10 Best Glute Exercises at Home With or Without Weights

Glute exercises at home can help you build stronger, more developed glutes using bodyweight, dumbbells, or both. You don’t need a gym to train your glutes effectively, but you do need proper technique, enough resistance, and consistent workouts.

These 10 exercises target different parts of your glutes, from basic hip extensions to more challenging single-leg movements. You’ll also find two ready-to-use home workouts and practical tips for making progress.

10 Best Glute Exercises at Home

The best home glute exercises combine hip extension, squatting, lunging, and hip abduction. Together, these movements help strengthen the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus while improving lower-body control.

You don’t need to perform all 10 exercises in one session. Choose four or five that match your experience, available equipment, and training goals.

1. Glute Bridge

The glute bridge is one of the simplest ways to start strengthening your glutes at home. It trains hip extension without requiring weights or much space, making it particularly useful for beginners.

Best for: Beginners, glute strengthening, and learning controlled hip extension.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, hamstrings, and core stabilizers.

Equipment: Exercise mat; optional dumbbell.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2–3 sets of 12–15 repetitions, resting 45–60 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, approximately hip-width apart.
2. Keep your arms beside your body and gently brace your abdominal muscles.
3. Press through your feet and squeeze your glutes to raise your hips.
4. Lift until your shoulders, hips, and knees form approximately a straight diagonal line.
5. Pause briefly at the top, then slowly lower your hips to the floor.

Common mistakes: Avoid lifting your hips so high that your lower back arches excessively. Keep your knees aligned with your feet and use controlled movements rather than pushing through your lower back.

Make it harder: Hold a dumbbell securely across your hip crease or progress to a single-leg glute bridge.

2. Bodyweight Squat

Bodyweight squats strengthen your glutes while also training your thighs and improving lower-body movement control.

They’re especially useful at home because you can start without equipment and gradually add resistance as your strength improves.

Best for: Overall lower-body strength and beginners learning squat technique.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, quadriceps, adductors, and core stabilizers.

Equipment: None; optional dumbbell.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2–3 sets of 10–15 repetitions, resting 60–90 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Stand with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart and toes pointing slightly outward.
2. Brace your abdomen and extend your arms forward if needed for balance.
3. Bend your hips and knees to lower into a squat.
4. Keep your feet planted, knees tracking in the direction of your toes, and spine naturally aligned.
5. Lower as far as you can comfortably control, then press through your feet to return to standing.

Common mistakes: Avoid letting your knees collapse inward, lifting your heels, or rounding your lower back to reach a deeper position. Use a comfortable depth rather than forcing your hips lower.

Beginner modification: Squat toward a sturdy chair to practice controlled lowering. You can lightly touch the seat before standing again.

Make it harder: Hold one dumbbell in front of your chest to perform a goblet squat.

3. Reverse Lunge

Reverse lunges challenge one leg at a time, helping strengthen your glutes and thighs while developing balance and coordination.

Stepping backward also allows you to practice controlled single-leg loading without needing elevated equipment.

Best for: Unilateral glute strength, balance, and lower-body coordination.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, quadriceps, gluteus medius, hamstrings, and core stabilizers.

Equipment: None; optional dumbbells.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions per leg, resting 60–90 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Stand upright with your feet approximately hip-width apart.
2. Step your right foot backward, placing the ball of that foot on the floor.
3. Bend both knees and lower your body until your rear knee approaches the floor.
4. Keep your front foot planted, your front knee aligned with your toes, and your torso controlled.
5. Press through your front foot to return to standing.
6. Repeat on the opposite leg.

Common mistakes: Avoid stepping directly behind your front foot on a narrow line, losing your balance, or dropping too quickly. Maintain enough side-to-side distance between your feet for stability.

Beginner modification: Hold a wall or sturdy support lightly for balance and use a smaller lowering range.

Make it harder: Hold dumbbells at your sides.

4. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift strengthens your glutes and hamstrings through a hip-hinge movement.

Unlike a squat, the emphasis is on pushing your hips backward while keeping your knees slightly bent. This makes it a valuable addition to a balanced glute workout.

