Strengthen your glutes with this five-move bodyweight workout

A big booty is desirable, a strong one is essential

Woman doing a glute bridge on the floor
(Image credit: Getty Images)

While a big booty is desirable, a strong one is essential. Why? Well, our glutes are made up of three muscles (the glute maximus is the largest muscle in our body) and they help us stay balanced and aid every day movement. If you’ve been neglecting yours, then give this workout a go. It’ll take you no longer than 15 minutes and you won’t need any equipment either, just an exercise mat and your best workout shoes.

Just like our core, the glutes are an area of our body that can easily get overlooked when it comes to getting fit, building strength or muscle. But they’re what keeps our pelvis and hips stable. “The gluteus maximus controls the movement of the hip and the gluteus medius controls the movement of your pelvis," says Altrincham Physio. "Without the stability of these muscles there can be a mechanical overload of the pelvis which effects the rest of the body.” This can lead to thing like lower back, knee and hip pain – so keeping your glutes strong is a must!

This workout has five different bodyweight exercises which are pretty beginner-friendly. You’re going to do eight to 10 reps of each exercise (on each side where applicable) and you’re going to do three to four rounds of the workout in total. If you’re adding this onto the end of another workout, then just do two rounds. Here’s your workout:

  • Kneeling side plank and leg lift
  • Three pulse sumo squats onto toes
  • Single leg glute bridge 
  • Forward lunge into backwards lunge 
  • Single leg tap to the back and to the side

If you enjoyed that, then we've got plenty more glute workouts here at T3: like this single glute exercise that uses just one resistance band or this 15 minute low-impact glute and thigh workout. Remember, once you can master the bodyweight exercises, it's time to add some extra resistance, with either a pair of dumbbells, resistance bands or even the best kettlebells, so that you can strengthen your glutes even further.

Bryony Firth-Bernard
Staff Writer, Active

Bryony’s T3’s official ‘gym-bunny’ and Active Staff Writer, covering all things fitness. In her spare time, you will find her in her natural habitat - the gym - where her style of training is a hybrid of bodybuilding and powerlifting. Bryony loves writing about accessible workouts, nutrition and testing innovative fitness products that help you reach your fitness goals and take your training to the next level.