Stronger, Rounder, Bigger Glutes: The Best Intermediate Butt-Building Exercises
Butts are having a moment—and it’s about time. Strong glutes don’t just fill out your jeans, they make your back, hips, and knees stronger and more resilient. Strong butts improve performance, endurance, mobility, and longevity. But even though butts are now getting the recognition they deserve; North America is in a sort of “butt crisis.” From sedentary jobs to phenomena like Gluteal Amnesia, Dead Butt Syndrome, and Ozempic Butt, the message from the universe is clear: take care of your butt and your butt will take care of you!
Let’s say you’ve got your bridges, hip extensions, and other glute activation exercises down and you are ready to do some lifting. This small collection of glute-building exercises is a great next step that will help you build your butt fast!
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the best exercises and lifestyle and nutrition tips to ensure the best booty gains. These intermediate-level butt exercises will help you build strength, shape, and definition. These are large-multijoint movements that are perfect for people who have mastered the beginner gluteal activation moves (see Wake That Butt Up blog post) and want more results!
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Nutrition: feed your muscles
It is possible to be doing all the squats, lunges, and deadlifts in the world and still miss a big piece of the butt strength puzzle—nutrition. Here are a few rules to follow for building your backside:
Protein: make sure you are getting enough protein (most people don’t). Most people will want to aim for about 1 gram per pound of their goal body weight per day. So if I weigh 150, but want to get to 160, I would eat that many grams of protein per day. With a higher protein goal, most people find it useful to use whey protein or an amino complex to meet their daily needs.
Fiber: Eat fiber to help keep blood sugar stable. This prevents the body from cannibalizing the gains you make in the gym because your blood sugar gets low (your body will start to break down muscle and bone to raise blood sugar when it dips too low—yikes). You can even add a larch-based fiber supplement like Thorne FiberMend into your protein shake.
Creatine: creatine pulls water into the muscles and allows for stronger contractions, which means you can lift heavier and build more muscle. Don’t fall for cheap Chinese creatine that isn’t as bioavailable or pure as it could be. Instead, opt for a brand that uses Creapure®, like Thorne. FYI, when you buy directly from Thorne through this link., you get free shipping plus a special discount!
Lifestyle: keep your gains going
This might seem obvious to some, but your ability to build muscle is affected by things like stress, sleep, and recovery.
Unpopular opinion: Everyone needs a stronger, rounder butt—even butt models!
Sleep: be sure to get 7-9 hours of high-quality sleep per night to release muscle-building hormones and keep your blood sugar stable.
Stress: Have a good stress management strategy in place. Stress releases cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, which break down muscle. Having a good stress management practice modulates the stress response, making it easier to build muscle.
Recovery: Allowing yourself to engage in non-weightlifting activities like walking, yoga, and massage, helps your body recover faster. The better you recover, the harder you can go when it’s time to build muscle!
Exercise: tell your glutes to grow
Here are my favorite intermediate exercises for gluteal gains. Large, multijoint movements like these will give you the biggest bang for your buck.
You’ll see generalized recommendations for reps and sets under the descriptions. Based on your level of fitness, you may need to make some adjustments or consult a fitness professional for modifications and progressions.
Supported 1-Leg Romanian Dead Lift
This exercise effectively targets the glutes and activates the posterior chain. Using a wall for support enhances stability, allowing for heavier lifting and improved balance. Experience a powerful single-leg Romanian deadlift to strengthen your glute muscles.
Instructions:
1) Stand in front of a wall, bench, or chair. Pop your foot back and find a place where it feels supported and stable. If you use a bench or chair, press through the top of the foot for balance. If using a wall, press your foot into the wall for balance.
2) Keeping a microbend in your standing knee, brace your abs, hinge at the hips and push them backward. Try not to feel like you are only bending forward (you want to think that you are sending your hips back instead).
3) Return to standing and repeat for reps or time. Do on the other side.
Not sure where to start? Perform 10-12 repetitions for 2-3 sets, focusing on controlled movements and proper form.
Don’t have what you need for this? Find equipment recommendations here: https://www.omnifunction.us/blog/home-workout-must-haves
Hip Thrust & 1-Leg Hip Thrust
As I tell my personal training clients all the time, a strong butt is key to everything. Makes every part of your life better. This exercise is a great one for targeting the glutes and making them stronger. Try version 2 - It's a DOOZ!
Instructions:
1) Sit with your upper back against a secure weight bench or piece of furniture. It should hip you just below the shoulder blades.
2) Press evenly through your feet into the floor and lift your backside off the ground. You can do this single-legged by keeping one leg raised while you do this.
3) Return to starting position.
Repeat for reps or time.
Not sure where to start? Try this:
Perform 10-12 repetitions for 2-3 sets, focusing on controlled movements and proper form.
