How to Build Your Glute Muscles at Home
Think about your glutes much? Probably not. After all, people tend to sit for 8-10 hours every day. It’s only natural that we might also sit on making a plan to improve our glutes.
The increasingly sedentary lifestyles that many people live today (accelerated by the adoption of personal computers since the mid-1980s, and mostly used sitting) can actually be doing very detrimental damage to your glutes.
Strong glutes are more important to your overall health and well being than you might realize. They provide proper spine and pelvic alignment, lower back and knee support.
Even in stay-at-home times, you can build your glute muscles at home. Here’s how!
Sets and Reps for Strong Glutes
The number of specific reps and overall sets you do depends on many different very personal metrics. Your weight, fitness level, fitness goals, the weights you’re using — those all go into the calculus. But, here are some quick start supersets to get you going:
- Exercise 1: 10-15 reps
- Exercise 2: 10-15 reps
- Rest: 20-30 seconds
- Repeat 3x total
Choosing weights
Select an ideal weight for you that’s just challenging enough, but not overly challenging in its weightiness. A weight that’s too heavy can slow you down, and keep you from completing your reps.
Pick out the weights you’re going to use, and knowing how many sets and reps you can accomplish, let’s get started!
Here’s our list of exercises to help build your glute muscles at home:
Deadlifting
This primarily targets your hamstrings, lower back, quadriceps, and glutes, to help improve strength and stability.
Stand with your feet squarely under the barbell. Keeping your back straight, bend over and grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip. Bend your knees, lift up your chest, and straighten your lower back. Then, stand up with the weight.
Read more about deadlifts at https://stronglifts.com/deadlift/#gref.
Walking Lunges
Use a barbell, plates, dumbbells, or just with your body weight. Focus on simultaneously stretching your hamstrings, activating your glutes, and hitting your quads. One leg at a time and while keeping one knee at a 90-degree angle and your back straight, lower your body toward the ground.
Back Squats
A Squat is a lower body exercise you can do with your bodyweight or with added weight. It’s the most important leg workout.
Back Squats work your quads, hamstrings, glutes, abs, back, and calves, all at the same time.
Start with your feet slightly wider than your hips. Keeping your knees behind your toes and bending your legs, push your butt out, and lower your body and legs so they make a 90-degree angle. (It feels and looks like you’re sitting in a chair.)
Dumbbell Squats to Press
This 2-in-1 move works your thighs, hips, shoulders, and triceps.
With your feet shoulder-width apart, hold a pair of dumbbells next to your ears. Lower your body and bend your legs at a 90-degree angle. On the way back up, push the dumbbells up over your head as far as they can go. Pause. Repeat.
(No dumbbells at home? Any two similar items weighing 5 pounds or more can be used.)
Sumo Squats
Start with your feet wider than shoulder length, pointing your toes at about 45-degree angles. Bend your knees and hips. Stick your butt out like you’re about to sit in a chair, and lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Then, slowly press back upward through your heels.
Hip Extensions
These are great because they need no equipment, and you can perform them in a few different ways.
With your hands and knees flat on the ground, keep a foot facing the ceiling. Making sure your hip, leg, and foot stay in line with the floor, bring one leg back and up. Then, alternate starting with the other foot. Hip extensions work your hips, glutes, and hamstrings.
Single-Leg, Straight-Leg Deadlifts
Start by deciding a supporting foot. Hold a dumbbell in your hand on that same side. Lower yourself to waist level while raising the other leg, bringing it into line with your torso. Lower the dumbbell as far as your leg’s hamstring will allow.
Do all that, and you’ll leave your glute problems behind!
What you put into your body matters, too!
To speed up your gains, focus on the key exercises outlined above and eat the right foods, drink low-calorie beverages, and consider adding a supplement or protein powder to your daily routine.
To pack on size and solid muscle to further improve your performance, supplement with GAT RADICAL MASS post-training or between meals. RADICAL MASS comes in really delicious vanilla and chocolate flavors, and provides these benefits:
- 960 Nutrient-Dense Calories
- It mixes Easily into a Smooth Shake
- 50 Grams of GAT MASS Triple Whey
- 3:1 Ratio of Carbs to Protein
- 177 Grams Carbs