Best for: Glute and hamstring strength, hip-hinge technique, and progressive resistance training.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, hamstrings, spinal erectors, and core stabilizers.

Equipment: Two dumbbells.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions, resting 90–120 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs.
2. Keep your knees slightly bent and brace your abdominal muscles.
3. Push your hips backward while lowering the dumbbells close to your legs.
4. Maintain a neutral spine and continue until you feel a comfortable stretch in your hamstrings.
5. Press through your feet and bring your hips forward to return to standing.

Common mistakes: Avoid rounding your back, bending your knees excessively, or lowering the weights farther than your hip mobility allows. The movement should come primarily from your hips, not your lower back.

Without weights: Practice a bodyweight hip hinge using the same movement pattern. This is useful for learning technique, although it provides less resistance than the dumbbell variation.

Progression: Increase dumbbell weight gradually once you can maintain a controlled hip hinge throughout every repetition.

The National Academy of Sports Medicine’s exercise guidance also emphasizes keeping the weights close to the legs and maintaining spinal alignment.

5. Bodyweight Step-Up

Step-ups strengthen your glutes and thighs while practicing a movement used in everyday activities, such as climbing stairs.

The exercise challenges your working leg to lift your body against gravity, making it useful for functional strength and balance.

Best for: Glute strength, single-leg control, and functional lower-body movement.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, quadriceps, gluteus medius, hamstrings, and calves.

Equipment: Low, sturdy step or staircase; optional dumbbells.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions per leg, resting 60–90 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Stand facing a low, stable step or the bottom stair of a staircase.
2. Place your entire right foot securely on the elevated surface.
3. Brace your core and press through your right foot to lift your body.
4. Stand upright on the step while keeping your hips and knees controlled.
5. Slowly step backward to the floor.
6. Complete your repetitions before switching legs.

Common mistakes: Avoid pushing excessively from your trailing foot, allowing your front knee to collapse inward, or dropping quickly during the downward phase.

Beginner modification: Use a lower step and hold a railing or stable support for balance.

Make it harder: Increase the resistance with dumbbells once you can step up and down confidently. A higher step may also increase difficulty, but only if you can maintain control.

Safety tip: Never use an unstable chair, lightweight stool, or movable piece of furniture as your stepping platform.

6. Bodyweight Hip Thrust

The hip thrust is a glute-focused movement that resembles a glute bridge but uses a different body position.

Your upper back rests against a stable elevated support, allowing a larger hip movement than the standard floor bridge.

Best for: Glute-focused strength training and progressing beyond basic bridges.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, hamstrings, and core stabilizers.

Equipment: Stable padded bench or secure elevated support; optional dumbbell.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2–3 sets of 10–15 repetitions, resting 60–90 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Sit on the floor with your upper back supported against the edge of a stable, padded bench.
2. Bend your knees and position your feet flat on the floor, approximately hip-width apart.
3. Adjust your feet so your shins are nearly vertical at the top of the movement.
4. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes to raise your hips.
5. Stop when your shoulders, hips, and knees form approximately a straight line.
6. Pause briefly before slowly lowering your hips.

Common mistakes: Avoid lifting through excessive lower-back arching, placing your feet too far forward, or using a bench that slides during the movement.

Beginner modification: Perform a floor glute bridge if you don’t have suitable elevated support.

Make it harder: Place a padded dumbbell securely across your hip crease and hold it in position with both hands.

7. Bodyweight Split Squat

The split squat strengthens your glutes and quadriceps using a stationary staggered stance.

Unlike reverse lunges, your feet remain in position throughout the set. This allows you to concentrate on controlled lowering and lifting without repeatedly stepping backward.

Best for: Unilateral lower-body strength and controlled glute loading.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, quadriceps, gluteus medius, and core stabilizers.

Equipment: None; optional dumbbells.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions per leg, resting 60–90 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Stand with one foot forward and the other behind you, leaving enough width between your feet for balance.
2. Keep your front foot flat and your rear heel raised.
3. Brace your abdomen and lower your body by bending both knees.
4. Lower until your rear knee approaches the floor or you reach a comfortable depth.
5. Push through your front foot to return to the starting position.
6. Complete your repetitions before switching legs.

