Baby Got Back: Build Your Glutes with These Effective Exercises

Everyone's on the glute-building band wagon, and for good reason: strong glutes help improve movement, posture, and prevent injury. But building up well-rounded cheeks takes more than just hip thrusts. To really hit the upper glutes — aka the glute shelf — you'll need movements that engage the gluteus medius, challenge hip stability, and train the muscles through multiple planes of motion.

We tapped strength coach Dan Berman, CSCS, NSCA, to share his go-to upper-glute exercises and exactly how to add them into your routine for real strength and balance — not just looks (though let's be honest, we're here for those too). We'll cover why the upper glutes matter, which movements actually light them up, and how to structure your own upper-glute-focused workout for better performance and some seriously impressive cake.

Upper Glute Muscles

There are three muscles that make up the glutes: the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in your glutes and the main driver of powerful hip extension; the gluteus minimus, the smallest and deepest glute muscle that lies underneath the gluteus medius and helps with hip stability; and the gluteus medius, which sits on the upper, outer portion of the hips and together with the fibers of the gluteus maximus is commonly referred to as the upper glute muscles.

The upper glute muscles, the gluteus medius and maximus, are responsible for shaping the upper portion of the hips while playing a crucial functional role. The gluteus medius stabilizes the pelvis during walking, running, and single-leg movements. It also controls hip abduction and helps manage rotational forces at the hip, keeping the thigh and knee properly aligned.

Functionally, strong upper glutes improve balance, promote efficient movement mechanics, and reduce strain on the knees and lower back by maintaining proper pelvic and lower-body alignment. Aesthetically, they make your booty pop, enhancing the shape of the glutes by creating a lifted, defined shelf-like look to the top portion of the glutes.

How to Get a Shelf on the Upper Glutes

We've got the lower-body weight workouts for women and men to target your gluteus medius and maximus for a well-rounded, rear-end. Follow the detailed technique tips to help you tackle each move with proper form.

Diagonal Cable Kickback

Your glute medius's primary function is moving the leg out to the side. This cable kickback variation places you in a slight external rotation to help engage the glute med in the most effective way possible. As you set up, play around with the angle of your feet to find the perfect position to light up your upper glute.

How to: 

• Attach an ankle cuff to a cable machine and your outter ankle.
• Position your feet at a 30-degree angle from the cable machine.
• Engage your core and hold onto something for balance as you send your leg back.

Cable Glute Medius Side Step

This move features a lengthened partial, meaning the glute medius is in a stretched position and it isn't a full range of motion. This is similar to the standing hip abduction, however, the cable's resistance is constant throughtout this movement, challenging your glute the entire time.

How to: 

• Attach an ankle strap to a functional trainer and strap in with your back leg.
• Standing heel to toe, extend your back leg to the side beyond shoulder width.
• Allow your cuffed leg to return back behind the other leg and repeat.

Pro Tip: While your outer leg is moving, it's actually the gluteus medius on your grounded leg that's being targeted.

Standing Hip Abduction

Rest a weight plate on your thigh. As you work the weight out and back and include pelvic lateral tilt, you'll actually be targeting your standing leg's glute medius.

How to:

• Standing straight up, rest a weight plate on your thigh.
• Hold onto something for stability with your free hand.
• Sink down into lateral tilt to stretch your standing leg's glutes.
• Lift your knee up so your thigh reaches parallel to the floor.
• Lower down into that lateral pelvic tilt and repeat.

Side-Lying Hip Abduction

This move is a great alternative to the standing hip abduction, and popular in physical therapy offices because it easily targets the glute medius with minimal equipment. Start out dialing in the correct form then feel free to add a weight plate when you're ready for more of a challenge.

How to:

• Start lying on your side with your bottom leg bent and head resting in hand.
• Engage your core as you lift your upper leg up and back.
• To make sure you're targeting your gluteus medius, place your hand on your upper glute to make sure it's working as you lift. If it isn't, adjust the path of your leg until you feel the muscle engage.
• Lower with control and repeat.

Mini Band Monster Walk

Berman recommends tossing a resistance loop band around your legs for monster walks to target your gluteus medius muscles. This is a simple exercise that you can tackle just about anywhere.

How to:

• Place a resistance loop around your ankles.
• Bend your knees slightly and lift your hands infront of you for balance.
• Take small steps forward, heel to toe as you land.
• Walk in one direction, then turn around, and walk back.

Donkey Kicks

We love donkey kicks because they don't require a ton of equipment and they're fairly simple. However, there aren't simple ways to utilize progressive overload with this move, which is why we recommend this glute max and glute med move for the beginning of your workout to activate your glutes or as a finisher at the end.

