If you’re looking for butt exercises, look no further than your own living room. We’ve rounded up 14 different glute exercises, all of which can be done in the comfort of your home. All you need is your bodyweight and a bit of room to move.
The muscles in your butt—that’s the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus—are pretty darn important. They work together to stabilize your pelvis and keep your hips and knees aligned. Your butt powers you through long runs, tough lower body workouts, and even walking up the stairs. Your glutes also support proper form whether you’re playing sports, working out, or even just standing upright with proper posture. And if you have a desk job where you spend much of your day sitting, it’s probably even more important to give your posterior muscles a good workout.
When you sit all day, your glutes kinda shut down.. And since your glutes are responsible for supporting other parts of your body, what’s not great for your butt ends up being not great all over—having glutes that aren’t working properly can cause back pain and interfere with your workouts.
Translation: There are lots of good reasons to try these glute exercises at home.
While weighted moves like dumbbell deadlifts and barbell squats are considered lower-body powerhouse moves, butt exercises that don’t require weights can still be an excellent way to strengthen your glutes and legs, too. They utilize just your bodyweight and good old gravity to load your lower body, so there’s no extra resistance required. That means you can squat, lunge, and pulse your way to stronger glutes.
Below, you’ll find 14 moves you don’t need any free weights or accessories for (with the exception of one move that requires a box or stair to step onto), meaning you can try these glute exercises at home. You could do all of them, but we might suggest picking about five or six to incorporate into your favorite strength-training routine. Try doing each move for 30 seconds, and work your way up to a full 60 seconds if that feels right for you. You can also count reps—aiming for at least 10 to 12 reps of each.
Our model, Nikki Pebbles has been a New York City-based fitness instructor for over nine years. She is an AFAA and NCCPT certified personal trainer and group fitness trainer who regularly teaches cycling and dance cardio.
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Katie Thompson1 Bodyweight Squat
- Start standing with your feet just wider than hip-width apart and engage your core.
- Hinge at your hips, sending your butt back, and bending both knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Focus on the movement coming from your hips, glutes, and hamstrings—not your knees and quads. Keep your core engaged so your back stays straight.
- Stand by squeezing your glutes and return to your starting position.
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Katie Thompson2 Jump Squat
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart and engage your core.
- Do a squat by sending your butt back, bending both knees, and lowering until your thighs are about parallel to the floor.
- From the bottom of the squat, jump up as high as you can and straighten both of your legs.
- Land on the floor with soft knees, and immediately drop into your next squat.
- You may find it helpful to swing your arms a bit as shown above to help with the jump.
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Katie Thompson3 Pop Squat
- Start standing with your feet together and hands at your chest.
- Jump your feet wide and sit back into a wide squat, engaging your glutes and bending both knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Tap the floor with your right hand.
- Jump your feet back together to return to your starting position and then immediately jump your feet wide again to drop into another squat, this time tapping the floor with your left hand.
- Continue to do pop squats alternating the hand that you tap to the floor each time.
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Katie Thompson4 Glute Bridge
- Lie faceup with your knees bent and your feet hip-width distance apart.
- Engage your core so your low back presses against the floor. From this engaged position, lift your hips, squeezing your glutes at the top. Hold for a moment at the top, then lower your hips back to the floor to return to your starting position.
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Katie Thompson5 Marching Glute Bridge
- Lie faceup with your knees bent and your feet hip-width distance apart.
- Engage your core so your low back presses against the floor. From this engaged position, lift your hips, squeezing your glutes at the top. Hold here.
- Now lift your right foot off the floor, bringing your knee toward your chest, and stopping when you’ve hinged your hip to about 90 degrees.
- Replace your foot on the floor and immediately lift your left foot off the floor to repeat on the other side.
- Continue to march, alternating your feet, all while maintaining lifted hips.
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Katie Thompson6 Reverse Lunge
- Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and engage your core.
- Step backward with your left foot, landing on the ball of your left foot and keeping your heel off the ground.
