21 Bodyweight Exercises For Strong Glutes At Home (No Equipment Needed)
Want to strengthen your glutes at home but not sure what exercises you can do WITHOUT any equipment? Don’t worry – there’s plenty!
In this list I’ll share 21 of the best no equipment strengthening exercises for your glutes that you can do easily at home!
We see plenty of posts on Instagram and TikTok about ‘getting bigger glutes’ or ‘growing your bum’ – but that’s not what we are here for.
Your glute muscles actually play such a huge role in your daily movement – helping with walking, running, climbing stairs and keeping your hips stable.
Having strong glutes can also help support your lower back, improve your overall posture and make you move more efficiently during your workouts.
The exercises I’ve included in this list will help strengthen your glutes for REAL-LIFE, not just aesthetics. So hopefully you’ll be able to move better, feel stronger and stay injury free for longer!
Ps. Some of these exercises will also work other parts of your lower body & even your core too!
P.s This post may include affiliate links, which means if you click on them I could make a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me keep the content I share on this blog free and accessible for you!
21 Glute Exercises You Can Do At Home With No Equipment
1) Glute Bridge
How-To Do A Glute Bridge
- Lie on your back, with your knees bent, feet hip-width and heels close to your glutes, arms relaxed down at your sides.
- Press through your heels to lift your hips up, forming a straight line from shoulders to knees, and then squeeze your glutes at the top.
- Lower back down slowly with control, keeping your core engaged and tailbone tucked.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Think about driving through your heels, not your toes.
2) Single-Leg Glute Bridge
How-To Do A Single-Leg Glute Bridge
- Lie on your back, with one foot planted and the other leg extended straight toward the ceiling (or bent if you prefer.)
- Then drive through the planted heel to lift your hips up, trying your best to keep them level and squeezing the glutes at the top.
- Lower slowly with control whilst keeping the hips as stable as possible.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Keep your hips level throughout the movement, think about your hipbones facing up to the sky.
3) Frog Pumps
How-To Do A Frog Pump
- Lie on your back, putting the soles of your feet together and letting your knees relax out wide.
- To lift your hips up into a bridge, push the soles of your feet together and squeeze your glutes to lift.
- Lower back down with control to the floor.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Let the legs naturally relax out only as they feel comfortable. Don’t force them to stretch open if it doesn’t feel right.
4) Bridge Abductions
How-To Do A Glute Bridge Abduction
- Lift up into your glute bridge, everything in a straight line at the top.
- Open your knees out to the sides slowly, trying to keep the hips staying lifted.
- Bring knees back together without dropping your hips and maintain tension in the glutes.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Open your hips out with control to feel it in our glutes as much as we can, not just momentum! We don’t want to fling our knees open lol!
5) Marching Glute Bridge
How-To Do A Marching Glute Bridge
- Set up in your glute bridge with hips lifted and everything in a straight line at the top.
- Begin by lifting one foot off the floor while keeping hips steady, bringing it it just a few inches off the floor or right up if you can.
- Then just start to switch sides – like you’re marching!
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Move slowly as you lift each leg up, trying to keep your core and hips steady.
6) Fire Hydrant
How-To Do A Fire Hydrant
- Start by getting into an all fours position, with your knees underneath the hips and wrists underneath the shoulders.
- Keeping your body stable and hips square, lift your knee up and out to the side.
- Lower with control and repeat before switching sides.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Only lift as far as your knee can go without you leaning over to the other side too much.
7) Bent-Leg Kickback
How-To Do A Bent-Leg Kickback
- Start by getting into an all fours position, with your knees underneath your hips and wrists underneath your shoulders.
- Keeping one knee on the floor, bend your other knee at a 90degree angle, flex the foot and drive the heel towards the ceiling, squeezing your glute muscle as you lift.
- Lower slowly back down and tap the knee onto the floor.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Do your best to keep your hips facing the floor throughout this exercise and your core stable.
8) Straight-Leg Kickback
How-To Do A Straight-Leg Kickback
- Start on your hands and knees with one leg extended straight behind you.
- Lift the leg straight up, using your glute muscles. Keep the hips and core steady.
- Lower back down to the floor with control.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Think about keeping your hip bones facing the floor throughout the leg lift.
9) Side Lying Leg Raise
How-To Do A Lying Side Raise
- Lie down on your side and extend your legs out straight or with one leg bent in front.
- To begin your raise, lift your top leg up in a straight line as high as feels comfortable, keeping the foot flexed throughout.
- Hold for a moment at the top then lower down with control.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
As you raise, don’t let your hips roll back. Keep the hip bone facing forward as you raise and lower.
10) Clamshells
How-To Do A Clamshell
- Start by lying on your side, with the knees bent and feet stacked together slightly in front of your body.
- Begin by opening your top knee like a hinge, whilst keeping the feet glued together. Really press the knee back at the top.
- Lower slowly back down and then repeat for your desired reps.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
With your clamshells, make sure when you lift the knee open, your hips don’t roll back. Keep the hip bone facing forward as much as you can.
11) Bodyweight Squats
How-To Do A Bodyweight Squat
- Stand with feet about shoulder with apart and your toes slightly turned out.
- Descend into your squat by sending the hips back and down, and driving the knees out.
- Lower down only as far as feels comfortable for you.
