Science-Backed Guide: The Best & Worst Glute Exercises for Maximum Gro

At Speediance, we understand the importance of a well-rounded and scientifically backed fitness routine. When it comes to building an impressive physique, the glutes are a cornerstone muscle group that demands attention. As one of the largest muscles in the body, developing your glutes can significantly enhance your overall appearance and athletic performance.
But not all glute exercises are created equal. Drawing from the expertise of fitness professionals like Jeff Nippard and backed by exercise science, we've compiled a comprehensive tier list of glute exercises, ranked from S-tier (superior) to D-tier (less effective). Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge and tools to optimize your glute training and achieve your fitness goals efficiently.

Understanding Your Glutes: The Anatomy

To maximize your glute development, it's essential to have a basic understanding of glute anatomy.
First, the glutes are technically three distinct muscles.

Gluteus Maximus: The largest of the three gluteal muscles, it's a powerhouse responsible for hip extension and external rotation. This muscle is highly active in movements like deadlifts.
Gluteus Medius: Smaller than the maximus but still significant, this muscle is crucial for hip abduction and stabilization. It's particularly active during single-leg exercises and contributes to the upper glute shelf appearance.
Gluteus Minimus: The smallest of the trio, it plays a key stabilization role and can add size to the upper glutes.

These muscles can be targeted in different regions: upper, middle, and lower glutes. Keep in mind that an exercise's tier ranking may be specific to a particular region of the glutes.

How We Ranked the Exercises

For an exercise to rank highly in our tier list, it must meet several key criteria:

Strength Tension: Maximizes muscle fiber engagement, especially in the stretched position.
Comfort: Avoids knee, hip, or back pain.
Simple Progression: Allows consistent overload (adding weight/reps) for long-term growth.

The Glute Exercise Tier List (According to Exercise Science)

S-Tier Gluten Exercise:

Machine Hip Abduction: Number one exercise for the upper glutes

Why S-tier? Hip abduction machines are fantastic for the upper glutes. By challenging the gluteus medius and minimus through their primary function of hip abduction, it delivers exceptional results. If you lean forward by about 30°, you'll improve the line of pull of those upper glute fibers, and you should feel a deeper stretch at the bottom. With the ability to progressively overload by increasing pin weight and even add an extra pad for increased range of motion, it's a top choice for upper glute development.

Walking Lunges: Hit the entire higher glute

Walking lunges are a comprehensive glute exercise that activates the entire gluteal region. They engage the upper glutes through gluteus medius activation, the mid glutes via hip extension, and the lower glute area due to the deep stretch during the lunge. Taking longer strides and leaning forward about 30° can intensify the stretch. While you can probably get a slightly better stretch with Bulgarian split squats, if you take big steps on lunges, you'll feel a massive glute stretch too. Despite causing significant soreness, they are highly effective and deserve an S-tier ranking.

45°Back Extensions: Hip stretch

Often overlooked as just a low back exercise, 45° back extensions are excellent for glute activation. They engage the entire gluteal region, from the lengthened position at the bottom to the shortened position at the top. By adding reps or holding plates to your chest, you can effectively overload this movement and enhance glute development.

A-Tier Gluten Exercise:

Machine Hip Thrust: Number one option for the middle glutes

The most popular glute exercise on the internet is the hip thrust. There's a pile of studies showing that it is, in fact, very effective at growing the glutes. The hip thrust will activate the entire glute, the upper, middle, and lower, but mainly target the middle muscle because it isolates hip extension. With the ability to consistently add weight while maintaining proper form, it's an excellent movement for progressive overload.

If you have access to a quality hip thrust machine, it can provide even greater comfort and stability, allowing you to focus on glute engagement. The belt is much more comfortable than a barbell. You also don't need to set anything up, and because the machine is very stable, you won't need to use any balance and should be able to focus on engaging your glutes better. While it may lack a deep stretch, it's a top choice for middle glute development.

Barbell Squat/ Smith machine squat:

Squats are a super underrated glute builder on social media. Like the hip thrust, you're extending your hips, so you'll activate all regions of the glutes, but especially that middle chunk. The only potential downside of squats is that they don't really isolate the glutes well; you get a huge quad stimulus too, so if you're only trying to grow your glutes without growing your quads, squats aren't your best option. That said, you can make the movement more glute-dominant by placing the bar a few inches lower on your back, leaning further forward, and focusing on really driving through your hips. Also, research shows that squatting deeper is important for glute growth, so try to at least break parallel despite some limitations.

With a Smith machine squat, you can place your feet further forward to make it more glute-dominant, and you never need to worry about losing your balance.

Bulgarian split squat

The Bulgarian split squat gets a deeper stretch on the glutes than the standard barbell squat, and because they're single-leg, in addition to the middle glutes, you'll get the upper glutes more involved to make

They are even more glute-focused. Place your front foot further forward and lean forward as you squat again. Think about driving through your hips rather than just standing up with your knees. This will help you engage your glutes a lot better. These are very close to S tier, but they are a bit harder to overload, especially if you do them with dumbbells. They also smoke your quads and are a really exhausting movement in general.

