My 5 Favourite Exercises for Defined Glutes (no glute bridges or Bulgarian split squats required!)

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If there is one thing I am really proud of, it is how I have been able to build back a strong booty after the pandemic. I can remember looking at myself in the mirror after 2 years of inconsistent workouts and not being able to lift heavy and just thinking my once-peachy-bottom had gone as flat as a pancake.

Have strong glutes is really important for women. I am so pleased that it is also now accepted as part of the beauty standard, because it has encouraged women to strive for a plump, well-defined bum.

The glutes are the largest group of muscles in your body and they play an important role. They support our hips, helping us to avoid low back pain and giving a powerful push off from the ground. So whether you’re pushing a stroller up a hill, taking the stairs at work, or having to pick stuff up and put it down all day, having strong glutes is going to make all of these activities easier.

So here are my 5 favourite exercises for defined glutes.

1. Kickstand Deadlifts

This is a modification from the single-leg deadlift and I think it not only helps grease the groove and improve your hip hinging technique, but it can really help you isolate the upper thigh and lower glutes.

To do this exercise, start with you feet hip-width apart. Then, take 1 foot and move it straight back, propping up on your toe. You knee shoulder be slightly bent and the front of that knee should still align with the front of the other knee.

From here, you’ll take a weight in the hand on the same side as the foot that was moved back. Keeping your shoulder back, and chin tucked, you’re going to push your hips back, lowering the weight to the floor. I find doing this with my bum facing a wall gives my sit-bones a target as I lower.

Push the hips back until your sit-bones reach the wall, or the weight reaches the floor directly in front of the propped up toe, and in line with the middle of the flat foot. You should feel a stretch in the leg with the flat foot.

Think about pushing away from the floor through your flat foot. As you push through the floor, you are bring the hips back to standing position, making sure to engage your glutes as you approach standing position.

Keep your propped toe where it is, and repeat the lowering and standing up movements for a complete set. This is an all around movement and will develop the whole glute area, but I always feel it the most in the back upper thigh, and the lower to mid-glute.

2. Banded Side Steps

To help round out the side of your glutes, you’ll need some kind of band. I really like these ones from amazon because they come in cute colours and have 3 different levels of resistance.

To perform this exercise, step into the resistance bands and bring them up around your thighs just above your knees. Sit into a half squat and take a full step to your right, then step your left foot in. Stay in that half-squat and repeat the side steps for 5-10 steps, depending on the space you half. Once you’ve reached the end, continue to stay in that half-squat and take a full step to the left, then step your right foot in. Repeat this for 5-10 steps, depending on the space you have.

They key here is to go slowly at first. Going slowly will help you really focus on targeting the glute area. As you progress and get stronger, you can play with the tempo, and can even add in a step to do quick step overs to really get the glutes burning.

As I mentioned, this is great for developing your outer glutes and building a well-balanced bum. This movement is also critical for healthy hips. Abduction, when a limb moves away from the center line of the body, is something that women often forget to train. With so many poorly designed shoes, women will overdevelop their adductors (inner thigh muscles), creating tight IT bands and weak outer glutes. This exercise is a great way to counteract and it also means you don’t have to use that machine at the gym where you can’t make eye contact with anyone.

3. Cable Pull-Throughs

I did just mention how last exercise will help you avoid the machine that you can’t make eye contact on. Well, this exercise is one that you may want to avoid eye contact. A cable pull-through allows you to get maximum glute contraction and it great for developing all of the glute muscles.

Set the cable attachment to the lowest marker on the machine. Grab the rope attachment and connect it to the cable machine. Choose a weight that is challenging, but not your top deadlift weight. I typically start with around 60lbs to see how strong I am feeling that day and then adjust after a few sets.

Stand with you back facing the cable machine so the rope attachment is between your feet and you are facing the rest of the gym. Bend down and grab the rope attachment, palms facing in. Stand up, holding the rope right between the legs with your arms close to your body, and then take a few steps forward. This will help you avoid hitting the cable machine on every rep and give you more space to get deep into your hip hinge.

Once you’ve got enough space, take a stance that is slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Go really wide to target the outer glutes, go more narrow to target the hamstrings. Once in position, you are going to hinge the hips back, pushing your sit bones towards the machine. As you push your hips back, you’ll lower your hands, allow the rope and cable to approach the cable machine. At the point where you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings (the back of your thigh), drive your hips forward, pushing through your heels and mid-foot to return to standing position.

You arms should be glued to your body throughout the whole movement. Do not stand up and then bicep curl the rope attachment, and do not try to have the rope reach back to the cable machine. The focus is to get a good stretch in the hamstrings, and once that point is reached, stand back up.

When you’re done your set, slowly bring the rope attachment back to the cable machine until the plates are stacked nicely.

This is a really great exercise for maximizing extensions and contraction in the glutes. The more extension you get from a muscle, the greater the activation you’ll get from it, which helps define the whole muscle group. But maybe look down while you do this exercise to avoid any awkward eye contact. Also – be mindful of what top you wear here. Because your arms are glued to your body for the whole exercise, and you’re bending down, you are also maximizing cleavage.

Just something to watch out for ;)

4. Straight-Leg Kickbacks

This is such a classic exercise, but I see so many variations of it now that I feel the need to remind everyone that the classics are classics for a reason. A straight-leg kickback will differ from a cable kick-back because you don’t have any resistance and instead of bending the leg and extending against a weight, you are really isolating the “upper shelf” of the glutes.

I like to use a bench on an incline here as a support, but you can realistically use a wall or pole or something sturdy so that you upper body is locked in and can’t swing or compensate in the movement.

Standing behind the inclined bench with both hands on the edge of the bench, try to create a small angle between your upper arm and your torso. Somewhere in the ballpark of 30 degrees to 45 degrees should have you close to the bench, but also far enough away that you have a slight bench at hips as well.

One leg at a time, lift your leg back at about a 45 degree angle from the body. Keep your leg straight and foot flexed (pull your toes to your shins). This isn’t a big movement, but it is a focused one. As you lift your leg, think about your glutes and the area between the back of your bum and the lowest point of your back. You want to activate that part of your glutes to lift the leg up.

It can be a very small movement, but when you focus on the muscles you are trying to work and take it really slow, you’ll find you get tired pretty quickly. Repeat 10-15 times/leg and enjoy the benefits of building up that upper area of the glutes.

5. Step Tap-Ups

Another basic but seriously functional exercise is the step tap-up. This is a great exercise that you can do at the gym, at the stairs at work, or using the edge of your bed or couch. The key to this is to make sure you keep most of your upper body weight over the thigh. You don’t need to keep your posture upright; you want to be leaning forward to that you can really target that area between the hamstrings and your glutes that will give you a nice, perky booty.

Grab a step that is about knee height. You can adjust this if you have knee pain to a lower step if needed. But for this example, I will use the knee-high step.

Put one foot on the step. Slightly leaning the body forward, push through that foot on the step to bring yourself to standing position, without the other foot fully stepping onto the step.

This is a step tap-up because as soon as you get to the standing position, you’re going to lightly tap the free foot to the step and then return that foot to the floor. You’ll repeat this exercise on that one leg for 10-15 reps, and then switch to the other foot on the step.

Really focusing on generating all of your power through the foot that is on the step. Keep your body over the leg. You’ll notice the more you lean forward (within reason) the more you’ll feel this exercise in that area between the glutes and hamstrings. Find your sweet-spot and stick to it as you complete this exercise.

So there you have it! my top 5 exercises that will help you build defined glutes, support back and hip health, and feel really strong! Let me know below if you’d prefer I explain these articles in a video format or with images: