How to grow your glutes: the exercises, sets and patience that build them

Load your hips through a full range

Hip thrusts and back squats grew the glutes about equally in a 9-week trial that scanned them, and full squats grew them about three times as much as half squats in another trial.

Sources 1, 2

Use more than one move

A squat or split squat, a hip thrust or bridge and a hip hinge, plus a side-hip move. Across 11 studies, single exercises and combinations grew the glutes alike, and the upper glutes and the smaller side glutes grew most with side-hip work in one small trial.

Sources 3, 4

Enough hard sets

Build towards 10 to 20 hard glute sets a week over 2 sessions, counting squats, lunges, deadlifts and leg presses, with 6 to 12 reps on heavy lifts and up to 20 on lighter moves. With the weekly sets matched, training more often didn't add growth.

Sources 5, 6, 7

Home works if the sets are hard

Light loads build muscle when sets end close to failure, and progressive bodyweight squats grew the glutes as much as barbell squats in a small trial of women new to training.

Sources 8, 9

Give it months

In 9 and 10-week trials the main glute muscle grew by about 2 to 9%. Strength rises sooner, and people vary hugely in how much they gain, partly through their genes.

Sources 1, 2, 10, 11

Muscle activity rankings aren't growth

The hip thrust lights up the glutes more than a squat does, but it didn't grow them more. Choose moves you can load and progress.

Sources 12, 1

Gluteus maximus

The large outer muscle that gives your bottom its shape. It straightens your hip with force, as when you stand up, climb or sprint, and turns the thigh out. Our gluteus maximus guide covers its anatomy.

Gluteus medius and minimus

Smaller muscles on the outer side of the hip, the minimus under the medius. They hold your pelvis level when you stand on one leg; our gluteus medius and minimus guides cover them.

What grows each

Loaded hip extension (hip thrusts, squats, deadlifts, split squats, step-ups and leg presses) grows the gluteus maximus. In the 9-week trial, neither hip thrusts nor squats grew the medius and minimus much; in one small trial, hip abduction grew the upper part of the maximus and the side glutes a little.

Sources 3, 1, 4

Shape

Trials measure muscle size, not shape. Glute training doesn't remove the fat over your glutes, and where your body stores fat is partly genetic: identical twins overfed by the same amount gained fat in similar places.

Source 13

Where people differ

Women and men gain lower-body muscle at similar rates, both in absolute terms and relative to their starting size. Older adults gain a little more slowly, and people vary hugely in how much they gain from the same training, partly through their genes.

Sources 14, 15, 10, 11

Training grows the glutesStrong evidence

Across 11 studies, strength training had a moderate effect on gluteus maximus size (a standardised mean difference of 0.71), similar for single exercises and combinations, and for trained and untrained people. The studies were small and of moderate quality.

Source 3

Hip thrusts and squats: about equalEmerging evidence

In 34 untrained adults training twice a week for 9 weeks (3 to 6 sets of 8 to 12 per session, taken to failure), hip thrusts and back squats grew the glutes by similar amounts on MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans; squats also grew the front and inner thighs more. Each group got stronger at its own lift: the hip thrust group added 63% to their hip thrust, the squat group 44% to their squat, and both about 15% to the deadlift. In 19 trained lifters, 6 weeks of hip-thrust-led and squat-led training grew glute thickness similarly.

Sources 1, 16

The trial that favoured squatsMixed evidence

In 22 trained women over 12 weeks, squats grew the glutes more than hip thrusts (9.4% against 3.7%). A 2025 review criticised its methods, and four other trials by its first author have been retracted; this one hasn't. Treat it as the weakest evidence here.

Sources 17, 3, 18, 19, 20, 21

Deeper squats grew the glutes moreEmerging evidence

In 17 men over 10 weeks, full squats (to about 140 degrees of knee bend) grew the gluteus maximus by 6.7%, against 2.2% for half squats, and grew the inner thighs more too. A review of 11 studies found a full range beat partial reps near the top for the glutes and inner thighs.

Sources 2, 22

Side-hip work for the upper and side glutesEmerging evidence

In one 10-week trial of 17 adults, each person trained one leg with cable hip extension and the other with hip abduction, about 10 sets a week. Hip extension grew the gluteus maximus more overall (9% against 5%), mostly its lower part, while abduction grew its upper part by about 10% and the medius and minimus by about 4%. It's one small trial, and we could read only its summary.

Sources 4, 1

Adding hip thrusts helped, with more setsEmerging evidence

In 33 untrained women over 10 weeks, adding hip thrusts to leg presses and stiff-leg deadlifts grew glute thickness more (9.3% against 6.0%). But the hip thrust group also did more sets, which may explain the difference.

