The glutes aren’t just important for how we look. They’re also tied into the way the body works in ways most people overlook. This makes them a huge player in health, sports performance, and the way you perform other exercises.
There are 3 major roles that you should focus on when training glutes:
This is why the glutes are so important. They’re postural muscles as well as the largest in the body, making them a powerhouse for force in running, jumping, and lifting. Good tools emphasise at least one of these roles or specifically improve the way you target them with resistance.
These drive better muscle growth, better performance, or simply integrates these huge muscles into your movement in an important way. So, to get a better idea, let’s dive right into the 9 tools and trinkets to improve your butt workouts…
You knew it was going to be on here.
The hip circle is the most popular and effective way to improve glute training. It is perfect for priming the glutes with exercises like crab walks.
This is a fantastic form of resistance that directly targets your external rotation and hip-knee stability. This is one of the most important functions of the glutes. It can be used before other exercises like squats and deadlifts to improve glute activation and cue better movement quality.
You can also use this during exercises like Romanian deadlifts or stiff-legged deadlifts to focus on hip control and glute recruitment. An easy addition that offers a range of benefits all in one.
A resistance band is not the same as a hip circle. It’s a loop of dense elastic that provides resistance, in ever greater forces, as it’s stretched. This is a great way to develop strength in the glutes with very little equipment. Perfect for home workouts!
This opens up a ton of options. You can use it for banded good mornings – either in front or behind the neck – as well as hip extensions. You can also attach it to a barbell, trap bar, or other weight to add more resistance during the “clench and squeeze” at the top of exercises like kettlebell swings.
You can also use resistance bands to distract the knees, helping build abductor and adductor strength. If you’ve got a strong upright support, you can also use this for abduction and adduction, perfect for stronger glutes and healthier hips.
A kettlebell opens up swings and squats, 2 of the most powerful and important types of hip exercise. These develop the glutes efficiently, as well as other options like the frog pump, single leg kettlebell deadlift, and others.
The variety you can achieve with a kettlebell is immense – and only more if you buy an adjustable version of this versatile item. It’s a great investment in your own training, both strength and conditioning.
Ankle straps offer a great way of directly attaching resistance to the ankles, which would be either difficult or impossible. You can use an ankle strap with a sled or cable machine to apply resistance, helping you target the glutes directly.
This is a great way to use terminal knee extensions, hip extensions, and clams (for example). These are great ways to activate the glutes before a workout, or as “finisher” exercises at the end of a day of heavy lifting.
The monkey foot is a relatively new tool that was designed to add more ways to train hip flexors, hamstrings, and the tibialis muscle of the calf.
However, it’s also a great glute training tool, It puts the weight behind your foot which makes hip extensions and glute side raises far harder. It also gives you ways to improve exercises like lying leg raises and even donkey kicks.
It’s got a wide range of benefits, which may make this a perfect training tool for you.
The bands that sprinters use to strengthen their steps is an amazing way to build better strength and control in the hips. It’s a system that works the abductors and adductors together, stabilising the hips, knees, and lower back.
This is a great way to add extra challenge to many core exercises and develop a more challenging workout. This is also perfect for adding in deep lunges, short lunges, and other resisted forms of “stepping” in a way that really forces the muscles to develop.
A riser or yoga block can offer simple benefits with a simple design. It’s a box or “pillow” that allows you to get more extreme angles on some exercises.
With exercises like lunges, this change of angle is enormous for the contribution of different muscles to the exercise. The glutes are more effective in deeper ranges, which allows them to grow more.
Your glute training works better with this kind of deficit exercise, developing better quads, glutes, and core strength to stabilise the added range of the movement.
If you’re not working with implements, you’re missing out on some amazing core and glute gains. These odd, uneven items are a great way to challenge your stabiliser muscles while traing the glutes.
They’re a more unwieldy, difficult weight than barbells or dumbbells. They require more stability in the hips and core, which is a great way to add another layer to your lunges, as well as opening up other exercises that are often neglected:
People have been getting stronger and fitter with odd objects for as long as humans have existed. You’re never too good for a weird, heavy object.
They’re underrated, they’re light, and you could probably use some more time with them. Med balls are a simple and versatile form of weight for training with – they offer great strength and conditioning options for any trainee.
You can use them as standard weight for frog pumps, rotating lunges, and single leg Romanian deadlifts. You can also use them in core and glute HIIT workouts, in core training for sports (like the scoop toss), and as a tool for building power and strength in the glutes with throws.
They’re versatile, they’re cheap, and they’re one piece of equipment that adds layers to your training toolkit.
These are just 9 of our favourite ways to add new options to your training. If you’re looking for new ways to make progress, a change to your routine, or even just a fun way of shaking things up – these are 9 of the best tools for better glute training.
Whatever you’re looking for, these are great ways to get creative, and it’s always a good idea to apply some novelty to your exercises. Each of these items is a fantastic investment and will offer you value and enjoyment long after you’ve spent a little cash on them.
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