The Best Workout Moves to Build Your Butt
The glutes are your body's largest and most powerful muscle group. They contract to move your hips in every direction, powering you up, down, forward, backward, and side-to-side. And since they're big, working them can increase your metabolic rate.
But spending so much time parked on your butt has caused your glutes muscles to stop firing. They're weak and undertrained, leaving you with a butt that's as flat as the Great Plains.
Related: RIPTENSITY—Fast Bodyweight Workouts From Men’s Health That Are So Intense, They Rip Away Body Fat!
It's time to wake up your glutes before people start wondering how your pants stay up. Add the following moves to your workout routine for a better-looking, better-performing butt.
IF THERE'S ONE muscle group that is well-represented on social media, it's the glutes. You've likely scrolled past a "booty-blasting" or "glute gains" video when you've wiled away time on the fitness internet—and maybe you've tried one or two of these routines yourself, hoping for posterior growth. The setup is usually fairly straightforward: The trainer or model shifts so their rear end is in the focus of the shot, then squats, thrusts, and pulses their way through a few movements with light dumbbells or no external load at all. The problem with most of these workouts, however, is that your glutes are just like any other muscle in your body. They need progressive overload to grow—and a quick circuit performed once or twice isn't going to provide that. You need a better catalogue of glute exercises to build muscle and strength in these essential leg muscles.
Due to this proliferation of butt-focused content (and likely because of the types of people who are associated with it), you might be quick to dismiss the importance of training the glutes. That would be a huge mistake. These muscles are about more than just "booty building" and achieving aesthetic goals (although the potential benefits in that department are undeniable).
Building a set of strong, healthy glutes should be in the sights of every type of exerciser, whether you're training to meet an aesthetic standard or you have major PR goals. Let's expand that, actually—strong, healthy glutes are good for everyone, from desk jockeys to grandparents. The massive muscles do a lot more than just fill out your favorite pair of jeans, so it pays to pay them individual attention in your training plan. The glutes serve as the engine for explosive, athletic movements needed to excel in sports. The muscles are also essential for proper posture and movement; without a functioning set of glutes, you're going to have a hard time doing much of anything with your body.
Let's circle back to those unfortunate workout clips from the top of this article. If you've dismissed targeted glute training as an endeavor solely to whip up a thirst trap photo following, you're missing the point (and you need to log off). Glute workouts are for guys, too. Here's what you need to know about this eminently important muscle group—and the best movements you can add to your training to make them big and strong.
What Are Your Glute Muscles
So how can you train your butt effectively, without wasting your time with the thousands of rear-focused routines that populate social media? Understanding more about the largest muscle group in your body is a good way to answer that question. Consider the glutes your body’s anchor. These massive and powerful muscles that constitute much of your backside are pertinent in nearly every day-to-day activity.
When most lifters think of the glutes, they usually just consider the gluteus maximus, the larger glute muscle that plays a major role in hip extension. There’s no denying that the glute max is incredibly important to think about and train, but there’s also the gluteus medius and minimus, also muscles deserving of our attention.
The glute medius’ anterior muscle fibers internally rotate the thigh and the posterior fiber play a role in leg abduction (moving your leg away from the midline of your body). The glute minimus works in synergy with the medius and plays an important role in supporting pelvic stability in the gait cycle.
When we consider the dynamic nature of the glutes and how important they are for performance and everyday life, it’s pretty easy to see why it’s important to train them as a whole. It’s also important to recognize that the glutes are part of the body’s core. Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. notes that the core is composed of the abs, obliques, lower back musculature, and glutes. "They all work as one and, if you want a truly strong core, they must work as one."
The glute exercises below vary greatly—and that's not an accident. You need to add some variety to your glute workouts in order to tackle the dynamic nature and different needs that the glute maximus, medius, and minimus have.
The Benefits of Training Your Glutes
As we've covered, your glutes are a major engine for athleticism and power. They're also an aesthetic focus for lots of people—bigger glutes are a major draw. But there's a real downside to neglecting your glutes, too. You'll want to keep the muscles firing—otherwise, you could wind up developing an issue that could 'kill' your butt.
Gluteal amnesia, otherwise known as "dead butt syndrome," might sound like a joke, but it's a real issue for folks who spend too much time sitting down without using their muscles as they're meant to be used. Firing, or contracting, the muscles becomes an issue, and that can lead to problems with your posture, changes to your walking gait, and lower back and knee pain (and even injury) as the rest of your lower body compensates.
The Best Butt Exercises
So yeah, it's past time to give your glutes some extra TLC. Your pants will fit better, you'll get a spring in your step, and you might just get a little extra attention when you hit the town. Add the following moves to your workout routine for a better-looking, better-performing butt.
Want a more dedicated plan? Try this 30-day butt workout challenge to start a new glute training habit.
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