- Bend both knees to 90 degrees as you sink into a lunge. Focus on keeping your core engaged and your hips tucked (don’t stick your butt out). Sometimes, it can be helpful to place your hands on your hips so you can make sure your hips aren’t tilting to the side or forward and back.
- Push off the ball of your left foot to return to your starting position.
- Now step back with your right foot, and sink into a lunge on the other side.
- Continue to lunge, alternating sides each time.
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Katie Thompson7 Jumping Lunge
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- With your core engaged, jump your left foot forward and your right foot back, and bend both knees so you drop into a lunge.
- Hop both feet back to starting position.
- Now hop your right foot forward, and left foot back, and drop into a lunge on the other side.
- Continue jumping and alternating sides each time you land.
- You can make this move more challenging by switching feet midair and immediately dropping into a lunge each time (so you will not hop your feet back together).
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Katie Thompson8 Power Lunge
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and core engaged.
- Take a big step back with your right foot and drop into a low lunge, bending both knees 90 degrees.
- Swing your right leg forward as you simultaneously straighten your right leg and jump, bringing your right knee to hip height.
- Land lightly on the ball of your left foot and immediately lower your right foot back into a lunge, moving directly into the next rep.
- After you’ve finished all of your reps on one side, repeat on the other side.
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Katie Thompson9 Skater
- Stand with your feet wider than hip-width apart and core engaged.
- Jump your right foot to the right and land lightly on the ball of your right foot with your knee bent.
- Immediately swing your left foot behind you to tap the toes of your left foot to the floor.
- Now jump your left foot to the left, landing lighting on the ball of your left foot with a bent knee and swing your right foot behind you to tap the toes of your right foot to the floor.
- Continue to alternate, jumping side to side as quickly as possible. Swing your arms naturally as you jump to help with balance.
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Katie Thompson10 Curtsy Lunge With Kick
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your core engaged.
- Step your right foot diagonally behind your left leg and bend both of your knees to drop into a curtsy lunge.
- Push through your left heel to stand, and sweep your right leg out to the left side in a small kick, pointing your right foot and balancing for just a moment as you fully extend your leg.
- Lower your right foot and bring it behind your left leg, as you immediately drop into your next rep.
- Once all of your reps are completed on one side, switch to the other side.
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Katie Thompson11 Side Step Wide Squat
- Stand with your feet together, core engaged, and hands held at chest height.
- Step your right foot to the right, so your feet are wider than hip-width apart, hinge at your hips to send your butt back, and bend both knees to drop into a wide squat.
- Straighten your knees and bring your right foot back to your starting position.
- Do all of your reps on a single side, then repeat on the other side.
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Katie Thompson12 Plié Squat With Alternating Heel Raises
- Stand in a wide squat with your toes slightly turned out.
- Bend your knees and drop into a wide, plie squat, keeping your hips tucked under (don’t stick your butt out), with your toes and knees turned out.
- Now lift your right heel off the floor, keeping your hips steady and core engaged.
- Lower your right heel to the floor, and immediately lift your left heel off the floor.
- Continue to alternate heel lifts, keeping your hips steady and core engaged.
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Katie Thompson13 Step-Up With Knee Lift
- You’ll need a box, step, bench, or the bottom stair of a staircase to complete this move.
- Step onto your box with your right foot and drive your left knee up toward your chest, bringing your knee to hip height.
- With control, return your left foot to the floor, then step your right foot to the floor to return to your starting position.
- Continue to repeat on the same side. Once all of your reps on one side are finished, switch to the other side.
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Katie Thompson14 Squat Thrust
- Stand with your legs just wider than hip-width apart with your core engaged.
- Place your hands on the floor in front of you, then jump your feet straight back, so you land in a high plank position with your core engaged, hips level, and shoulders over wrists.
- Now jump your feet back to your hands and stand squeezing your glutes.
- There are lots of ways to modify this move so it’s right for you. You can take this as quickly or as slowly as you want. Instead of hopping your feet back, you can also step your feet back one at a time.
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