If you’ve ever tried to target your lower glutes, you know it can be difficult to do. The trouble is that the muscles that make up the lower glutes (Gluteus Maximus and Medius, along with the Tensor Fascia Latae) are buried deep beneath several layers of muscle, which means you have to perform a lot of isolation exercises to get any kind of result.
The lower glutes are the muscles that sit under the cheeks of your butt. They’re the ones that give it that nice “curve” when you look in the mirror.
A lifted butt is a shapelier butt and sculpting your lower glutes can give you that coveted heart-shaped booty. Many women lack lower glute development, which is why they don’t have a nice, lifted butt.
If you want to target this area specifically, there are plenty of exercises you can do to help build a rounder, fuller booty!
Ever wondered how to target the lower glutes? There are plenty of moves that will help get you there. However, before I give you my exercise list, I need to dive into some anatomy so that this article makes sense.
Glutes Anatomy:
Photo Source: Train Against Gravity
The gluteal muscles, more commonly known as the glutes, are a group of 3 muscles that make up one of the largest muscle groups in the human body.
The muscles in this group are responsible for extending the hip, lying horizontally with the back of the thigh, and attaching to the lower part of the femur.
The glutes also help with rotation and lateral movement, providing stability and support to the pelvis.
There are three major muscles in this group:
• Gluteus Maximus
• Gluteus Medius
• Gluteus Minimus.
Gluteus Maximus
The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body, accounting for almost a quarter of our body mass. It covers the entire lateral surface of the pelvis and attaches to the side of the sacrum as well as to several vertebrae.
With such a large area of attachment, this muscle is involved in many movements, including hip extension (raising your leg), abduction (moving your leg away from the center), external rotation (turning your leg outward from the center), and even some knee flexion (bending your knee).
Gluteus Medius
The Gluteus medius is one of the three gluteal muscles in the buttocks. It’s a pretty big muscle, it’s located on both sides of your butt, and can cover a large section.
The gluteus medius helps keep your hips stable as you move, and it plays an important role in both walking and running.
When you’re standing with your feet flat on the ground, this muscle contracts to keep your hip level; if one hip were higher than another, you’d fall over. It also helps you stay upright when you’re walking or running.
Gluteus Minimus
The Gluteus minimus is the smallest of the gluteus muscles and is located at the base of the pelvis, beneath the gluteus medius.
This muscle is responsible for contracting the hip and pushing it outward. The hamstrings are attached to this muscle, which is why it can be strengthened with various hamstring exercises.
The Gluteus minimus helps control the internal rotation of the thigh, meaning it stabilizes the hip and prevents it from turning inward. This can prevent knee problems and injuries when running or walking upstairs.
Exercises to strengthen this muscle include lunges and step-downs while balancing on one leg, as well as single-leg deadlifts.
The lower glutes also play an important role in athletic performance and injury prevention. If these muscles aren’t strong enough, you can experience hamstring injuries and hip flexor strains.
Here are the best 7 exercises that will help you build up your lower glutes and create a lifted butt. These moves will help you develop a strong, lifted butt that will boost your athletic performance and prevent injuries.
Today’s 7 lower glutes exercises for a lifted butt are:
1. Glute Bridge Pulses – 20 reps
2. Bench Hip Thrusts with Pulses – 10 reps
3. Bench Single Leg Hip Thrust – 10 reps/ each leg
4. Stationary Lunge – 10 reps/ each leg
5. Step-Up and Toe-Tap – 8 reps/ each leg
6. Fire Hydrant – 8 reps/ each leg
7. Grasshopper – 8 reps
20 seconds rest between exercises/ 1-minute rest between sets.
Let’s start our lower glute workout!
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1. Glute Bridge Pulses
The glute bridge pulses exercise is a great way to tone and strengthen your lower glutes, as well as increase your stability and balance.
Your glutes are the strongest muscles in your body, and exercises that target them can be incredibly beneficial for your posture, gait, and other movements.
The bridge pulses exercise can also help you to master the single-leg bridge/hip thrust, which is a much more advanced version of the basic glute bridge.
If you have weak glutes, you’re more susceptible to injuries and pain caused by bad posture.
Benefits of the glute bridge include:
The focus of the glute bridge pulses exercise is to work out your butt (gluteus maximus). A secondary benefit of this exercise is that it also works out your hamstrings, calves, and abdominals.
This exercise will also help you to improve your posture because it strengthens the muscles in your lower back and helps to align your spine.
It can also serve as a great way to stretch out your hips and improve flexibility.
How to do:
• Lie on your back with your knees bent at right angles to your body and feet flat on the ground. Rest your arms by your sides with palms facing down.
• Tighten your stomach muscles and press into the floor with your heels to lift onto the tips of your toes. Push up until you are in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
• Once you’ve reached full extension, pulse 3 times, then slowly lower yourself back down to the ground.
• Repeat.
2. Bench Hip Thrusts with Pulses
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The bench hip thrust with pulses is an exercise that can be done anywhere, at any time, with no equipment, just a bit of floor space. It targets your glutes (lower glutes) and hamstrings, making it an ideal exercise to improve the overall strength and stability of your lower body.
The pulsing variation adds the component of core work by requiring you to continually resist the pull of gravity as you lift, keeping the muscles in your abdomen engaged throughout the movement.
How to do:
• Lie with your shoulders on top of a bench or box. Keep your arms extended on the sides throughout the movement. Your palms should face up.
• Lower yourself by pushing through your heels until your knees are at 90 degrees.
