If you're reading this, then you're probably wondering how to grow glutes, right?
Well, heck yeah, and you are definitely not alone in that either.
Whether you're focused on glute activation, overall muscle growth, or specifically targeting glute development, this comprehensive guide will help you achieve your goals.
You see, these days, it seems like one of the most important things to everybody is to grow their peach ... and for good reason!
Yes, the physical look is what most people are after, but there can be so much more to it, too. Today, you'll learn how to grow glutes along with so much more.
What You'll Learn In This Article:
• What Your Glutes Are
• The Muscles That Make Up Your Glutes
• How To Grow Glutes
• Exercises To Help Grow Glutes
• A Glute Workout To Use
What Are Your Glutes?
Your glutes are the muscles that make up your buttocks area. They can actually help us in a number of ways. These ways include keeping us upright, helping us walk forward, and a whole lot more.
For a long time, I think the glutes didn't get enough credit for what they do. But nowadays, they get all of the credit they deserve and more!
Let's take a look at each of the main muscles in your glutes and what they do.
The Muscles Of Your Glutes
There are three main muscles in your glutes. They all work together, but they each have their own function. The three glute muscles are your gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus.
But what do each of these muscles actually do?
Gluteus Maximus
The main function of your gluteus maximus is to help extend your hips. In addition to that, it can help maintain an upright posture, external rotation, and abduction. This means that it can help you move your legs away from the midline of your body.
Gluteus Medius
The gluteus medius's main function is to abduct your hip. It can also help with internal rotation and keeping your pelvis stable.
Gluteus Minimus
The gluteus minimus' main function is to support your gluteus medius in abducting your hip. It helps with internal rotation and keeping your pelvis stable, too.
How To Grow Glutes
Now that you know all about the muscles in your glutes and what they do … I know you're wanting to know exactly how to grow glutes.
Proper glute activation is crucial before starting any of these exercises. Without it, you might find other muscles compensating. This can limit your glute development and overall muscle growth.
Really, how to grow glutes is no different than growing any other muscles in your body! In the simplest way possible, there are two things you need to do to grow your glutes, in my experience (1):
1. Train Your Glutes With Progressive Overload
2. Eating Enough Calories & Protein
To make it even simpler, you can use this equation:
Train With Progressive Overload + Eat In A Calorie Surplus = How To Grow Your Muscles
Allow me to break this down for you...
Train With Progressive Overload
Progressive overload means that you are continuing to challenge your body in different ways over the course of time.
For most people, this means that you can add more sets, more reps, or more weight to your workouts. Even increasing the intensity of your workouts is a way to create progressive overload.
This allows your body to get stronger and positively adapt as you keep doing so consistently. It's a necessary element for building new muscle.
Eating Enough Calories & Protein
When you are working to build muscle, your nutrition is important. In fact, without enough calories and protein, your body simply won't be able to build muscle. To build muscle, you have to:
• Eat in a calorie surplus
• Eat at least 1g of protein per lb of your goal body weight (at least, this is what I recommend)
A calorie surplus means that you are eating more calories than you burn on a daily basis. This provides your body with the extra energy it needs to build new tissue.
Eating enough protein provides your body with the nutrients that it needs to make sure that you are gaining weight, as much of it from muscle as possible. After all, proteins are the building blocks of muscle tissue.
Now that you know exactly what you need to do with your food to grow glutes, I'm sure you're wondering what exercises you can do to help, too.
So, let's get into that next.
Glute Exercises To Help Grow Your Glutes
For optimal glute development and muscle growth, here are seven exercises that have helped me, and tons of others that I've worked with, too. Remember, proper glute activation during each movement is key to seeing results!
• Glute Bridge
• Deadlifts
• Squats
• Bulgarian Split Squats
• Banded Side Steps
• Single Leg Deadlifts
• Lunges
Glute Bridge
1. Lie flat on your back and bend your knees. Rest your feet on the floor and relax your arms by your sides.
2. Press through your heels and lift your hips off the floor. Exhale and contract your glutes as you do this.
3. Push your hips toward the ceiling and pause while holding your body in a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
4. Slowly lower your hips back down, inhale, and repeat for as many reps as programmed.
Deadlifts
1. Walk up to a loaded barbell so it touches your shins. Squat down and grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip.
