The 10 Best Exercises for Competition-Ready Glutes

Why It Works: Yeah, we know, the Smith machine gets a bad rap. But trust us: It’s perfect for this exercise. “The Smith machine allows you to focus on the upward power thrust with your glutes,” Davis says. “There’s no need to worry about balancing the bar on your hips, which normally overworks your lower back.”

How to Do It: Set a bench parallel to the barbell in the Smith machine rack. Adjust the bench so the barbell lands on your hips when your upper back is on the bench. Unrack the barbell, and while keeping your back straight, lower your hips until your legs are at a roughly 45-degree angle to the floor. Pause slightly at the bottom, then explosively drive your hips upward. That’s one rep.

Why It Works: “These are great for targeting the upper section of the glute, which gives them a fuller look,” Davis says.

How to Do It: Place a mini band around your knees or calves. Set your feet shoulder-width apart. Fire your glutes, and then take 10 slow lateral steps to the right, making sure to set each foot before moving the other. You should feel your upper glutes activate. 

Why It Works: By doing these essential glute-builders one leg at a time, “you access more muscle fibers and better activate your glutes,” Davis says.

How to Do It: You can do these with or without weight, but either way the fundamentals are the same. Set up with your feet square on the floor and your upper back on a bench, or on the floor. Pick up one foot and extend the leg (this is the non-working leg). Fire the glute of your other leg and drive your hips up. That’s one rep; switch sides and repeat with the other leg.

Why It Works: If you thought regular Romanian deadlifts were tough (and they are), then wait ’til you try the single-leg variety. “These force your hip stabilizers and glute medius to work,” Davis says. “Engaging all these smaller muscles stimulates more detailed development of the glutes.” They hammer your hamstrings, too.

How to Do It: Lots of guys don’t have a lot of hamstring flexibility, so balance can become an issue with this exercise. The trick to single-leg RDLs is to focus on raising your back leg. Deadlift a barbell into the top of a deadlift position, so you’re standing up with the barbell in your hands. Slowly start raising one of your legs while lowering the bar down, focusing on maintaining a straight, flat back. Lower the barbell until you feel a stretch in the hamstring of your stable leg, then raise the bar and lower your free leg again. That’s one rep. (If a barbell is too balance-intensive for you, use dumbbells first.)

Why It Works: “This exercise is all about speed and power of your hips,” Davis says. “It’s great for developing bigger fast-twitch muscle fibers and pumping blood into the glutes.”

How to Do It: People have written entire books on proper kettlebell swing mechanics, but the most important factor to remember is that this is a glute exercise, not a shoulder-and-back exercise. Power the kettlebell upward with an explosive hip drive—as you would with a clean. As the kettlebell comes down, make sure you hinge at the hips and not the back to absorb the momentum and redirect it upward.

Why It Works: A classic all-purpose leg exercise, the walking dumbbell lunge is also practical for building balanced, symmetrical strength. “In this exercise, each leg is alternating between absorbing and exerting force,” Davis says. If you feel like your legs or glutes are asymmetrical, prioritize this exercise.

How to Do It: Grab a dumbbell in each hand. Step forward with one foot, then lower yourself into a lunge, making sure to stay balanced. As you rise upward, step forward with your back foot so it’s even with your lead foot again. Alternate lead legs with each step, as you would when you’re normally walking.

Why It Works: Squats are already a bodybuilder’s best friend, but this method introduces a few particularly glute-intensive variations. Sumo-style squats emphasize glute strength; the pause at the bottom adds time under tension; the extra half-rep forces you to focus on the exercise form and not “cheat” the squat depth.

How to Do It: Start with lighter weight than you ordinarily would use for a traditional sumo squat. (You may also want to hold a dumbbell in front of you, as with a goblet squat.) Sit back, fire your glutes, and lower yourself to full squat depth, then pause. Hold that position for two counts, then rise only halfway back to the top. Pause slightly again, then lower yourself back to the bottom. Pause one last time, and then return to the top of the move. That’s one rep.

Why It Works: Donkey kicks are a staple of the glute repertoire—and adding some extra resistance from a cable machine or a band makes them even more effective. “This exercise completely isolates the glutes, [making it] relatively easy to ‘find’ the contraction,” Davis says. 

How to Do It: Perform this as you would a standard donkey kick, but wrap a cable attachment around your ankle and face away from the cable pulley, or use a band as shown. Start on your hands and knees. Keep your core tight and keep your hips neutral relative to your spine. Fire your core and glutes and raise the weighted leg. “Be sure to limit hyperextension of the lower back to keep the exercise glute-dominant,” Davis says.

Why It Works: “Because you externally rotate your hips while extending your legs, this exercise helps develop the lower muscles of the glutes,” Davis says. “That creates a rounder shape.”

How to Do It: Lie face-down on the ground. Raise your legs into the air, bending your knees slightly and rotating your legs outward from the hip. Focus on firing your glutes and your core to keep your body stable.

Why It Works: Clamshells are a staple of physical therapy routines and mobility training, but they also bring laser focus to laterally train smaller glute muscles like the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. The clamshell movement pattern is difficult to emulate in other exercises too, making it a glute-building essential.

How to Do It: Lie down on your side, bend your knees, and bring them together. Wrap a band around both legs to provide resistance. Slowly open and close your knees (like a clam’s shell opening and closing). Maintain a tight core to ensure your glutes handle the work, not other muscles.