Glute Activation Exercises - How To See Results Fast!
Everybody wants a tight bum! Not only are your glutes the muscle shaping your bottom, but more importantly they perform vital movements.
Therefore it is reasonable, that you should train your glutes on a frequent basis. Still, many people think that by doing a couple of squats you are going to develop your glutes to its fullest extent.
Unfortunately, the glutes are more complex as they perform horizontal, vertical & rotational movements. Therefore glute isolation is essential in order to develop the muscle.
In this guide, we are going to show you how to activate your glutes to boost muscle growth while giving you an entire glute workout.
Anatomy of the Glutes
Prior to giving you the exercises, it is important for you to gain a basic understanding of your glutes. It is going to help you to figure out movements yourself that work your glutes.
Furthermore, it makes it easier for you to structure your own workouts as you will understand how to target each part of your glutes.
The glutes can be split into three different parts (simplified version) which each do separate types of movements.
Gluteus Maximus
This is the muscle group that you want to train if you want to shape your butt. It is responsible for hip extension but also the external hip rotation of your hip joint.
Gluteus Medius
The Gluteus Medius performs external rotation with your leg in front of you, while internally rotating your hips if you have your leg behind you.
Gluteus Minimus
As the name suggests it is the smallest muscle of your glutes, but it still performs important tasks such as hip abduction, flexion and also internal hip rotation.
It is important to target all three parts of your glutes during your exercise. Muscular dysbalance should be avoided at any time as it can lead to injury or mistakes in posture!
Why Glute Activation Is So Important
One issue with your glutes is that they are likely to be sleeping. Even right now you might be sitting on a chair, whereas your glutes are relaxing.
The main problem with sleeping glutes is, that they are going to have a very weak neuromuscular connection. To simplify this statement, you should think of your brain not being able to access your hip muscles with its full potential.
The neurons aren't firing properly, which is why in severe cases sitting can even lead to a neuromuscular breakdown. Therefore it is important to activate your glutes before starting out with intense glute exercise.
Another issue with glute activation is that you can often compromise with your leg muscles instead of using your glutes. The best examples are squats and deadlifts whereas athletes often primarily use their hamstrings/quads instead.
How To Activate Your Glutes
If you want to gain results quickly around your glutes & butt, while acquiring functional strength it is important to perform bodyweight isolation exercises.
For optimal glute activation, you need to choose movements whereas compensation with other muscle groups is nearly impossible.
Furthermore, it is important to perform the exercises at a full range of motion, to gain more out of the exercise. This is where isolation exercises come into play.
Foam Rolling
An excellent way to warm-up your glutes while increasing the blood flow is foam rolling. The foam roller works similar to a self-massage, which is going to stimulate your glutes. It helps you to become more sensitive in the area, while the pain/pressure helps you to start the neuromuscular connection.
Sitting can make your butt numb, while foam rolling is an excellent tool to start activating your glutes. The benefits of increased blood flow and the loosening of your fascia will prepare you for a glute workout.
Stretching
Similar to foam rolling stretching can help you a lot to activate your glutes. Especially dynamic stretching is going to prepare you for the workout, decreasing the risk of injury.
One of the best dynamic stretches for your glutes are straight leg swing, which you should integrate into your warm-up routine. Remember to do the exercise both sideways and frontways while keeping the movement as controlled as possible.
Best Activation Exercises
Once you went through a glute warm-up it is important to integrate activation exercises. As mentioned before isolation exercises are best as it makes compensation harder.
Below you are going to find a list & short explanation of some glute activation exercises.
If you do not have a glute specific workout yet, you can also find a section below explaining how to integrate these exercises into a workout routine.
Bodyweight Glute Bridge
One of the best glute activation exercises to target the gluteus maximus is the bodyweight glute bridge. The hip thrust motion has to be a part of your glute workout, while the exercise has a lot of different variations.
Start by laying on your back with your knees bent & your arms parallel to your lower body. Now you are going to push your hips up as far as you can while performing the motion at a controlled pace.
For increased glute activation you can hold the position at its highest point for 2-3 seconds and then slowly lower down your hips towards the floor again.
Since the exercise might be quite easy you can find some more challenging variations of the exercise.
Single-Leg Glute Bridge
Especially if you don't have access to weights or an elastic band, the single-leg glute bridge is going to be one of the best alternatives. Perform the exact same motion but with one leg being straight and above the ground at all times. This will add an element of balance around your hip flexors & gluteus while activating your glutes even more.
Remember to switch sides after each set to avoid muscular dysbalance!
Glute Bridge + Elastic Band
Another option to add resistance to the exercise would be to use an elastic band. Move the elastic band around your hips and attach it to the floor.
