It’s hard to believe, but strengthening your butt is one of the best things you can do for your overall fitness. Your butt muscles connect your hips, legs, and back, which make up the most powerful part of your body. 

“The glutes play a pivotal role in maintaining proper posture, supporting the lower back, and enabling a wide range of movements including walking, running, and jumping,” said personal trainer Chris Pruitt. 

And many fitness enthusiasts — no matter their activity preference — don’t give their butt enough attention. 

“Because they’re one of the largest muscle groups in the body, working them out can have significant metabolic benefits, potentially increasing calorie burn both during and after exercise,” Pruitt said.

If you’re late to the party on the butt exercises, you have nothing to worry about. Many strengthening and toning exercises for your glutes and hips are accessible and easy to do at home with little-to-no equipment. Even better, you can build strength by just doing these exercises for 15 minutes a day. 

The exercises below also have many variations, so you can increase or decrease the intensity depending on your strength level and what muscle group you are trying to target. 

Squats

Squats are the go-to classic butt exercise. With so many different variations, this exercise is a perfect starting point as you work toward sculpting your lower body. 

If you are new to squats, we recommend starting with a standard squat. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and squat down like you are sitting in a chair. A good rule of thumb for this exercise is to keep your knees in line with your ankles. 

Squat beginners will need to pay special attention to form. It’s often easy to think you are squatting, but you are instead just leaning your back forward. Focus your attention on moving straight up and down. To help you achieve form, consider squatting in front of a chair. When your butt taps the chair, use your glutes and thigh muscles to push yourself back up. 

When you are ready to advance in squats, try adding a weight or one of the many squat variations. Single-leg squats will individually target your left and right glutes, respectively. Jump squats will help you build power in your butt and legs while toning. 

Lunges 

Lunges are another popular glute exercise because they are so versatile. 

We recommend starting with a standard walking lunge. Lunges not only strengthen and tone your butt, but they also help you gain stability in your knees and ankles, as well as improve your balance. Talk about a triple threat! 

You can do a walking lunge with or without weights, but if you are just starting, we recommend without weights. If you want to try the lunge with weights, but do not have weights at home, filled water bottles or gallon jugs are a great option. 

Start by standing with your feet hip-width apart. Take a large step forward with your right foot and bend your right knee so it's over your ankle and your thigh is parallel to the ground. Repeat this on the left side. Start with 10 reps on each leg. 

Curtsy lunges and reverse lunges are also great options if you are looking to spice up your workout routine. 

Glute Bridges 

The glute bridge is an essential exercise because it forces you to master activating your glute and core muscles. 

For this exercise, lay out an exercise mat and lie on your back with your feet on the floor. You can either place your arms beside you with palms down or, for a more challenging bridge, cross your arms over your chest. Then, activate your core by “zipping up” to bring your belly button to your spine and squeeze your glutes to activate your butt muscles. Lift your hips off the ground and count to 5 before lowering to the ground. Repeat for 3 sets of 10. 

It’s incredibly important to ensure that you are activating your core and glutes when doing bridges. Otherwise, it’s likely that you will use your back muscles to complete the bridge, which can lead to injury. 

If you notice that one side of your body is weaker, or you want to build even more strength in your glutes through bridges, try a single leg bridge. For a single-leg bridge, you will set up the same way as you do for a regular bridge. Start by keeping your left foot on the ground and lift your right leg in the air. Keeping your right leg straight will be more difficult than bending your right knee. Activate your glute and core strength, and then lift your hips off the ground. 

Clamshells 

Clamshells are another butt exercise classic. This exercise targets the two lesser known gluteal muscles: gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. Most butt exercises focus on the gluteus maximus, so adding this exercise to your repertoire will help you build a well-rounded butt-focused fitness routine. 

To do a clamshell, lie on your side with your legs stacked and your hips parallel with the floor. Rest your head on your lower arm and place your other hand on your hip. Next, you need to bend your knees so that they are at a 90-degree angle and your feet line up with your butt. Activate your core and lift your top knee as high as you can — but keep your feet together. Add a band for extra resistance. 

Repeat 3 sets of 10 reps on each side. 

How to See If Your Butt Exercises are Working 

If you’re spending a lot of time on butt exercises, you probably have a goal to build strength or get a firmer butt. Using ZOZOFIT’s 3D body scanning technology, you will be able to really see the benefits of the work you put in. 

The ZOZOFIT app will scan your body and provide you with instant accurate body measurements. You can even compare multiple scans to look at how your shape has changed through your workouts.