Kickbacks

Glute kickbacks are great for the upper glutes, particularly when you kick up and out diagonally. This movement targets the upper glute fibers that perform both hip extension and abduction. Kickbacks are stable if you brace against the machine or a bench and offer a smooth resistance profile. While they may not provide the biggest stretch, they can be a valuable addition to your glute routine, especially if you prefer to isolate the glutes without significantly engaging the quads.

Romanian deadlift:

As a glute builder, the Romanian deadlift is excellent for glute hypertrophy, particularly for the lower glutes in the glute-hamstring tie-in area. While it also heavily engages the hamstrings, it effectively targets the glute max as a basic compound lift that allows for progressive overload. It's the number one exercise for lower glute development.

B-Tier Gluten Exercise:

Barbell Hip Thrust:

While machine hip thrusts earned an A-tier ranking, barbell hip thrusts are slightly lower. There is a slight issue, though: a lot of people find that the barbell pinches their hips. You can alleviate this to some degree by using a big cushy pad or even rolling up some yoga mats or by strategically placing the bar in that cushy crease of your hip below the anterior superior iliac spine and above the pubic bone, but even if you avoid that painful pinching, it can still feel awkward. It also takes time to set up, especially if you don't have a hip thrust platform or if you're loading a lot of plates.

Single Leg Dumbbell Hip Thrust:

Another really good option is the single-leg dumbbell hip thrust. These will hit the entire glutes, but unlike the other options, may shift some emphasis to the upper glutes because the gluteus medius and Minimus will need to stabilize for balance. You can also prevent left-to-right muscle imbalances by focusing on each glute individually, and I don't like to go heavy here; just stick to 12 to 15 reps and really focus on controlling the movement.

Glute Bridges:

Glute bridges are essentially a hip thrust with less range of motion. They're easier to set up and great for beginners due to reduced stabilization requirements. Some people find they can isolate their glutes more with this exercise by minimizing quad engagement, but the hip thrust is still preferred for its greater range of motion.

Cable hip abductions:

Similar to kickbacks, cable hip abductions are harder to overload and less stable. They can be a bit more cumbersome to set up, placing them in the B-tier.

Deadlift

The conventional deadlift is a good glute Builder since it trains hip extension, it gives a big stretch on the lower glutes, and it's amazing for progressive overload. The issue is it's just such a fatiguing exercise physically and psychologically. This is why it's said to have a low stimulus-to-fatigue ratio; you get a lot of stimulus, but you also get a lot of fatigue, especially in muscles other than the glutes, like the spinal erectors. As a strength builder, it's elite, but as a glute hypertrophy exercise, it's placed in the low B-tier.

Sumo Deadlift

Similar to the conventional deadlift, the Sumo deadlift may hit the gluteus medius harder due to the wider stance and foot flare. This could shift some emphasis toward the upper glutes, earning it a high B-tier ranking.

C-Tier Gluten Exercise:

Frog Pumps

Frog pumps are similar to a hip thrust but with external hip rotation and feet clamped together. This shifts some emphasis to the upper glutes by engaging the glute medius. While they can be a decent high-rep finisher, they're hard to load, forcing high reps, and don't stretch the glutes very well.

Lateral Band Walks:

Useful as a warm-up or activation drill to feel the glute medius, but the band provides virtually zero tension in the stretched position. Poor for hypertrophy.

D-Tier Gluten Exercise:

Donkey Kicks

Duds donkey kicks probably don't grow your glutes very well; they're really hard to overload. Even with a band, you're still getting very little tension while the glutes are stretched, and it's hard to progressively overload using a band anyway. I think they're solid as a warm-up activation drill or to help beginners feel their glutes engage, but as a glute hypertrophy exercise, these are going in low D-tier.

Fire hydrants

Fire hydrants have similar issues; they just don't get high tension on the glutes. They can work for Mobility or in rehab contexts, but I'm putting them in low D-tier as a glute builder.

Key Science Takeaways for Glute Growth

Balance Stretch Contraction:

While exercises like squats and lunges provide a deep glute stretch (beneficial for growth), exercises like hip thrusts effectively target the shortened position. A combination is likely optimal.

Progressive Overload is Essential:

Consistently increasing the challenge (weight, reps, control) on exercises like hip thrusts, lunges, RDLs, and abductions is the primary driver of muscle growth.

Target All Regions Functions:

Include hip extension movements (thrusts, deadlifts, squats, lunges) for the Maximus and abduction movements (machine/cable abductions) for the Medius/Minimus. Single-leg work also boosts upper glute engagement.

Mind-Muscle Connection Form:

Leaning forward during lunges/step-ups, placing feet strategically during squats/split squats, and rounding the back slightly during back extensions can enhance glute activation.

Personal Glute Strategy

"I'm focusing heavily on machine hip thrusts, machine hip abductions, and walking lunges this year to build my glutes. Remember, training is only half the battle. Dialing in your nutrition - sufficient calories and protein - is absolutely crucial to support muscle growth and see real results."

Build Your Best Glutes with Speediance

Equip yourself with the knowledge and tools for optimal glute development. Speediance home gym solutions provide the versatility to perform these S-tier and A-tier movements effectively, track your progressive overload, and achieve your physique goals. Focus on the science, prioritize the best exercises, and train smart!