- To come back, really drive through your feet and squeeze the glutes to return to standing.
12) Curtsy Lunge
How-To Do A Curtsy Lunge
- Start by standing with your toes pointed forward and feet about hip width-apart.
- Step one leg diagonally behind you as if you are doing a ‘curtsy’, whilst keeping the hips facing forward.
- Bend at both knees to lower down toward the floor, keeping most of your weight in the front heel.
- Drive through your front foot to return to standing.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Aim to keep the front toes and knee pointed forward as you lunge behind with the other leg.
13) Split Squat
How-To Do A Split Squat
- Stand in a split-stance, with one foot in front and keeping the other leg behind for balance.
- From here, bend at both knees, lowering the back knee down toward the floor.
- To come back up, simply drive through the front foot (the working leg).
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
For even more of a glute focused split squat, keep slightly hinged forward at the hips throughout the exercise.
14) Reverse Lunge
How-To Do A Reverse Lunge
- Start by standing tall, feet about hip-width distance apart.
- Keeping one foot planted, step back with the other leg into a reverse lunge, bending the knee toward the floor at about a 90 degree angle.
- To come back up, push through your front heel and return to standing.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
For more glute-focus, maintain a slight forward torso lean throughout the movement.
15) Lateral Lunge
How-To Do A Lateral Lunge
- Start by standing with the feet together, then step out to the side with one leg and sit the hips back.
- Your other leg should straighten out as you do this.
- To come back up, push through the working leg and bring the feet together again.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
I like to imagine I’m stepping out, then trying to sit my bum back onto a chair, transferring the weight into my heel!
16) Bodyweight Good Morning
How-To Do A Bodyweight Good Morning
- Standing tall, pop your hands on your hips or behind the neck.
- Keeping a soft bend in the knees, start to hinge at the hips, sending the bum back and the torso forward, until you feel a nice stretch in the back of the hamstrings.
- To come back up, squeeze your bum and return to standing.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Try your best to keep your spine fairly neutral throughout this movement. & remember we’re pushing back the hips, not bending at the upper body or lower back.
17) Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
How-To Do A Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
- Start by loading your weight into one leg, keeping the knee soft and foot planted.
- Begin to hinge forward at the hips, sending the other leg back behind you and bringing the torso forward.
- To return, simply push through your planted heel to come back up to standing.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Make sure to keep your stays spine long throughout this movement. Think about hinging at the hips, not bending at the back or the waist.
18) Standing Side Raise
How-To Do A Standing Side Leg Raise
- Start in a standing position holding onto a chair or the wall for support.
- Keep your hips stable, lift one leg out to the side in a straight line with the foot flexed.
- Lower your leg with control and return to standing.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Only raise to a height that feels comfortable and doable. You don’t want to lean to far over to the other side!
19) Glute Rainbow
How-To Do A Glute Rainbow
- Start on your hands and your knees, with one leg extended straight back behind you.
- Using your glute muscle, lift the leg up – then draw an ‘arc’ shape from one side to the other.
- Gently tap the floor with your toes as you go from side to side.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
Throughout this movement, keep your core and hips as stable as you can, just working the glute muscles.
20) Standing Kickback
How-To Do A Standing Kickback
- Stand tall, then lean forward slightly, holding onto a chair or the wall for support.
- Lift one leg up behind you, using your glute muscles, whilst keeping everything else steady.
- Your other leg should stay planted with a soft bend at the knee.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
You can keep your working leg fairly straight, or bend at the knee if it feels more comfortable to lift.
21) Tall-Kneeling Hip Extension
How-To Do A Tall Kneeling Hip Extension
- Start in a kneeling position with your upper body tall and glutes gently engaged.
- Begin to hinge back at the hips (whilst keeping your spine long), as your torso comes forward at the same time.
- To return, squeeze your bum and drive your hips back up your tall-kneeling position.
Jane’s Technique Tip 💋
As you drive your hips forward, try not to lean back at the top. Think about remaining tall and upright.
What Dumbbells I Use For Home Workouts
For home workouts I like to use HEX DUMBBELLS. They’re super versatile and due to the hexagonal shape of them, they won’t roll away from underneath you meaning you’ll feel much safer and stable.
I also find the non-slip grippy bit on the handle (the knurling) means you can hold them better in comparison to softer neoprene dumbbells which can be quite slippery if you’re sweating.
You can easily get them on Amazon – these are the ones that are best reviewed in the UK/Ireland and seem to be most popular! If they’re not available just look for similar ones, there seem to be plenty of options available! 💪🏻
I hope this list has given you some useful ideas for exercises you can easily do at home to build strength in your glute muscles: no equipment needed!
If you want to save this list so you can refer back to it later, I’d recommend either bookmarking it in your favourites folder on your browser or save it to Pinterest below! 💋
Let me know in the comments if you’ll try any of these arm exercises in your next home workout or if you have a favourite!
Save This List To Your Pinterest 📌
DISCLAIMER ☁️✨
Just a friendly heads‑up: The workouts and tips I provide on this site are here to help you move, feel strong, and learn — but they’re absolutely not a substitute for personalised medical advice. If you have any health concerns, injuries, or conditions, it’s always best to chat with a healthcare professional before trying something new. Listen to your body, take things at your own pace, and stop if something doesn’t feel right.
