squats
Place the barbell securely on your upper back, resting it on your traps, not your neck. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned out. Engage your core, keep your chest up, and lower yourself by bending at the hips and knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Drive through your heels to return to the standing position. Make sure your knees track over your toes throughout the movement.
Glute Tip: To emphasize your glutes more, slightly widen your stance, focus on pushing through your heels as you rise and squeeze the glutes on top.
2. Machine Squats
Position yourself under the shoulder pads of the squat machine. Set your feet slightly forward and shoulder-width apart. Lower yourself until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground, then press through your heels to return to the starting position. Keep your spine neutral and avoid locking out your knees.
Glute Tip: Pushing through the heels and leaning slightly forward can increase glute activation over quads. Squeeze the glutes on top for maximum tension.
3. Dumbbell Goblet Squat
Hold a dumbbell vertically close to your chest with both hands, elbows pointing down. Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart. Squat down by pushing your hips back and bending your knees. Lower yourself until your elbows almost touch your knees, then rise back up by pressing through your heels.
Glute Tip: Keep the dumbbell close to maintain balance, go deep in the squat to maximize glute stretch and squeeze the glutes on top for strong contraction.
4. Smith Machine Squats
Place the bar on your upper back while standing inside the Smith machine. Position your feet slightly forward of your hips. Lower your body until your thighs are parallel with the floor, then push through your heels to stand back up and squeeze the glutes on top.
Glute Tip: A wider stance and placing feet further in front of you increases glute involvement and minimizes quad dominance.
5. Stiff Leg Deadlift
Hold a barbell or dumbbells with a shoulder-width grip. Stand tall, feet hip-width apart, and keep a slight bend in your knees. Hinge at the hips to lower the weights toward the floor while keeping your back flat. Stop when you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, then return to standing by thrusting your hips forward.
Glute Tip: Focus on a slow eccentric (lowering) phase and squeeze your glutes at the top for maximum activation.
6. Dumbbell Lunges
Hold a dumbbell in each hand by your sides. Step forward with one leg and lower your hips until both knees are bent at about 90 degrees. The back knee should hover just above the ground. Push back through your front heel to return to standing. Alternate legs.
Glute Tip: Lean slightly forward and focus on pushing off the heel of your front foot to better target the glutes. Maintaining a controlled, steady pace rather than rushing improves muscle engagement and stability.
7. Barbell Lunges
Position a barbell securely on your upper back, resting it on your traps, not on your neck. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Step forward with one leg, lowering your body until both knees are bent at about 90 degrees. Your back knee should hover just above the floor, and your front knee should stay in line with your toes. Push through the heel of your front foot to return to the starting position, then alternate legs or perform all reps on one side before switching. Keep your torso upright and core engaged throughout the movement.
Glute Tip: Take slightly longer steps to increase glute activation, as this creates more hip flexion and stretches the glutes more during the lowering phase. Focus on driving through the heel of the front foot and avoid pushing off the back leg to fully engage the working glute.
8. Abductor Machine
Sit down on the abductor machine with your back against the pad and feet flat on the footrests. Press your legs outward against the resistance, focusing on squeezing your outer glutes. Slowly return to the starting position.
Glute Tip: Slightly lean forward during the movement to shift more tension onto the gluteus medius rather than the hip flexors.
9. Barbell Hip Thrust
Sit on the floor with your upper back against a bench and a loaded barbell over your hips. Roll the bar over your hips and plant your feet flat on the floor. Drive through your heels to lift your hips until your torso is parallel with the floor. Pause and squeeze your glutes at the top, then lower back down.
Glute Tip: This is one of the best exercises for glute growth. Ensure full lockout at the top and control the descent for maximum time under tension.
10. Barbell Deadlift
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and grip the bar just outside your knees. With a flat back and braced core, lift the bar by pushing through your heels and extending your hips and knees simultaneously. At the top, lock out your hips fully without overextending. Lower the bar in a controlled manner.
Glute Tip: Focus on hip drive, squeezing the glutes hard at the top. Deadlifts are a powerful posterior chain builder when done with proper form.
Tips to Grow Bigger Glutes Fast
To grow bigger glutes quickly, the most important factor is following a structured strength training program that targets all three glute muscles: the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. Focus on compound lifts such as barbell hip thrusts, squats, deadlifts, and lunges, which engage large muscle groups and promote hypertrophy (muscle growth). Aim to train glutes at least 2 to 3 times per week with enough volume, generally around 12–20 sets per week, using a mix of heavy compound lifts (6–10 reps) and lighter isolation exercises (12–20 reps).
Progressive overload is crucial. This means gradually increasing the weight, reps, or difficulty of your exercises over time. Without this, your glutes won't be continually challenged, and growth will stall. Along with resistance, the mind-muscle connection, actively focusing on squeezing and controlling your glutes during each movement, is proven to enhance muscle activation and can accelerate results. Also, don’t skip single-leg exercises like lunges, they’re great for fixing imbalances and targeting glutes more deeply.
