How to Strengthen My Glutes
Your glutes, also referred to as your butt muscles, are the strongest muscle group in the body. When they contract, they extend your hips or pull your legs back, keep your torso upright and abduct your hips. You recruit them whenever you bend over or squat down. Glute strength is beneficial to athletes and the general community alike, as bending over or squatting down are both regularly done during sports and daily activities. Strengthening your glutes requires consistent participation in strength-training exercises that effectively target the muscle group.
Step 1
Complete strength-training exercises for your glutes two to three days per week on nonconsecutive days. If you workout two days, do so on Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays. If you workout three days, do so on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. This allows your glutes the rest they need to recover between sessions.
Step 2
Complete two to four exercises that target your glutes during each training session. Effective glute exercises include squats, lunges, stepups and deadlifts.
Step 3
Perform each exercise with the correct technique. For squats, keep your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider. Push your butt back while bending your knees to keep your knees from moving past the line of your toes as you're squatting down. During lunges, keep your torso upright and lower your back knee straight down to keep your front knee from crossing the vertical line of your toe. With stepups, keep the foot that you step up onto the box completely on the box; do not allow your heel to hang off the edge. Keep your back straight and head up while you bend at the waist during deadlifts.
Step 4
Complete two to three sets of eight to 10 repetitions of each exercise. Rest one to three minutes in between each set.
Step 5
Add resistance to each exercise as necessary. You should feel fatigued during the final two to three repetitions of each set. If you're able to complete more than 10 repetitions with ease, add dumbbells or a barbell to increase the total resistance.
Things You'll Need
Free weights
Plyo box
Tip
Vary the exercises, number of sets and repetitions, and the amount of resistance you use frequently. Doing the same volume of workout will eventually lead to a plateau.
Warning
Master the technique of each exercise prior to adding resistance. Squats and lunges can place your knee joints in a susceptible position if you allow your knees to move forward past the line of your toes and deadlifts done incorrectly can place extraneous stress on your lower back.