Common mistakes: Avoid placing your feet in a straight line, lifting your front heel, or allowing your front knee to collapse inward. Keep your movements steady rather than bouncing at the bottom.

Beginner modification: Hold a sturdy chair or wall for balance.

Make it harder: Hold dumbbells at your sides or increase the lowering time to approximately three seconds.

8. Single-Leg Glute Bridge

The single-leg glute bridge increases the challenge of a standard bridge by requiring one leg to support the lifting movement.

It also requires your abdominal and hip stabilizers to work harder to prevent your pelvis from twisting.

Best for: Intermediate bodyweight training, unilateral glute strength, and pelvic control.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, hamstrings, gluteus medius, and core stabilizers.

Equipment: Exercise mat.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2 sets of 8–12 repetitions per leg, resting 45–75 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
2. Lift your left foot and bring your left knee comfortably toward your chest.
3. Keep your right foot planted and your arms resting beside your body.
4. Brace your abdomen and press through your right foot to lift your hips.
5. Keep your pelvis level without rotating your torso.
6. Slowly lower your hips and repeat before switching sides.

Common mistakes: Avoid twisting your hips, arching your lower back, or pushing too high. Maintain a controlled lifting range throughout the exercise.

Beginner modification: Continue using the standard two-leg glute bridge until you can lift and lower your hips without losing alignment.

9. Quadruped Bent-Knee Hip Extension

Also commonly called a donkey kick, the quadruped bent-knee hip extension trains your glutes while you support your body on your hands and knees.

It is useful when you want a controlled glute exercise without weights or complicated equipment.

Best for: Bodyweight glute training and learning to extend the hip without moving the lower back.

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, with abdominal and other trunk muscles providing stability.

Equipment: Exercise mat; optional ankle weight.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2 sets of 12–15 repetitions per leg, resting 45–60 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Start on your hands and knees, positioning your hands beneath your shoulders and knees beneath your hips.
2. Gently brace your abdomen and maintain a neutral spine.
3. Keep your right knee bent approximately 90 degrees.
4. Squeeze your right glute and raise your thigh backward and upward, directing your heel toward the ceiling.
5. Stop before your lower back arches or your pelvis rotates.
6. Slowly lower your knee and repeat before switching legs.

Common mistakes: Avoid swinging your leg, rotating your hips, or lifting your thigh so high that your lower back takes over.

Make it harder: Add a light ankle weight while maintaining the same controlled movement.

10. Side-Lying Hip Abduction

Side-lying hip abduction emphasizes the muscles along the outer hip, particularly the gluteus medius.

These muscles help stabilize your pelvis during walking, standing on one leg, and other lower-body movements.

Best for: Outer-glute strengthening and hip stability.

Muscles worked: Gluteus medius and minimus, with assistance from other hip abductors.

Equipment: Exercise mat; optional ankle weight.

Sets, reps, and rest: 2–3 sets of 12–20 repetitions per leg, resting 45–60 seconds.

How to Do It:

1. Lie on your side with your head comfortably supported by your lower arm.
2. Bend your bottom knee slightly for stability and keep your top leg straight.
3. Stack your hips and gently brace your abdominal muscles.
4. Position your upper leg in line with or slightly behind your torso, keeping your foot facing mostly forward.
5. Slowly lift your upper leg upward and slightly backward without rotating your pelvis.
6. Lower the leg under control and repeat before switching sides.

Common mistakes: Avoid rolling your hips backward, turning your toes toward the ceiling, or raising your leg beyond the range you can control.

Make it harder: Use a light ankle weight or briefly pause at the top of each repetition.

What Muscles Do Glute Exercises Work?

Your glutes consist of three main muscles that work together to move and stabilize your hips.

Glute muscle	Main function	Useful home exercises
Gluteus maximus	Extends the hip and helps generate lower-body force	Glute bridges, hip thrusts, squats, Romanian deadlifts
Gluteus medius	Moves the leg outward and stabilizes the pelvis	Side-lying hip abduction, step-ups, reverse lunges
Gluteus minimus	Assists hip abduction, hip rotation, and stability	Side-lying hip abduction and single-leg exercises

The Cleveland Clinic’s glute muscle anatomy guide explains how these three muscles contribute to walking, standing, climbing stairs, and maintaining pelvic stability.

