3 Best Exercises to Grow the Glutes

What are the best exercises to grow my glutes? We sat down with personal trainer Jake Duckenfield to find out. He tells us that his 3 favourite glute exercises are sumo deadlifts, hip thrusts and back squats. 

All of these exercises are compound movements as opposed to isolation movements. This is because it is easier to grow the glutes whilst incorporating other lower body muscles. The glutes are composed of three muscles; gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus. 

These compound movements that are discussed in the video on our YouTube channel incorporate all three of the glute muscles. Here are Jake’s top tips and instructions for executing the exercises. 

Sumo deadlifts

• Feet further apart than a normal deadlift 
• Elbows tucked inside knees
• Bar at shins 
• Engage lats
• Sit back into heels
• Squeeze glutes

Barbell hip thrust  

• Squeeze glutes at the top of the movement for a minimum of 3 seconds
• Heavier the resistance the more effective it will be 
• Chin down touching chest 
• Hips extended upwards 

Back squat

• Hips past knees
• Squeeze glutes when extending upwards
• Squeeze glutes for 3 seconds

For each exercise, Jake recommends 6-8 reps, repeated over 2-3 sets. It is also important to practice each movement to ensure your technique improves. 

Progressive resistance training is also the most effective way to ensure progression and results. This kind of training is where you progressively add on weight/resistance to your workouts. Jake also recommends adding a bit of weight on each week to your workouts.