30-Minute Booty Building Workout (6 Best Glute Exercises)

Strengthen your legs, glutes and lower body with these 6 BEST glute exercises at home! The ultimate butt workout for women, targeting the glute muscles with squats, lunges, step-ups and glute bridges.

**You can also view this Booty Building Workout: 6 Best Glute Exercises on YouTube. While you’re there, SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel to get all the newest workouts!

Jump To 6 Glute Exercises At Home

You’ve asked, ‘How do you build your glutes?’ 

So we created THIS BOOTY BUILDING WORKOUT AT HOME. 

These six glute exercises left my booty sore for three days after filming this butt workout for women.

Most of my lower body workouts combine leg exercises that target the quads, hamstrings AND glutes. But you’ve been asking for more “targeted” workouts so this is a glute-specific workout — AKA a BOOTY BURNOUT!

These six booty building, glute exercises prioritize glute activation, because the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body!

That means that this butt workout not only builds your booty, but is an effective calorie-burning workout as well. The larger the muscle group, the higher the calorie burn.

What are the best glute exercises for women?

The best glute exercises activate all 3 parts of the butt — the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus (the lower, upper and side glutes). Some of my favorite glute exercises include:

1. Weighted Step-Ups (pictured above)
2. Glute Bridges
3. Single Leg Exercises (like single leg squats and lunges)

Lucky for you, this workout includes all three of theses glute exercises!

This booty workout also incorporates plyometric movements, which simply means a movement that involves explosive intensity (although you can always take it low impact). 

These movements generate POWER, which increases calorie burn and leads to quicker strength gains (International Sports Sciences Association). This workout uses plyo exercises as a “burnout” following a lower body dumbbell strength exercise.

30-Minute Butt Workout: 6 BEST Booty-Building Glute Exercises for Women

This classic glute workout pairs dumbbell strength exercises with powerful plyometrics — hello metabolic training.

This workout works the largest muscle groups in your body, the legs and glutes; building strength while also raising your heart rate. 

Equipment:

Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells and a bench or chair for single leg exercises. 

I recommend anything between 10 and 25 lbs. I’m using 10 lbs and 12 lb dumbbells in this workout video.

Instructions:

Click here to follow along with the guided, full-length Butt Workout video at the top of this post.

I’ll coach you through each glute exercise, keeping track of timed intervals and providing form and modification cues.

Alternatively, work through the six glute exercises below at your own pace. Perform 12-16 reps of each strength exercise, and 30 seconds of each power move. 

6 Best Booty Building Glute Exercises

1. STRENGTH: Single Leg Squat
2. POWER: Single Leg Plyo Lunge
3. STRENGTH: Step Ups + Rear Leg Lift
4. POWER: Squat Jump + Lunge Jump Combo
5. STRENGTH: Bulgarian Lunges
6. POWER: Glute Bridges

Repeat all six butt exercises x 4 sets.

Perform each exercises on the right side of the body for the first and third sets and repeat on the left side of the body for the second and fourth sets. See a GIF below of each glute exercise demonstrating proper form. 

1. Single Leg Squat

Targets: Glutes, quads, hips, hamstrings and core. Also a great way to strengthen weak knees.

Modification: Kickstand your back leg instead of floating it. Try to keep 80% of your weight in your front right foot, 20% in your back left foot (toe). Range of motion will look different for everyone.

How to Properly Perform a Single Leg Squat with Dumbbells:

1. Begin in neutral standing position, feet hip-distance apart. Kick your butt, where your feet land is your natural narrow stance. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides (palms facing your body).
2. Kickstand or float your left foot slightly behind you as you balance on your front right foot, soft bend in your right knee. If your left foot is floating try to keep ankle by ankle (left ankle by right ankle).
3. Engage your core as you bend your right knee down, lowering your hips down while simultaneously lowering the dumbbells down along the front of your body. Maintaining ankle by ankle.
4. Range of motion will look different for everyone, but striving for a 90 degree bend in your right leg.
5. Then drive through your right heel, squeezing your glute as you return to standing, back up to the starting position.

2. Single Leg Plyo Lunge

Targets: Quads, calves and glutes. Building glute strength while also raising your heart rate.

Modification: Step back into a reverse lunge, then drive your knee up towards your chest. Keep your front foot planted on the ground through the entire movement.