Source 23

The leg press grows the glutes tooEmerging evidence

In 17 untrained adults who trained one leg on the leg press and the other on knee extensions for 12 weeks, the leg press grew the gluteus maximus by 15.4%, and knee extensions didn't.

Source 24

Muscle activity isn't growthStrong evidence

Step-ups, deadlifts, hip thrusts, split squats and lunges all drew very high glute activity across 16 studies, with step-ups at the top from one small study. But activity in a few reps isn't a validated predictor of growth, and the hip thrust's higher activity didn't grow the glutes more than squats did.

Sources 25, 12, 1

What works the side glutes hardestEmerging evidence

Across 56 studies, the hip hitch, side-lying hip abduction with the hip turned slightly in, single-leg bridges, lateral step-ups, and resisted standing abduction and side-steps drew the most gluteus medius and minimus activity. Our gluteus medius guide notes that clamshells score lower.

Source 26

You can grow them at homeEmerging evidence

In 13 sedentary women over 6 weeks, a 10-level bodyweight squat progression, from two legs to one, grew the gluteus maximus as much as barbell squats at 60 to 80% of maximum. A kneeling band hip extension programme also grew the glutes in a trial reported in a 2025 review, and across 28 studies light loads built as much muscle as heavy ones when sets were hard.

Sources 9, 3, 8

Enough sets, and how oftenStrong evidence

Muscle grew more with 10 or more hard sets per muscle a week in an overview of 137 reviews, with smaller returns as the sets went up. With the weekly sets matched, training a muscle once, twice or three times a week grew it about the same.

Sources 5, 27, 6, 7

Women and menStrong evidence

Across 29 studies, women and men gained similar muscle relative to their size; men gained slightly more in absolute terms in the upper body, but not in the lower body.

Source 14

Sets

About 10 to 20 hard glute sets a week, counting squats, split squats, lunges, deadlifts and leg presses as glute work. Our glute workout plan gives 16 to 18, about 5 of them side-hip work.

Sources 5, 6

Reps and how hard

Sets of 6 to 10 on hip thrusts and squats, 8 to 12 on split squats and hinges, and 12 to 20 on side-hip moves. Squats and deadlifts stop 2 or 3 reps short of failure, hip thrusts 1 to 3, and the last set of side-hip work can get within 0 to 2, as our glute plan sets out. Keep 3 or 4 reps to spare in your first two weeks.

Sources 8, 28

How often

Two glute sessions a week suits most people, as in our glute plan. Once the weekly sets match, training more often doesn't add growth.

Source 7

Rest

About 2 to 3 minutes between heavy sets of hip thrusts and squats, and 60 to 90 seconds for side-hip moves, as our plans' notes say.

Range

Squat as deep as you can control with your lower back staying still, and use the full range on hip thrusts and hinges. If deep squats pinch your hip or round your back, go a little shallower.

Sources 2, 22

Progress

Add reps until every set reaches the top of its range, then add the smallest weight step and start again at the bottom, as our plans' double progression does.

Food and recovery

About 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight a day, and no big calorie cut: a deficit of about 500 calories a day stopped lean-mass gains in pooled trials. You can still build muscle while losing fat, especially as a beginner with plenty of protein. Sleep 7 to 9 hours, as the NHS says adults need.

Sources 29, 30, 31, 32

Make the sets hard

Light loads build muscle when the last reps are hard. Single-leg moves, slower lowering, a backpack or dumbbells keep home sets within 1 or 2 reps of failure, as our glute plan's home option does.

Sources 8, 9

A home ladder

Glute bridges at 3 sets of 10 to 15 with a pause, then single-leg bridges at 3 sets of 8 to 12 each side, then a loaded bridge; split squats, then reverse lunges, then Bulgarian split squats at 3 sets of 6 to 10 each leg; step-ups at 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 12 each leg; single-leg Romanian deadlifts; and band walks and standing band abduction for the side of your hip. The doses come from our hip thrust, glute bridge, Bulgarian split squat and step-up guides.

Bands

Band kneeling hip extensions grew the glutes in one small trial reported in a 2025 review. Bands work when they make the sets hard, so choose one that leaves you with only 1 or 2 reps to spare.

Source 3

Strength first, size over months

In untrained adults, 9 weeks of twice-weekly hip thrusts raised their 3-rep maximum by 63% and grew the glutes measurably on MRI scans. In 9 and 10-week trials the gluteus maximus grew by about 2 to 9% overall, and up to 14% in one region.