You can attach the elastic band to the floor by placing one dumbell to your left side and the other one to your right. Alternatively, you can also push the elastic band towards the floor with your own arms while performing the exercise.
Weighted Glute Bridge
For the weighted glute bridge (also known as barbell hip thrust) you are going to need a barbell and a bench. Position the weight right above your waist and lean against the bench with your upper back. Now perform the exact same motion, while trying to go all the way up.
If you can't thrust your hips all the way forward till your body is straight you need to lower the weight!
Posterior Plank
Another great bodyweight glute exercise is the posterior plank. It works best as a static exercise and can be integrated into your warm-up routine as the intensity is comparably low. Start by sitting on the floor with your arms supporting your back, while your fingers should be facing towards your feet.
Now you are going to lift your hips up until your body is entirely straight. Hold the position for at least 10-30 seconds before taking a short break. The exercise is going to work on the stabilizing muscles around your hips & glutes!
Band Side/Lateral Walks
One of the best exercises for your glutes is band sidewalks. Take an elastic band and attach it between your knees.
Now you are going to start walking sideways while having your knees slightly bent. Move only one leg at a time and maintain tension on the elastic band the entire time.
Alternatively, you can also put it between your ankles, which is going to make the exercise harder.
A key aspect of the exercise is to keep your knees facing outwards the entire time. If you notice your knees starting to go inwards you should use a weaker elastic band to make the exercise effective.
Glute Kickback
I think at some point everybody has seen the Glute Kickback in some kind of commercial, yoga classes or in the gym. Somehow the exercise managed to get a bad reputation as a "useless exercise".
But in fact, it can be very challenging with proper execution. Furthermore, you have the option to use a resistance band to increase the difficulty of the exercise.
Start on all fours while maintaining a straight back. Your knees are going to be on the ground while your legs are bent at a 90-degree angle. Now you slowly lift one knee up as high as you can.
There are two slight variations of the exercise:
- Keeping the leg that you lift bent
- Straightening your leg
It is important to do the exercise slowly and controlled while squeezing your glutes, to avoid any compensation with other muscles.
To increase the intensity of the exercise you can press an elastic band down to the floor with your hands while putting the elastic band around your foot.
This will make it significantly harder to perform the exercise with full range of motion, making it an excellent glute activation exercise.
Fire hydrant
The starting position of the fire hydrant is very similar to the glute kickback. But instead of moving the leg backward & up you are going to lift your leg to the side.
Keep the knee of the leg that you are lifting bent and focus on maintaining full range of motion.
It is quite easy to cheat in this exercise by tilting your upper body. Therefore you should put additional focus on keeping both hands on the floor while remaining a straight back.
Any twisting of your upper body is going to defeat the purpose of the exercise!
Standing Band Kicks
This exercise has been known as one of the best exercises to build your butt & gluteus maximus. You can perform this exercise with an elastic band or alternatively with the cable machine.
Stand facing the cable machine frontways while pulling the strap around your ankle. Start out with low weight and slowly lift your leg up towards the ceiling.
It is important to not bend your knees since the exercise should be performed with straight legs.
Once again you need to remember to switch sides to avoid weak glutes on one side. With the exercise it is important that your ground foot and your upper body are in a straight line. By bending your upper body you are going to make the exercise less effective.
The Glute Isolation Workout
Now if you want to integrate some of these exercises into an effective workout, we recommend the following approach.
- Take 1-2 exercises that primarily work your gluteus maximus
- Take 1-2 exercises that primarily work your gluteus medius
- Take 1-2 exercises that primarily work your gluteus minimus
If your main goal is to develop a better-looking physique you should focus on your gluteus maximus although it is important to work on every single muscle group of your glutes!
Once you've chosen the exercises it is important to know how many repetitions, sets & how often you should train.
To gain the best results you should use at least 2 days where you integrate/do a glute isolation workout.
Furthermore, you should do:
- 3-4 sets of each exercise
- 15-30 seconds of time under tension
- 30-60 seconds of rest between each exercise
Time under tension basically stands for how long you are going to perform the exercise. Alternatively, you can also think in repetitions where you should perform around 10-16 repetitions in a slow pace.
In case you are looking for an entire glute specific workout, you should check out "Unlock Your Glutes" it is the program that has made the most progress I've ever made around the glute muscles.
If that sounds like an interesting option, you can check out my review of the program!
Conclusion
When training your glutes it is vital to maintain control throughout the entire range of motion. Since there are muscles that can compensate for the movements you need to put additional focus on the exercises.
In case you have any glute isolation exercise that you feel like it missed out in the article, you can leave a comment and I will integrate it in the list!
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