Butt Workout You Can Do At Home

Fitness professionals share their favorite at-home butt workout and tips on how to get started below. 

A powerful, toned butt is most likely on your list of fitness goals for the year.

The best news is that you don’t need intricate gym routines or expensive equipment to shape your buttocks – with the appropriate techniques, you can increase the burn and acquire considerable muscle simply at home. Nevertheless, research reveals that some of us may perform butt exercises incorrectly. 

This is why. Crystal Giorgi, a certified trainer at Active House, explains that your buttocks have three different muscles. The gluteus maximus is the most noticeable and strongest butt muscle, and it works with two smaller glute muscles to stabilize your hip. 

“[They all] work together to create lower-body strength and mobility by enhancing hip extension, abduction, and rotation,” Giorgi explains. 

Strong glutes, when exercised as a whole, can help stabilize your pelvis, improve posture, and prevent back pain, she adds. While many current workouts promise a toned bum, it’s critical to ensure that you’re activating and strengthening all three of these muscles throughout your movement.

Exercise Suggestions for Butt Workout

Before you start sweating, professionals emphasize the following critical aspects to achieve the greatest outcomes and avoid the risk of damage. 

Concentrate on your form by completing exercises slowly, deliberately, and in tune with your breath. 

Begin by utilizing your own body weight or modified versions of movements until you are able to finish your sets with excellent form. 

Gradually increase the amount of resistance equipment or weights you use. 

Maintain consistency when resting your glute muscles. The best rule of thumb is to wait at least 48 hours before working out the same muscle group again. 

Hip Thrusters 

According to Noah Neiman, a New York-based training teacher and co-founder of Rumble Boxing, hip thrusters are the GOAT (best of all time) when it comes to growing booty. 

“In fact, an EMG research found that hip thrusters engage the glute family muscles better than any other exercise,” he says. Here’s how Neiman recommends performing hip thrusts. 

• Begin by lying on your stomach in a sit-up position. 
• Push into your heels, pushing your hips upward and tightening your glutes as your hips rise. 
• Lower your hips back to the starting posture with controlled movement.
• You can add weights to your hips or a band around your knees to make the exercise tougher. Alternatively, try lifting one leg while driving your hips upward. 

“You can also place your back on an elevated surface, such as a bench or a couch, to expand the range of motion of the action,” he adds. 

Squats 

According to Neiman, squats are the original booty builder. “There are Paleolithic squat routines depicted in old caveman scribbles. Long squats have long been a cornerstone in any well-rounded lower-body workout.” 

Here’s how he recommends performing a traditional squat.

• Stand belly full of air with your feet hip-width apart to stabilize your core. 
• Straighten your hips and push your knees slightly out at the bottom. 
• As you stand up to the beginning posture, exhale and tighten your glutes. 
• Avoid locking your knees at the peak of the squat; instead, squeeze your glutes like you’re attempting to pop an egg. 
• Hold weights or wrap a band over your knees to increase resistance. 

Sumo Squats 

The squat has the advantage of being highly adaptable. You may adjust the angle of attack on the glute complex by modifying your foot posture or toe angle, according to Neiman. 

• Sumo squats are one version that works the glute medius and glute minimus.
• They’re done in the same way as a typical squat, except with your toes pointing out instead of forward. 

One Leg Stand-ups  

Together with hip thrusts and squats, EMG studies indicate that single-leg workouts for forceful, full-range glute activation are beneficial. This is due to the extra work required to balance and steady the movement. 

According to Lo Santos, ACE-GFI, head coach at TITLE Boxing Club, one of the simplest variations of this concept begins with sitting on a bench or in a chair.

Here is how to perform single-leg stand-ups. 

• Make a 90-degree angle with one leg and stretch the other in front of you. Your arms will extend straight front as well. 
• Slowly stand up and sit back down. 
• Attempt to keep your balance on the way down, so you don’t smash onto the bench. 

You can adjust this exercise by placing your heel on the ground instead of straight out (but still keep it in front of the bent leg.) If you want to increase the difficulty, grip a weight with the hand on the same side as your bowed leg. 