How to:

• Start on all fours, wrists stacked under shoulders and knees under hips.
• Maintaining a neutral spine, lift your working leg up, maintaining the bend in your knee.
• Squeeze and hold at the top, then lower back to start.

Hip Thrusts

Hip thrusts are royalty in the world of glute training and for good reason — they're great at targeting the glutes and allow you to lift a ton of weight. While this move primarily targets the gluteus maximus, if you're looking to build a glute shelf you'll want this move as part of your routine for a well-rounded workout (and booty).

How to:

• Setup with a bench and a bar with plates infront.
• Slide your legs under the bar, position your back against the bench and place your feet flat on the ground about hips-width apart.
• Engage your core and lift the bar off the ground as you rotate your back onto the bench.
• Lower your hips towards the floor with control then explode back up.

Well-Rounded Glute Workout — Upper-Glute Focus

Before you tackle this booty-building workout, start off by warming up properly with some light cardio and dynamic stretching to prep your body for the work ahead.

Glute Activation

Turn your muscles on with moves that target different parts and functions of the glutes. Berman says, "The goal here is to wake up the muscles you'll be targeting in your working sets, it isn't about working to failure."

Banded Lateral Walks — 2 x 10 steps each direction

Fire Hydrant Kickback — 2 x 10 per side

The Work

Barbell or Smith Machine Hip Thrust — 4 x 10-12 reps (1 minute rest)

Bulgarian Split Squat — 2 x 10 reps per side (1 minute rest)

Standing Hip Abduction — 2 x 10 reps per side (30 seconds rest)

Glute Medius Kickbacks — 2 x 15 per side (30 seconds rest)

Glute Exercise Equipment

To help you build the glute shelf of your dreams, here's equipment from REP Fitness to help you tackle the work:

Circle Hip Bands

Toss these on to help activate your gluteus medius and maximus during hip thrusts, donkey kicks, monster walks, walking lunges, and lateral walks.

Short Resistance Bands

Similar to circle hip bands, these short resistance bands can be tossed on to be used during hip thrusts, donkey kicks, monster walks, and lateral walks. The biggest difference between the short resistance bands and circle hip bands is the versatility of the short resistance bands — good for lower-body activation as well as rows, presses, and more.

[Read More: What's the Deal with All the Different Exercise Bands]

Premium Yoga Mat

Glute Ham Roller

Put the heat on your glutes and hamstrings with this lightweight and portable glute ham roller. Plus, utilize resistance bands or cable machines to increase the challenge.

Glute Ham Developer

Delta Basic Bar

A barbell is your glute's best friend, allowing you to easily work with progressive overload for hip thrusts, romanian deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats, and split squats.

Equalizer™ Urethane-Coated Weight Plates

You'll want weight plates for your barbell glute work, but you'll also find them useful for weighted standing hip abduction which puts your upper glutes to work. 

Ergo Hex Dumbbells

Nighthawk™ Adjustable Bench

An adjustable bench is your best friend for upper-body exercise, but it's also a necessary tool for many of our favorite glute moves. You'll want a bench for hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats, step ups, and more.

ARES™ 2.0 Cable System

Cable work is popular for targeting the glutes, and the ARES™ 2.0 cable system is our most popular functional trainer setup. Tackle cable kickbacks and standing leg abduction with an ankle strap, pull-throughs with a rope, or step-ups with resistance using a bench and D-handles.

Smith Machine Rack Attachment

Use the vertical guidance provided by a Smith machine attachment to help you tackle hip thrusts, lunges, deadlifts, squats, and more. Plus, this attachment makes loading and adjusting your resistance, especially when tackling hip thrusts, easier.

Takeaway

If you're looking to build your upper glutes, you'll want to focus on exercises that target your glute medius through abduction and side-focussed movements. Then round out your glute workout with hip extension to build size in your glute maximus, creating a lifted, full, and well-shaped glute shelf.

FAQs

How often should I do glute exercises for optimal results?

Aim to tackle a glute workout 2 or 3 times a week for optimal results. However, make sure to give your body enough time to rest between efforts, around 48 to 72 hours, so your muscles have time to recover and grow stronger.

What's the difference between glute max and glute medius?

The glutes are made up of three muscles. The glute maximus is the largest of those three, responsible for hip extension like squats. The glute medius is located above the glute max, shaping the top part of the glutes, and helping to stabilize the pelvis, hips, knees, and ankles.