The best glute exercises for building muscle in 2026, ranked with research: deep squats, hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts, split squats, sets and a plan.
The best glute exercises for building muscle in 2026 are the deep squat, the barbell hip thrust, the Romanian deadlift, the Bulgarian split squat, the leg press, and the hip abduction machine. Build glute training around one deep squat or lunge pattern plus the hip thrust, then add a hip hinge. Aim for about 10 to 20 hard sets per week, mostly in the 6 to 15 rep range, stopping 1 to 3 reps short of failure.
The gluteus maximus is one of the biggest muscles in your body, and it responds well to heavy, full-range training. The catch is that a lot of popular glute advice is built on muscle activation readings rather than on studies that measured actual growth.
This guide ranks the glute exercises with the best support from training studies, explains what each one adds, and shows how to fit them into a weekly plan.
The best glute exercises for building muscle are the deep squat, the barbell hip thrust, the Romanian deadlift, the Bulgarian split squat, the leg press, and the hip abduction machine. The squat and hip thrust do most of the work; the others add variety, single-leg training, and extra work for the upper glutes.
| Rank | Exercise | Main target | Best for | Typical reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deep squat (barbell or goblet) | Glutes, quads, adductors | Growing the glutes and thighs together | 6-12 |
| 2 | Barbell hip thrust | Glutes | Glute work without much quad fatigue | 8-15 |
| 3 | Romanian deadlift | Glutes, hamstrings | Training the hips through a long stretch | 6-12 |
| 4 | Bulgarian split squat or lunge | Glutes, quads | Single-leg strength and balance between sides | 8-15 per leg |
| 5 | Leg press (feet high, deep) | Glutes, quads | A stable, easy-to-load option | 8-15 |
| 6 | Hip abduction machine | Upper glutes, glute medius | Extra work for the top of the glutes | 12-20 |
The squat ranks first because it has the most training studies showing real glute growth, as long as you squat deep. In a 2019 study by Kubo and colleagues, 17 men trained either full squats or half squats twice a week for 10 weeks. Gluteus maximus volume rose 6.7% with full squats and only 2.2% with half squats, measured by MRI.
Depth is the key detail. Kubo's results suggest that much of the glute stimulus comes from the bottom part of the squat, where the hips are deeply bent, so cutting the range short leaves growth on the table. Squat as deep as you can while keeping a neutral back, whether you use a barbell, a goblet squat, or a Smith machine.
The squat also beat the hip thrust in one study of trained women. Barbalho and colleagues (2020) trained 22 women for 12 weeks with either back squats or hip thrusts. Gluteus maximus thickness rose 9.4% in the squat group and 3.7% in the hip thrust group.
No. Hip thrusts and squats build the glutes about equally in the best evidence so far, but squats also build your thighs. A 2023 study by Plotkin and colleagues randomized 34 untrained adults to hip thrusts or back squats for 9 weeks with the same number of sets. Glute growth measured by MRI was similar in both groups, while the squat group gained more quad and adductor muscle.
Hip thrusts do produce much higher glute activation. A 2015 study by Contreras and colleagues in 13 trained women found mean upper glute activation of 69.5% of maximum in the hip thrust versus 29.4% in the back squat. Plotkin 2023 also saw higher glute activation in the hip thrust, but it did not predict who grew more.
That does not make the hip thrust useless. A 2025 meta-analysis by Krause Neto and colleagues concluded that when you want glute growth without adding as much to other muscles, single-joint exercises such as the hip thrust should be prioritized. It also reviewed a study by Kassiano and colleagues in which adding hip thrusts to leg presses and Romanian deadlifts increased glute thickness by 9.3%, compared with 6% without them.
Yes. The Romanian deadlift trains the glutes and hamstrings together through a long range of motion, with the hips loaded in a deep stretch. The Krause Neto 2025 review found that a program of leg presses and Romanian deadlifts increased glute thickness even before hip thrusts were added.
Keep your knees slightly bent, push your hips back until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, and stop when your back starts to round. Our guide to the best leg exercises for building muscle explains how the Romanian deadlift fits with leg curls for the hamstrings.