Step-ups 

Step-ups are single-leg stand-up variation that incorporates some height.

• Stand in front of a staps or chair and push up with one leg into a standing position.
• To increase activation, produce a forward hinge from the hip (while maintaining a neutral spine), says Brett Durney, PT and co-founder of Fitness Lab. 

“A forward lean activates the glutes significantly more because it takes them into their completely extended position,” he explains. “Pay close attention to the tempo (pace of the exercise), especially on the way down.” 

Folding Over 

This traditional ballerina exercise is a great method to work your glutes at any time of day, whether you’re at your desk, watching TV, or cooking. This exercise is fantastic for full-body training because your upper back muscles, abdomen, and quadriceps all help stabilize the movement.

Here’s how Bar Method teachers Beth Hutchison and Tashina Bailey recommend practicing this workout. 

• Begin by facing a firm surface, such as a couch, solid chair, or tabletop. 
• Put your feet parallel and hip-width apart, soften your knees, and stretch one leg behind you, lifting it to the height of your hip. 
• Squeeze your glutes to raise and lower your entire leg 1 inch (and for a bonus exercise, make this same motion with a firmly bent leg to add in some hamstring work.) 

Curtsy Lunge

Lunges are excellent lower-body exercises, and the curtsy lunge adds the benefits of balance and coordination work, according to Kate Meier, CPT of Garage Gym Reviews. Here’s how she recommends performing the curtsy lunge. 

• Begin with your legs shoulder-width or slightly wider apart. 
• Keep a neutral spine and proper posture as you step your right leg behind you and place your right foot outside your left foot. 
• Drop yourself straight down into a lunge, maintaining your chest and hips forward. 
• After your front thigh is parallel to the floor, return to the starting position. 
• Repeat on the other side. 

“If you want even more of a glute burn, try adding a squat before moving to the next leg,” Meier suggests. “You may also increase the weight to this action by holding a dumbbell or adding a few pulses at the bottom of each rep before standing.” 

Plank with Glute raise

According to Meier, this double-whammy exercise combines isometric core work with glute activation for full-body strength and stability.

Here’s how to go about it. 

• Begin by getting down on your hands and knees. 
• Lower into a forearm plank by stepping your feet back. 
• Ascertain that your hips are low and your spine is in a neutral position. 
• Raise one leg up and out slowly, keeping the leg straight and your hips towards the floor. 

If holding a complete plank is too tough, Meier suggests doing this technique from a tabletop position (on your hands and knees) to target the glutes without overstretching your core or back. 

Hip Raises on the Side 

This is another exercise that engages your core while targeting your glutes. When performing side hip lifts, Giorgio suggests the following steps. 

• Begin by lying on one side, knees stacked and feet together, forearms bent at 90 degrees, as if performing a forearm side plank. 
• With an open-and-close motion, press through your bottom knee while raising your hips and top knee apart. 
• For one rep, carefully lower your leg and hips. 

Kickback on the Table 

“I like this glute activation exercise because it feels stretching and has the added benefit of core-firing stability work,” explains Jessica Aronoff, CPT, head trainer at the ness. 

How to Do a Tabletop Kickback.

• You are going to begin on your hands and knees in a tabletop position. 
• Maintain parallel alignment by reaching your right leg back without arching your back. 
• Consider your hips to be headlights, and keep them pointing down towards the floor. 
• Tap your right toe to the floor and then raise your leg back up. 

“Resist the impulse to arch your back by squeezing your glute each time you lift the leg to its starting position,” Aronoff explains. “The motto is length above height, as though your toe is protruding through the wall behind you.” 

To Conclude

Whether you’re starting a new home fitness regimen or including these trainer-approved butt workouts, good form is critical to gaining results and preventing injury. Maintain minimal resistance until you’ve mastered the technique, or begin with a reduced version of an exercise to gradually and safely gain strength. 

If in doubt, consult a licensed personal trainer. They can direct you through the proper motions and guarantee that you feel the burn in all the right areas.