Sources 1, 2, 4

People vary

After the same 12 weeks of arm training, biceps size changed by anything from 2% smaller to 59% bigger in 585 adults, and part of how people respond to training is genetic. Compare yourself with your own log, not with other people.

Sources 10, 11

Measuring progress

Log your loads and reps on hip thrusts, squats and split squats. Photos in the same light help; a tape round your hips measures fat as well as muscle, so it can mislead (our suggestion).

Back pain

Swap the back squat for the leg press, keep hip thrusts and back extensions light, and see our back pain guides, as our glute plan suggests. Our back pain rule: discomfort up to about 5 out of 10 is acceptable if it settles within an hour or so and is no worse the next morning; stop any move that sends pain down a leg.

Hip pain

A pinch at the front of the hip in deep squats or split squats: go a little shallower, or use a lower bench for your back foot, and see our hip impingement guide. With pain on the outside of the hip, keep side-hip work light and aim for no increase in that pain, as our hip bursitis guide advises.

Knee pain

Favour hip thrusts and deadlifts, and shorten your squats. Our knee rule: pain up to 2 out of 10 is fine, and up to 5 is acceptable if it settles by the next morning; for pain at one point just above or below the kneecap, keep it to 3 or less.

Pregnancy

In later pregnancy, the NHS advises avoiding lying flat on your back for more than a few minutes. Our rule starts after the first trimester: use a propped-up or side-lying bridge instead of floor bridges, and with pelvic girdle pain, limit one-sided moves such as single-leg bridges, split squats and step-ups, as our hip thrust and pregnancy guides say.

Source 33

Osteoporosis

Hinge with a long back and avoid lifting with your back rounded, as the UK consensus advises; do back extensions slowly, and learn kettlebell swings with a coach. Our osteoporosis guide has the detail.

Source 34

Call 999 (911 in the US)

For back pain with numbness around your genitals or bottom, new problems controlling your bladder or bowels, or pain, tingling or weakness in both legs, as our back pain guide explains. For severe hip pain after a fall or injury, or if you can't walk or put weight on your leg. During any exercise, stop and get help for chest pain or pressure, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting, as our plans advise.

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111

For severe hip pain that started suddenly without a fall, a swollen hip that feels hot, or hip pain with a high temperature and feeling unwell, as our hip pain guide explains. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.

See a GP

If hip pain stops your normal activities, affects your sleep or hasn't improved after 2 weeks, or back pain hasn't improved after a few weeks of looking after it at home. And if your bottom, thighs and lower legs are out of proportion with the rest of your body, feel painful, tender or heavy, and bruise easily: ask your GP about lipoedema, as our weight-loss guide explains.

When training or eating becomes harmful

The NHS lists spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape, eating very little and exercising too much among the signs of an eating disorder, and says to see a GP as soon as you can. Beat adds exercising to make up for eating or because of how you feel about your body, and feeling guilty or anxious when you can't train. Worrying a lot about one part of your body and comparing your looks with others' can be body dysmorphic disorder. Our eating disorders guide has Beat's helplines.

Sources 35, 36, 37

"Squats alone build the best glutes"Emerging evidence

Hip thrusts grew the glutes about as much as squats, and squats barely grew the side glutes, which side-hip work reaches. Deep squats are a great glute exercise, but not the only one.

Sources 1, 4, 2

"The hip thrust is the best glute exercise because it lights them up most"Strong evidence

The hip thrust's higher muscle activity didn't grow the glutes more than squats, and muscle activity readings aren't a validated guide to growth.

Sources 1, 12

"Clamshells and band walks will build big glutes"Mixed evidence

They work the side of the hip, but clamshells score low for the gluteus medius, and band work grows muscle only if it's hard enough. The main glute muscle grows from loaded hip extension.

Sources 26, 8

"Lifting will make women's legs bulky"Strong evidence

Muscle grows slowly, and you control the dose. If thigh growth isn't what you want, hip thrusts grew the thighs less than squats in the best trial.

Sources 14, 1

"Foods or supplements can grow your glutes"Strong evidence

Protein supports the growth that training starts, and extra protein stopped adding muscle at about 1.6 g per kg a day in 49 trials. Nothing replaces the training.

Source 29

"Train glutes every day for faster growth"Strong evidence

Training more often didn't add growth once the weekly sets matched. Two good glute sessions a week beat seven rushed ones.

Source 7

"Glutes need very high reps, or very heavy weights"Strong evidence

Light and heavy loads built similar muscle when the sets were hard. Heavier loads built more maximal strength.

Sources 8, 38