How to Properly Perform a Single Leg Plyo Lunge: 

1. Stand with feet shoulder width apart.
2. Step your right leg back into a reverse lunge, lowering your hips until both knees reach a 90 degree angle, front left thigh parallel to the floor.
3. Explode off your front left leg, driving your back right knee forward as you leave the ground (pushing of the ground with your left foot/toe).
4. Land softly on your left foot and go directly back into the the reverse lunge.
5. Repeat this movement at a pace you can sustain for 30 seconds.

3. Single Leg Step Ups + Rear Leg Lift

Targets: Glutes, butt, quads, hamstring and core.

Trainer Tip: Choose a a chair or bench that will allow you to perform the step up while tracking your knee on top of your foot throughout the step-up portion of the exercise.

Modification: Decrease the level change using a platform lower to the ground (ex. the bottom stair of a staircase). If you don’t have access to a chair or bench, perform a front lunge.

How to Properly Perform a Single Leg Step Up + Rear Leg Lift:

1. Begin in neutral standing position, holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
2. Step your right leg onto a chair or bench, driving through your right glute to stand tall. Right knee should track over right foot and shoulders and upper body should be stacked over hips throughout the step up.
3. Once you reach standing position on the chair/bench, float your rear, left leg behind you; squeezing your glutes and hamstrings.
4. Slowly lower your rear left leg down as you lower back down to the starting position with control.

4. Squat Jump + Lunge Jump Combo

Targets: Legs, glutes, quads, hamstring, calves and core.

Modification: Take out the jump to make this a low impact glute exercise. Alternate stepping back to lunge and then performing a bodyweight air squat. l

How to Properly Perform a Squat Jump + Lunge Jump Combo:

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart.
2. Jump your right leg back into a reverse lunge position, landing softly as you lower your hips until both knees reach a 90 degree angle, front thigh parallel to the floor.
3. Explode up from the reverse lunge into a loaded squat position, knees bent.
4. Perform a jump squat by driving off both feet to leave the ground. Land softly in a loaded squat position.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 on the other side, jumping your left leg back into a reverse lunge and then performing a squat jump. Repeat this pattern for 30 seconds.

5. Bulgarian Lunge or Split Squat

Targets: Legs, glutes, quads, hamstrings hips and core (hello balance). This single leg exercise has been named one of the best exercises to build glute strength.

Trainer Tip: I’ve made improvements to my own Bulgarian lunge form since we first shot this Booty Building Workout (hence the quick outfit change in the below GIF). We are ALL a work in progress and I’m constantly learning and trying to improve my form so I can share that with you as well. Important changes, set up from the ground up so your front foot isn’t too far away from the chair. And shoelaces down on the chair (not toe popped up).

Modification: Perform a standard reverse lunge or split squat, keeping your back foot on the ground rather than elevating it on a chair.

How to Properly Perform a Bulgarian Split Squat:

1. Set up from the ground UP. Kneel in front of your bench or chair, then place your left foot behind you on a chair or bench. Shoelaces down. You can place a towel under your foot to provide additional support if shoelaces down feels uncomfortable.
2. Step your right foot forward (it will vary for everyone, but a little over a foot in front of your bench). Your front thigh will be parallel to the ground. This is the bottom of your movement.
3. Drive through your front right heel, squeezing your right glute to return to standing. Feel your front glute engage to power the movement.
4. With control, bend your knee to lower down back to the starting position (back left knee should lower down close to the ground), to make your front thigh parallel with the ground. Shoulders remain stacked over hips throughout the movement.
5. Start performing this as a bodyweight exercise and if you feel comfortable add weights.

6. Glute Bridges on Bench or Chair

Targets: Glutes, hips and hamstrings.

Modification: Perform glute bridges flat on the floor, without elevating your feet on a chair.

How to Properly Perform Glute Bridges on a Bench or Chair:

1. Lie flay on your back with your butt close to a bench or chair.
2. Place your heels on the bench or chair, legs bent at 90 degrees.
3. Engage your core and tuck your pelvis toward the ceiling.
4. Then drive through your heels, squeezing your butt to lift your hips up toward the ceiling.
5. Hold at the top for a moment, then lower your hips with control back down to a hover position and repeat this movement.

Pin this Butt Workout For Women

More Butt Workouts for Women At Home:

• 30 Minute Lower Body Workout (No Jumping + No Repeats)
• 8 Minute Booty Building Workout At Home (No Squats + No Lunges)
• 30 Minute Lower Body Dumbbell Workout
• 30 Minute Leg Day Workout for Women
• 10 Minute Glute Activation with Resistance Band