2. Pull up on the bar just enough to get tension on it without lifting it and pull yourself into a deep squat. Brace your core, pull your shoulders back, and puff your chest out. Your back should remain straight throughout the movement.
3. Press your heels into the ground, pull up on the bar, and use your quads and glutes to stand up. Your knees and hips should extend at the same time.
4. Once standing, squeeze your glutes for a second, and slowly lower the bar back to the ground. Repeat for reps.
Squats
1. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart with your toes pointing forward.
2. Inhale and slowly lower your body down as you bend at your ankles, knees, and hips.
3. Lower down until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
4. Press through your heels to bring your body back up as you exhale and return to the starting position.
5. Repeat for as many reps as programmed.
You can use variations of weight to challenge yourself even more if you'd like. This could be a barbell backsquat, dumbbell front squat, and more ... The possibilities are endless.
Bulgarian Split Squats
1. Sit on a box or bench with your legs extended outward.
2. Stand up from that position and lift your right leg up and back to rest on the box or bench behind you. The top of your foot should rest flat on the box or bench.
3. Maintain your balance, inhale, and lower your body. Your ankles, knees, and hips will bend until your left thigh is parallel to the ground.
4. Exhale and press your body back up through your front leg to the starting position.
5. Repeat for as many reps as programmed and then repeat on the other leg.
You can progress the Bulgarian split squat by simply performing the exercise with a dumbbell in each hand.
Banded Side Steps
1. Step inside a thick resistance band, leaving it at your ankles or bringing it just above your knees.
2. Space your feet to shoulder width apart, creating a little tension on the band (you don’t want your knees or ankles touching).
3. Keep your chest up and slightly bend your knees so you are in a half squat position.
4. From here, slowly step outside of shoulder width to one side of your body with one leg.
5. Step your opposite leg in the same direction, bringing both of your feet to shoulder-width apart.
6. Repeat this movement for an equal number of steps on either side.
Single Leg Deadlifts
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and raise one leg off the floor slightly.
2. Grab one dumbbell in the opposite hand from the leg you are standing on.
3. Keep your neck in line with your spine and send your hips back with your leg lifting up behind you until your upper body and leg are both parallel with the floor.
4. Squeeze your glute and hamstring as you stand up and get yourself back to the starting position.
5. Repeat this for an equal number of reps on both legs.
Reverse Lunges
1. Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart.
2. Step back with your right foot, landing on the ball of your foot.
3. Inhale and bend your knees to about 90 degrees. Your right knee should come to about 2 inches from the ground.
4. Exhale and press through your left leg as you bring your right leg back to center and stand upright.
5. Repeat on your left side and alternate legs for as many reps as programmed.
You can use weights to challenge yourself even more if you’d like. I like holding a kettlebell at my chest or even a dumbbell in each hand.
Example Glute Workout For You
There are hundreds of different exercises that you could do. Plus, there are thousands of different ways you could piece them together to create a workout.
Here’s just one example of a workout that you could do to grow your glutes:
| Exercise | Reps | Sets |
| Glute Bridge | 4 | 10 |
| Single Leg Deadlifts | 4 | 10 Each Leg |
| Reverse Lunges | 4 | 12 Each Leg |
| Bulgarian Split Squats | 4 | 10 Each Leg |
| Banded Side Steps | 3 | 12 Each Direction |
Again, this is just one way that you can piece these workouts together, but I’m confident that it can be a great way to help you grow your glutes.
How To Grow Your Glutes: Taking It To The Next Level
We’ve been through it all today…
A workout that can help you. Step-by-step instructions explaining how to do these exercises. Even the way that you can eat in order to make it happen.
Now, even with that being said, I know that earning results can seem overwhelming at times. As you continue to make progress, your workouts will need to get more challenging. You may also need to make adjustments to your nutrition as you build more muscle.
Unless you have a background in exercise science and dietetics, it can be hard to know exactly what to do to see the best results. But don't worry, that's why we're here to help.
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References:
(1) Ribeiro AS, et al. Effects of Different Dietary Energy Intake Following Resistance Training on Muscle Mass and Body Fat in Bodybuilders: A Pilot Study. Journal of Human Kinetics. 2019;70(1):125-134.
