Easy Glute Workout at Home to Build Muscle Fast

A strong, sculpted butt is not just about looks. A consistent glute workout at home supports your posture, helps you lift and carry more easily, and protects your lower back in everyday life. You can build real glute strength and muscle with simple bodyweight exercises, especially if you are a beginner or coming back to training after a break.

Below, you will find a complete at home glute routine that requires no equipment, plus tips to progress quickly and safely.

Why your glutes matter

Your glutes are some of the largest and most powerful muscles in your body. They stabilize your hips and pelvis, support your spine, and drive almost every lower body movement you do.

When you strengthen your glutes, you:

Support everyday movements like walking, climbing stairs, and lifting heavy objects
Improve pelvic alignment and posture, which can help ease lower back discomfort
Gain more power for running, cycling, and sports
Distribute load more evenly through your hips and back, which can reduce injury risk, as Peloton trainers explain in their glute training guidance

If your butt feels weak or “asleep,” a focused glute workout at home is one of the simplest ways to upgrade your overall fitness.

Understand your glute muscles

You will get better results when you know what you are actually training. Your “glutes” are three muscles working together:

Gluteus maximus: the largest muscle that gives your butt most of its shape and helps you stand up, climb, and extend your hip
Gluteus medius: sits on the outer side of your hip and helps rotate your leg and stabilize your pelvis when you walk or balance on one leg
Gluteus minimus: a smaller, deeper muscle that also assists with rotation and hip stability

A good glute workout at home should hit all three. That is why you will see a mix of squats, hip thrust style moves, and side to side exercises in the plan below, similar to routines recommended by Gymshark.

Warm up before your glute workout

A short warmup prepares your muscles and joints, increases blood flow, and helps you feel the glutes working from the first rep.

Aim for 10 minutes of light to moderate activity, such as:

Power walking around your home or outside
Easy jogging in place
Cycling on a stationary bike
Dancing to a favorite song

After that, add a couple of dynamic hip moves, for example:

Gentle leg swings front to back and side to side
Bodyweight squats with a comfortable range of motion
Slow reverse lunges to wake up your hips

Peloton trainers recommend glute activation before strength or cardio sessions to improve performance and reduce injury risk. Think of your warmup as a switch that turns your glutes “on” before the main workout.

Best bodyweight glute exercises at home

You can create a highly effective glute workout at home with no equipment using simple bodyweight moves. Research from Gymshark highlights several key exercises that are especially effective for building your glutes without weights.

Below are beginner friendly options with clear form cues. Move slowly and with control, and focus on actually squeezing the muscle you are trying to work.

1. Air squats

Air squats target your gluteus maximus, quads, and hamstrings.

Stand with feet about shoulder width apart, toes slightly turned out.
Brace your core and keep your chest up.
Push your hips back as if sitting into a chair and bend your knees.
Lower until your thighs are parallel to the floor or as low as your hips allow.
Press through your heels, squeeze your glutes, and return to standing.

If your knees cave inward, imagine gently pushing them out over your middle toes as you stand.

2. Glute bridges

Glute bridges are excellent for targeting the gluteus maximus without stressing your lower back.

Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat, hip width apart.
Place your arms by your sides, palms down.
Press into your heels, exhale, and lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.
Squeeze your glutes at the top for 1 to 2 seconds.
Lower with control and repeat.

To make this harder over time, you can hold the top position longer or progress later to single leg bridges.

3. Split squats

Split squats hit your glutes, quads, and challenge your balance.

Stand tall, then step one foot forward and one foot back into a staggered stance.
Keep most of your weight on the front leg.
Bend both knees to lower straight down until your back knee hovers just off the ground.
Press through the heel of your front foot to stand back up, keeping your torso upright.
Complete all reps on one side, then switch legs.

The more you lean slightly forward from your hips while keeping your spine long, the more you will feel your glutes engage.

4. Curtsy lunges

Curtsy lunges train the gluteus medius and minimus, which help shape the side of your hips and improve stability.

Stand with feet hip width apart.
Step your right foot diagonally behind your left leg, as if performing a curtsey.
Bend both knees and lower your hips, keeping your front knee tracking over your toes.
Push through your front heel to return to the starting position.
Repeat on the other side and alternate.

Move slowly so you can keep your balance, and avoid twisting your upper body.

5. Crab walks

Crab walks are usually done with a mini band, but you can still feel them with bodyweight if you stay low and controlled.