Finally, nutrition and recovery are just as important as training. You need to eat in a slight caloric surplus with enough protein intake (1.6–2.2g per kg of body weight) to fuel muscle growth. Adequate sleep (7 to 9 hours per night) and rest days will allow your body to repair and build stronger muscles. Combining consistent training, proper nutrition, and recovery habits can significantly speed up glute development.
Is the Approach for Bigger Glutes the Same for Women as for Men?
Yes, the fundamental approach to building bigger glutes is essentially the same for both women and men. Both genders need to engage in progressive resistance training targeting the glute muscles through a mix of compound and isolation movements. The science of muscle hypertrophy doesn't differ between sexes. The same training principles apply when it comes to volume, intensity, frequency, and exercise selection.
However, there can be slight differences in focus and goals. Many women tend to prioritize glute development more for aesthetic purposes, often incorporating more glute-isolation movements like cable kickbacks or banded abductions. Men, on the other hand, might already be doing more compound lifts like squats and deadlifts as part of a general strength program, which indirectly target the glutes. Both should ideally combine compound lifts for overall growth and isolation work for sculpting and full glute activation.
Another difference is that women may handle slightly higher training volumes and recover faster between sets, due to hormonal and neuromuscular differences. This means that, in some cases, women might benefit from slightly higher rep ranges or more frequent glute training sessions. Regardless of gender, the most effective approach is to build a personalized program that ensures full glute engagement, addresses any weaknesses, and emphasizes steady progression over time.
Does Genetics Play a Big Part in Growing Bigger Glutes?
Yes, genetics does play a role in your natural glute size, shape, and how easily you can grow muscle in that area, but it’s not the whole story. Some people are genetically predisposed to store more fat or muscle mass in the glute area, or they may have a favorable pelvic and hip structure that makes the glutes appear fuller. Muscle fiber composition also varies from person to person. Those with a higher percentage of type II (fast-twitch) muscle fibers often build size more easily through resistance training.
However, genetics is not destiny. Even if you weren’t born with naturally large glutes, you can still build and significantly improve their size and shape with consistent, smart training. In fact, glutes are among the most responsive muscle groups to training, especially when you combine heavy loading, proper form, and targeted isolation work. Your training effort, discipline, and consistency can outweigh any genetic limitations over time.
If someone feels their genetics are holding them back, it may simply require more time, volume, or exercise variety to stimulate noticeable growth. The key is to stay patient, monitor progress (like tracking strength gains or taking progress photos), and stay committed. Genetics may affect your starting point, but your effort determines the outcome.
How to Get Bigger Glutes If You Train at Home?
You can absolutely build bigger glutes from home, even without access to heavy gym equipment. It just takes a strategic approach with the right exercises, intensity, and consistency. The key is to focus on bodyweight movements, resistance bands, dumbbells or kettlebells (if available), and progressive overload through increased reps, slower tempo, or added resistance. Great home-based glute exercises include glute bridges, single-leg hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats, step-ups, frog pumps, donkey kicks, and resistance band kickbacks.
One of the most effective ways to grow glutes at home is to use time under tension. For example, slow down the lowering phase of a glute bridge or pause at the peak of a hip thrust for a deep glute squeeze. You can also increase intensity through higher reps (15–25), short rest periods, and using isometric holds. If you have access to mini bands or long resistance bands, you can replicate many gym movements with excellent glute activation, especially for abductions, kickbacks, and even modified squats.
Even without weights, consistency and challenge are what drive results. Train your glutes 3 to 4 times per week at home, progressively increase difficulty, and make sure you’re hitting all areas of the glutes. Add variety to prevent plateaus and always focus on mind-muscle connection. Really feeling your glutes do the work. While results might come slower without heavy external loads, home training can still transform your glutes with the right programming and discipline.
How Many Times Per Week Should You Train Glutes for Maximum Growth?
For maximum glute growth, training them 2 to 3 times per week is ideal for most people. This frequency allows you to hit the glutes with enough training volume while still giving them time to recover and grow. Since the glutes are a large and strong muscle group, they can handle higher training frequency and volume, especially when split across different days (e.g., one day focused on heavy compound lifts, and another on glute isolation or higher reps).
Training glutes once a week is usually not enough for noticeable growth, unless you’re doing a high-volume, advanced routine with perfect form. On the other hand, training them more than 4 times a week can lead to overtraining, fatigue, and diminishing returns unless your volume and intensity are well-managed. A smart approach is to vary the intensity and focus each session: for example, one heavy strength-based day, one moderate-volume hypertrophy day, and one light, band or bodyweight-focused session for activation and endurance.
Also remember that muscle growth happens during recovery, not just during workouts. Make sure you’re supporting your training with adequate protein intake, good sleep, and rest days. Training glutes 2 to 3 times per week with the right intensity and recovery is the most effective way to stimulate hypertrophy without burning out. Track your progress and adjust your program based on how your body responds over time.
If you're ready to take your leg and glute training to the next level, don’t miss the video below! It features some of the best leg exercises for building serious muscle mass, with clear demonstration to ensure proper form and maximum results.
Author:
Badreddine Boutaybi