Dumbbell Front Squat
Strengthen Your Legs and Improve Mobility with this ass-blaster.
Let’s talk about the dumbbell front squat—it’s a fantastic way to build strength in your legs, glutes, and core, all while improving your mobility. When you do this exercise, you’re not just working your quads, glutes, and hamstrings; you’re also engaging your core, which is essential for a well-rounded strength training routine.
If this squat variation isn’t comfortable for you, try a dumbbell Goblet Squat instead (next video).
Instructions:
1) Stand with your feet hip to shoulder-width apart. Hold the dumbbells right in front of your shoulder and try not to rest the weights on your shoulders.
2) Bend your knees and hips and let yourself sit back into a squat. Let your knees stay in line with your feet. Keep your knees from collapsing inward.
3) Descend as close as possible to being parallel with the ground. Come back up. Repeat for reps.
Not sure where to start? Perform 10-12 repetitions for 2-3 sets, focusing on controlled movements and proper form.
If you don’t have a set of dumbbells, you can find workout equipment recommendations here: https://www.omnifunction.us/blog/home-workout-must-haves
DB Goblet Squat
The dumbbell goblet squat is a versatile lower-body exercise that targets the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and core, making it a staple in strength training programs.
Ideal for beginners and seasoned lifters, this movement helps improve mobility, stability, and functional strength while reinforcing proper squat mechanics.
Instructions:
1) Stand with your feet hip-to-shoulder-width apart. Hold the dumbbells right in front of your shoulder, trying not to rest the weights on your shoulders.
2) Bend your knees and hips and let yourself sit back into a squat. Keep your knees in line with your feet and keep your knees from collapsing inward.
3) Descend as close as possible to being parallel with the ground. Come back up.
Repeat for reps or time.
Not sure where to start? Try this:
Perform 10-12 repetitions for 2-3 sets, focusing on controlled movements and proper form.
Need dumbbells? Find equipment recommendations here: https://www.omnifunction.us/blog/home-workout-must-haves
Bodyweight Bulgarian Split Squat
The Bulgarian Split Squat is a unilateral lower-body exercise that builds strength, balance, and mobility. By elevating the back foot on a bench or plyo box, this movement increases the challenge to the front leg, targeting the quadriceps, glutes, and stabilizing muscles.
Why It Works: This movement improves single-leg strength, enhances balance, and increases mobility in the hips and ankles. It's an effective bodyweight exercise that can be progressed by adding weights or increasing range of motion.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
1) Stand a few feet in front of a bench or plyo box and reach one foot back, resting the top of your foot on the box. You can check your alignment by bending both knees deeply and making sure your back knee is under or slightly behind the hip and the front foot is under the front knee.
2) Bend both knees and imagine trying to get your back knee to touch down on the floor. Get as low as possible.
3) Push through the front foot and return to the top position.
Repeat for reps.
Not sure where to start? Try this:
Perform 10-12 repetitions for 2-3 sets, focusing on controlled movements and proper form.
Slider Reverse Lunge
This is a great exercise for building glute and quad strength. You can really feel it in your legs and it kinda feels fancy to use a slider. If you want to progress it, hold dumbbells at your sides or in front rack position (like how you would in a DB front squat). You can use a towel if a slider is not available.
Instructions:
1) Step the front part of your foot onto the slider.
2) Bend knees and hips as you push that foot back
3) Pull the slider forward as you return to starting position.
Repeat on other side.
Not sure where to start? Try this:
Perform 10-12 repetitions for 2-3 sets, focusing on controlled movements and proper form.
Slider Lateral Lunge
This is a great example of a glute-dominant lunge, since you have no choice but to lean forward as you push the hips back. Putting your body in this position encourages the glutes to do most of the work, which is a great thing if you’re trying to grow your butt! Use a towel if slider is not available.
Instructions:
1) Put half your foot onto the slider.
2) Bend the opposite knee and hip, sitting back. Let the foot on the slider move away from your body as far as you are comfortable with.
3) Return to starting position, using the muscles on the inside of the leg to pull it back toward your body.
Repeat for reps and then do the other side.
Not sure where to start? Try this:
Perform 10-12 repetitions for 2-3 sets, focusing on controlled movements and proper form.
Keep Going
Growing glutes takes a little time. Be patient with yourself and stay consistent!
Making gains takes at least 6 weeks since that’s about how long it takes the body to make adaptations. You will probably see strength gains before 6 weeks, which is always encouraging to see. Remember, strength comes first, then muscle growth. I’m giving you the TLDR version because the real one is a long, science-y explanation that pretty much nobody except the most technical of gym bros wants to hear. And that’s not who I’m mainly trying to help with this.