Upper Glute Workout | 10 Easy Exercises to Tone Your Butt

Adding an upper glute workout to your exercise routine may not seem like a big deal, but it can really help you. Upper butt workouts have been getting all the rave lately as so many people want to tone up their glutes for a perkier and tighter behind.

Keeping the glutes in tip top shape can be more important that you realize! The upper glute muscles play an important role in many necessary movements that the body makes in everyday life.

What are the upper glute muscles?

The glute muscles lie within the pelvis area just below the lower back. These muscles include:

• Gluteus maximus
• Gluteus medius
• Gluteus minimus

Your upper glutes are the main muscles used for walking and stabilizing the hips when walking. They also allow you to extend your back, and stand up from a sitting position.

Tight and toned glutes go way beyond the physical appearance as you can see the important role they play in our everyday lives!

Upper Glute Workout Goals

Some goals for tightening and toning your glutes may consist of:

• weight loss
• toning / lifting
• strengthening
• increasing the size of the muscle
• increasing flexibility or range of motion
• pain management

Do you have an upper glute workout goal? Or do you have a different upper glute workout goal than above? 

Try Some Different Upper Glute Workout Exercises to Help Add Variety!

Try any of these upper glute workouts to tighten, tone and strengthen your gluteal muscles.

1. Backwards Leg Lifts (Standing)

You can perform these with or without ankle weights, and you can also use a cable or resistance band. Also, you can modify this position by turning the toes outward to target the upper outer glute muscles. 

2. Pelvic Tilts

Also known as pelvic tucks, start by laying on your back, tilt your hips up to lift the butt off the floor. Do not lift your mid back. You can also do these by spreading your feet further apart for a wide foot pelvic tilt position to target the upper outer glutes.

3. Pelvic Lifts

Laying on your back on the floor, stability ball, bosu ball or bench, or in crab position (bridge position) on hands and feet: You can perform pelvic lifts that are slightly different than pelvic tilts in the sense that you are lifting your mid back with the butt as well. Use one or both feet as points of contact on the floor. Working one leg at a time adds intensity.

4. Frog Kick Outs

If you have a bench or a stability ball, lay over it, pulling your knees into your chest and kick outward and up in a diagonal motion till you feel your glutes squeeze at the top.

5. Heel Taps

Lay on your stomach facing down on a bench, stability ball, or the floor. Starting position is with legs wide in V position. Raise the feet upward and tap your heels with toes turned outward.

6. Donkey Kicks

Lay or kneel on a bench, stability ball, or the floor. Bend your knees and perform 90-degree bent knee raises upward as if making a footprint on the ceiling.

7. V-Leg Outs

Lay on your stomach on a bench, stability ball, or the floor. Similar but opposite of heel taps, start with heels together and toes outward and spread legs as wide as you can to engage the upper outer glute muscles. Try not to touch knees or feet on the floor throughout the exercise.

8. Open Clam Shell

Lay on your side with a 90-degree bend at the knees. Make sure your hips, shoulders, and feet are stacked. Raise your top knee upward for a glute squeeze while keeping your feet connected without twisting or turning your hips on the raise.

9. Isometric Glute Exercise

Start in a Duck Foot stance. Engage your butt muscles with repetitions of squeezing the butt muscles and relaxing. Perform this exercise to your desired burnout, depending on your goal.

10. Kick Outs

Start by standing or kneeling or lying on a bench or a ball. Standing or kneeling, involves kicking one leg out at a time. Lying on a ball or bench will allow you to use both legs at once.

Pull knee or knees upward towards your chest and kick leg or legs out as high as you can until straight in order to feel a squeeze or butt engaging.

* You can also add pulses to any of these exercises to help bring the muscles to a different type of burn out.

Challenge Your Muscles with Greater Intensity to Meet Your Goals!

Also, depending on your goal, you may add or increase weight to progressively overload the muscles help avoid plateaus along the way.

Make exercises more challenging with any of these sources:

• Resistance bands
• Ankle weights
• Exercise equipment such as machines or cable pull

By the way, if you like this post, you may also enjoy trying a TRX workout!

Shout out in the comments with any other workout questions you may have.