For balanced glute training, combine exercises that extend your hips with movements that challenge single-leg stability and hip abduction. You don’t need a separate exercise for every individual muscle.

At-Home Glute Workout Without Weights

This beginner-friendly workout requires only an exercise mat and enough space to move comfortably.

It combines a squat, hip-extension movement, unilateral exercise, and outer-glute exercise.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Bodyweight Squat	2	10–12	60 seconds
Glute Bridge	2	12–15	45–60 seconds
Reverse Lunge	2	8–10 per leg	60–90 seconds
Side-Lying Hip Abduction	2	12–15 per leg	45–60 seconds

Frequency: Twice per week, with at least one recovery day between challenging sessions.

Effort level: Choose a pace and range of motion that allow you to finish each set with approximately 2–3 controlled repetitions still possible.

Beginner tip: If you’re completely new to exercise, start with one set of each movement and build toward two sets as your strength and confidence improve.

Progression: Gradually increase repetitions within the suggested range. Once the exercises become easy, progress to harder variations or introduce resistance.

You can substitute supported split squats for reverse lunges if you prefer keeping your feet stationary.

At-Home Glute Workout With Dumbbells

This routine is better suited to people who already understand basic squat, hinge, and lunge techniques.

Dumbbells allow you to increase resistance without needing gym machines.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift	3	8–12	90–120 seconds
Dumbbell Split Squat	2	8–10 per leg	90 seconds
Dumbbell Hip Thrust	3	10–12	90 seconds
Side-Lying Hip Abduction	2	15–20 per leg	45–60 seconds

Frequency: Twice per week, allowing sufficient recovery between sessions.

Effort level: Use weights that make the final few repetitions challenging while leaving approximately 1–3 good repetitions in reserve.

Progression: Once you consistently reach the upper end of the repetition range with correct technique, increase the dumbbell weight by a manageable amount.

If you don’t have a secure support for hip thrusts, substitute weighted floor glute bridges.

You do not need to complete both sample workouts on the same day. Choose the routine that matches your current level.

How to Make Glute Exercises Harder at Home

Your glutes need a gradually increasing training challenge to continue developing strength and muscle.

The American College of Sports Medicine’s 2026 resistance training review supports progressive resistance training, including home-based and elastic-band exercise, for improving muscular fitness.

Here are practical ways to progress without making workouts unnecessarily complicated.

1. Increase Your Repetitions

Start with a manageable repetition target and gradually work toward the upper end of the recommended range.

For example, progress from 10 glute bridges to 15 while keeping every repetition controlled.

2. Add Dumbbells or Resistance Bands

When bodyweight becomes too easy, external resistance can make exercises more challenging.

Dumbbells work particularly well for squats, Romanian deadlifts, lunges, split squats, and hip thrusts.

3. Use More Challenging Variations

Progress from simpler movements to harder versions.

For example:

• Glute bridge to single-leg glute bridge.
• Bodyweight squat to goblet squat.
• Supported split squat to an unsupported or weighted split squat.

Harder variations should still allow you to maintain good technique.

4. Increase Training Volume Gradually

Adding another set can provide a greater training challenge when you’re recovering well.

However, more sets aren’t automatically better. Begin with a manageable amount of training and increase your workload only when needed.

5. Improve Control Before Adding Resistance

Use a full, comfortable range of motion and control the lowering portion of each repetition.

Avoid using momentum or adding weights before you’re ready.

Practical rule: Make one small progression at a time. Improving repetitions, resistance, or technique consistently is more useful than changing everything each workout.

Common Glute Training Mistakes to Avoid

1. Only Performing Glute Bridges

Glute bridges are useful, but relying on a single movement can limit the variety of training challenges your glutes receive.

Combine hip extension with squats, lunges, hinges, and hip abduction.

2. Using Momentum Instead of Muscle Control

Swinging your legs during donkey kicks or rushing through squats can make it difficult to maintain consistent technique.