Yes. Lunges, split squats, and step-ups are among the exercises with the highest glute activation recorded. A 2020 systematic review by Neto and colleagues classified the step-up and its variations as producing the highest gluteus maximus activation, with split squats, lunges, deadlifts, and hip thrusts also in the "very high" group, above 60% of maximum.
Single-leg work also makes each side do its own share of the work, which helps if one glute feels weaker. These are activation readings, though, not growth studies, so treat split squats and lunges as strong supporting exercises rather than replacements for the squat.
You do not need them, but they add something squats and hip thrusts do not: more growth at the top of the glutes. A 2026 study by Attarieh and colleagues trained 17 adults for 10 weeks, with one leg doing cable hip extensions and the other doing cable hip abductions, about 10 sets a week each. Hip extensions grew the gluteus maximus more overall, 9% versus 5%, mostly in the lower part. Hip abductions grew the upper part more, 10% versus 5%, and also produced a small gain in the gluteus medius and minimus.
If you want rounder-looking upper glutes, add 2 to 4 sets a week of the hip abduction machine or cable abductions after your main lifts.
Compound lifts should come first. In a 2021 study by Barbalho and colleagues, trained women did either multi-joint exercises, single-joint exercises, or both for six months. The groups that included multi-joint exercises such as squats and deadlifts grew their glutes more than the group doing only single-joint exercises.
A caveat for activation studies in general: higher muscle activation in a single session does not guarantee more growth over months. A 2018 review by Vigotsky and colleagues warned that conclusions about strength and hypertrophy drawn from EMG comparisons are frequently unsubstantiated. That is why this ranking puts the squat, backed by growth data, ahead of exercises that only win on activation.
Do about 10 to 20 hard sets per week for the glutes, spread over two sessions. A 2017 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues found a graded dose-response between weekly sets and muscle growth, with each extra weekly set linked to a 0.37% larger gain in muscle size.
Squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, and leg presses all count toward glute sets, so you rarely need many direct glute isolation sets on top. Use 6 to 12 reps on squats and Romanian deadlifts and 8 to 15 or more on hip thrusts and abductions, stopping most sets 1 to 3 reps short of failure. Our guide on how many sets per week to build muscle explains how to count sets from compound lifts.
A good glute workout pairs one squat pattern with a hip thrust and a hinge, then finishes with abductions, for about 10 to 13 total sets. Run it twice a week, or use it as the lower day of an upper/lower split:
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Deep back squat or goblet squat | 3 × 6-10 | 2-3 min |
| Barbell hip thrust | 3 × 8-12 | 2 min |
| Romanian deadlift | 2-3 × 8-12 | 2 min |
| Hip abduction machine | 2-3 × 12-20 | 60-90 s |
On the second day of the week, swap the squat for Bulgarian split squats and the Romanian deadlift for leg presses with your feet high on the platform.
Keep making progress with double progression: stay at a weight until you hit the top of your rep range on every set, then add the smallest jump available. Hip thrusts and squats can take regular small jumps for a long time; on split squats with dumbbells, add reps first, because a 5 lb jump per hand is a big share of the load.
Alexandros is an iPhone app that works like a personal lifting coach you talk to. You log a session in plain English, like "hip thrust 3x10 at 185, last set hard," rate how each set felt, and it tells you the weight and reps for next time using double progression and realistic jumps: 2.5 lb (1.25 kg) plates per side on a barbell and 5 lb (2 kg) per hand on dumbbells. Ask how your hip thrust is going and it answers with charts of your top weight, estimated 1RM, and volume, computed from your own log. Alexandros is in early access; its terms say certain features require a paid subscription through the App Store.
The deep squat. It has the most training studies showing glute growth, and a 2019 study by Kubo and colleagues found full squats grew the gluteus maximus about three times more than half squats.
Yes, as a second glute exercise. A 2023 study by Plotkin and colleagues found hip thrusts built the glutes as well as squats, with less growth in the thighs.
Yes. Hip thrusts, Romanian deadlifts, lunges, and the leg press all build the glutes, so pick the ones you can load and progress safely.
Two to four is enough for most lifters: a squat or lunge, a hip thrust or hinge, and an optional abduction. More exercises rarely help if your weekly sets are already 10 to 20.
About twice a week works well for most people. Spread your 10 to 20 weekly sets over two lower-body sessions so each one stays manageable.