Stand with feet slightly wider than hip width and bend your knees into a shallow squat.
Hinge at the hips and keep your chest lifted.
Step your right foot to the side, then follow with your left foot to return to hip width.
Continue stepping to one side for several steps, then reverse.

Keep constant tension in your legs and avoid letting your knees collapse inward. This move targets the outer glutes and hips.

6. Single leg Romanian deadlifts (RDLs)

Single leg RDLs work your glutes and hamstrings and train balance.

Stand tall with feet hip width apart.
Shift your weight onto your right foot, softly bending the right knee.
Hinge at the hips and extend your left leg straight behind you as your torso leans forward.
Keep your back flat and hips square to the floor.
Lower until your torso is roughly parallel to the ground, then squeeze your right glute to return to standing.
Complete reps on one side, then switch.

Think about pushing your heel back rather than reaching your chest down, so you feel the work in the standing leg glute.

A sample glute workout at home

Gymshark suggests that beginners can see noticeable glute growth in as little as six weeks with consistent bodyweight training two times per week. You can use the exercises above to build a simple yet challenging routine.

Here is one way to structure your workout as a circuit:

Air squats, 15 to 20 reps
Glute bridges, 15 to 20 reps
Split squats, 10 to 15 reps per leg
Curtsy lunges, 10 to 15 reps per leg
Crab walks, 8 to 12 steps each direction
Single leg RDLs, 10 to 12 reps per leg

Rest 60 to 90 seconds after completing all six moves, then repeat for 3 to 5 rounds depending on your fitness level.

If you prefer a time based format, you can try a Tabata style session, as recommended in Gymshark’s 2024 guidance:

Work for 20 seconds
Rest for 10 seconds
Rotate through 4 to 6 exercises for a total of about 20 minutes

Both high rep circuits and low rest intervals increase “time under tension,” which is key for building muscle with bodyweight alone.

Here is a quick comparison of the two styles:

Style	Best for	How it feels
Circuit	Beginners and intermediates	Steady burn, manageable pace
Tabata	Time crunched and advanced users	Intense, breathless, very spicy

Choose the format that keeps you consistent, and do it at least twice per week.

How to build muscle fast without weights

You do not need heavy equipment to grow your glutes, but you do need a strategy. The principle that drives muscle growth is progressive overload, which simply means doing a bit more over time.

For a glute workout at home, you can progress by:

Increasing repetitions, for example from 12 to 20 per set
Adding extra sets or rounds
Reducing rest time between exercises
Slowing your tempo, such as three seconds down, one second up
Adding isometric holds, for example pausing for 2 to 3 seconds at the bottom of a squat or at the top of a bridge
Moving to unilateral variations like single leg bridges or pistol squat progressions

Gymshark notes that beginners can build both strength and muscle size with these methods, even with no weights, as long as you consistently challenge yourself over several weeks.

Bret Contreras, a leading glute training expert, often recommends training your glutes around three times per week, with an effective range of two to six days per week depending on your program, effort, and recovery needs. You can start with two focused sessions, then add a third shorter one if you recover well.

Extra tips to feel your glutes work

If you tend to feel glute exercises more in your thighs or lower back, a few tweaks can make a big difference.

Try these strategies, which are also supported by Peloton and other coaches:

Engage your core: a lightly braced core stabilizes your spine so your glutes can do more work
Stretch your hip adductors: gentle inner thigh stretches before or between sets can help your glutes take over instead of your thighs
Use focused warmup moves: hip thrusts, glute kickbacks, and bodyweight squats as part of your warmup help build a stronger mind muscle connection
Check your posture: if you have an anterior pelvic tilt, think about tucking your tailbone slightly under and squeezing your glutes at the top of each rep
Vary your exercises: rotating between squats, deadlift style hinges, lunges, and bridges keeps your glutes challenged from different angles

Over time, you should notice it becomes easier to “find” and fire your glutes, even in everyday activities like walking and climbing stairs.

How often to do this workout

For general strength and health, Peloton experts suggest training your glutes two to three times per week. For more visible muscle growth, glute isolated work three to four times per week can be effective, as long as you recover well.

A simple weekly outline might look like:

Day 1: Full glute circuit
Day 3 or 4: Full glute circuit
Day 6 (optional): Shorter session focusing on bridges, lunges, and side steps

Listen to your body. Soreness is normal when you start, but sharp pain or joint discomfort is not. Quality beats quantity, so focus on clean form and steady progress instead of rushing to advanced variations.

If you stay consistent for six weeks, increase your reps or sets over time, and pair your glute workout at home with enough protein and rest, you can build noticeable strength and shape, even without a single piece of gym equipment.