Use deliberate movements and control both the lifting and lowering phases.

3. Arching Your Lower Back During Hip Extensions

Excessive lower-back arching is a common mistake during glute bridges, hip thrusts, and quadruped hip extensions.

Brace your abdomen and stop the movement when your hips can no longer extend without compensating through your spine.

4. Never Increasing the Difficulty

Repeating the same easy workout indefinitely may provide less training stimulus as your body adapts.

Increase repetitions, resistance, or exercise difficulty when appropriate.

5. Doing Too Much Too Soon

Adding excessive sets, difficult single-leg movements, or heavy dumbbells before developing basic technique can make training harder to recover from.

Start with exercises you can perform well and progress gradually.

6. Ignoring Recovery

Your glutes need time to recover between demanding sessions.

Avoid repeatedly training them hard when you’re still experiencing substantial fatigue or soreness that affects your technique.

How Often Should You Train Your Glutes at Home?

For most beginners, two glute-focused workouts per week provide a practical starting point.

More experienced exercisers may train their glutes two or three times weekly, depending on overall training volume, exercise intensity, and recovery.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends muscle-strengthening exercise on at least two days each week, covering all major muscle groups.

For effective home training:

• Warm up for 5–10 minutes with comfortable walking, marching, and gentle lower-body movements.
• Perform your most challenging compound exercises before smaller isolation movements.
• Use an appropriate level of effort without sacrificing control.
• Allow adequate recovery between challenging glute sessions.
• Continue training your other major muscle groups for balanced strength.

You don’t need to train your glutes every day to make progress.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can You Build Glutes at Home Without Weights?

Yes. Bodyweight glute exercises can help build strength and muscle, particularly if you’re new to resistance training.

Glute bridges, squats, lunges, split squats, and single-leg exercises can provide useful training challenges.

As you become stronger, you may need more challenging exercise variations or external resistance to continue building muscle effectively.

2. What Is the Best Glute Exercise for Beginners?

The glute bridge is a good starting exercise because it requires little equipment and allows you to practice hip extension while your upper body remains supported on the floor.

Bodyweight squats are another useful choice for strengthening the glutes and thighs.

Beginners can combine both exercises rather than relying on only one.

3. How Often Should I Do Glute Exercises at Home?

Start with two sessions per week and allow at least one recovery day between challenging workouts.

If you’re recovering well and want additional training volume, you can gradually work toward three sessions per week.

4. Are Squats Enough to Build Your Glutes?

Squats can strengthen and develop your gluteus maximus, especially when performed with sufficient effort and progressively increased resistance.

However, combining squats with hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts, or single-leg movements provides a wider variety of training challenges.

5. How Many Glute Exercises Should I Do Per Workout?

For most beginners and intermediate exercisers, approximately three to five well-chosen exercises are enough for a focused glute workout.

Choose movements that train different patterns instead of performing numerous nearly identical exercises.

6. Do You Need Dumbbells to Grow Your Glutes?

No. Dumbbells aren’t necessary to begin building glute strength or muscle.

However, dumbbells provide a convenient way to increase resistance as bodyweight exercises become easier.

For continued muscle development, the important factor is having a sufficiently challenging training stimulus, not using one particular type of equipment.

The Bottom Line

The best glute exercises at home are the ones you can perform consistently with proper technique and enough resistance to challenge your muscles.

Start with bodyweight movements such as glute bridges, squats, and reverse lunges. As your strength improves, introduce harder single-leg variations or add dumbbells to exercises such as Romanian deadlifts and hip thrusts.

Choose four or five exercises, train consistently two or three times per week, and gradually increase the challenge as you become stronger. A simple, progressive routine is more useful than constantly changing exercises.

References

1. American College of Sports Medicine — Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance (2026)
2. American Council on Exercise — Glute Goals: An Evidence-Based Glute Workout (2026)
3. Cleveland Clinic — Gluteal Muscles: Anatomy and Function
4. National Academy of Sports Medicine — Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
5. American Council on Exercise — Glute Bridge Exercise
6. American Council on Exercise — Side-Lying Hip Abduction

This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.