• Breathe in and squeeze your glutes as hard as you can while keeping your back straight and shoulders down, then, push through your heels to raise your hips high enough so that they are level with your knees, or even a little higher.
• Pulse 3 times at the top of the motion before returning down to the starting position.
• Repeat.
3. Bench Single Leg Hip Thrust
Photo Source: Skimble Workout Trainer
The bench single-leg hip thrust is an exercise that isolates the gluteus maximus (the largest muscle of your butt) and works it through a range of motion, making it one of the most effective exercises you can do for building a strong and lifted butt.
This is a great exercise for targeting your lower glutes and hamstrings. This move forces you to use your body weight, and the single leg eliminates any potential for cheating by using your other leg.
By using a bench, you can also perform this exercise in a very stable manner, it’s unlikely you’ll lose your balance or fall over while performing it.
How to do:
• Lie with your shoulders on top of a bench, while keeping your arms extended on the sides, palms facing up, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Lower yourself by pushing through your heels until your knees are at 90 degrees.
• Keep one leg straight on the floor, and push through your heel the other one up into the air, squeezing your glutes as you do. Lower down and repeat
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4. Stationary Lunge
The stationary lunge exercise is one of the most effective lower-body exercises you can do. It’s a combination of two fitness staples, the lunge, and the squat, which makes it both challenging and versatile.
It also lets you work your muscles in different ways than a simple lunge might, depending on how you execute the move.
So what is this amazing exercise, exactly? Well, as its name implies, it’s going to get you working your legs and butt: your lower glutes are going to be engaged big time as you hold yourself in a split position throughout the exercise.
It’s a great unilateral movement with some intense focus on the lower glutes and the hip flexors, and it also offers an excellent stretch to your back leg.
You’re also going to feel it in your hamstrings, quads, calves, and lower back.
How to do:
• Start in a standing position with your feet hip-width apart.
• Step your right leg back so that your right foot is behind your left leg, and you are in a lunge position. Make sure your front thigh is parallel to the ground and that your right knee is at a 90-degree angle. Keep your back straight, and chest lifted.
• From this position, slowly lower yourself into a forward lunge until your back knee nearly touches the ground.
• Pause for a second and then push yourself back up to starting position, then repeat on the other side.
5. Step-Up with Toe-Tap
The step-up and toe-tap targets your glutes and quads but also challenge your balance and coordination. You will have to engage your abs throughout this movement, making it extra effective for getting flat abs in addition to toned muscles.
To do this exercise, you will need an elevated surface that you can balance your weight on a chair or bench of some sort will work fine.
How to do:
• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your sides.
• Stand up with one foot on a chair, or bench, with your weight on that foot. The other foot should be hanging off the platform, with the toe just barely touching the floor.
• Pull up the heel of your standing leg (the one on the platform) until your toes are tapping against it. If you can’t tap your toes against your heel, hold onto something for support until you can build up strength in that ankle and calf.
• While you’re still pulling up on your heel, slowly lower yourself down again until your heel is back on the ground.
6. Fire Hydrant
Photo Source: Women’s Health
The Fire Hydrant is a great exercise to help improve the strength, flexibility, and endurance of your glutes.
The fire hydrant is a favorite of mine for strengthening the glutes and hamstrings (backs of your legs). Fire hydrants are great for maintaining the range of motion in the hips.
It’s named for the physical position you’ll be in, which resembles that of a fire hydrant.
How to do:
• Get down on all fours. Your hands should be just below your shoulders and your knees directly below your hips. Keep your back straight and core tight.
• Don’t let your back arch or round as you lift the leg; keep a natural curve in the back.
• Lift your right leg to the side while keeping the other three limbs on the ground.
• Then bring that right foot back to the center and switch legs by extending the left one out to the side while keeping the right one back.
7. Grasshopper
Photo Source: Spotebi
I’d like to introduce you to a new exercise that I’ve been doing recently. It’s called Grasshopper, and it focuses on isolating the glutes and hip flexors.
The Grasshopper Exercise is a unique exercise that primarily targets the glutes or buttocks. Because of this, it’s important to do this exercise with your body weight only; you won’t get the same benefits if you add extra resistance to the movement.
How to do:
• Lie on your belly with your legs bent at 90 degrees, and place them on top of each other, forming a grasshopper shape. Prop yourself up with your forearms, or rest on your elbows if that’s more comfortable.
• Maintain good posture throughout the exercise. Keep your back straight and draw in your abdominals to help support your spine.
• Extend both legs up in the air towards the ceiling. Your toes should be pointed, and your foot flexed so that the arch of your heel is facing down toward the floor. Squeeze your glutes throughout the exercise.
• Hold for two seconds at the top, then slowly lower back down onto the mat.
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Last Thoughts:
Some might think that the lower glutes and hamstrings are the same. However, the lower glutes are a specific body part of the glute complex that can be targeted with certain workouts.
There are many ways to work the lower glutes, from squats and lunges to hip thrusts and step-ups. Experiment with many different exercises and pick out some of your favorites to add to your lower glutes workout routine.
Well, there you have it; some of the best exercises out there to target the lower glutes. Remember, to get the most out of your glutes, it is imperative to work them in a variety of angles not just in terms of training technique, but also load.
Stick to the exercises I’ve outlined above, and you will see results! Just remember that a little bit of effort goes a long way, so don’t give up too soon.
With regular exercise and realistic expectations, you can have a lifted butt in no time.
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