5 Gluteus Medius Exercises for Stronger Butt and Hips

The gluteus medius is an underrated muscle. It's located under and in front of the gluteus maximus and plays a key role in movements like walking, running, lunging, and kicking — all things we do every day.

Strong glutes help prevent injuries, improve performance, and enhance posture. On that note, here are a few best gluteus medius exercises for a stronger butt and hips.

Gluteus Medius Exercises for Butt and Hips

Here's a look at five such workouts:

#1 Hip Abduction

Hip abduction is a great way to open up the hips and flex the muscles in the lower body. You can build some serious glute gains with this exercise.

Here's how you do a hip abduction.

Lift your top leg up towards the ceiling as high as possible without bending at the waist, or reach forward with any other part of the body.
Hold for two seconds before returning down to the starting position, and repeat ten times per side.

#2 Side Plank

Side planks are a great, unilateral exercise to work the core. They engage the entire midesction, with the obliques benefitting the most from this exercise. However, they're an underrated workout for training the glutes.

The glutes act like the anchor and stabilize the body, essentially taking on the load of both the upper and lower body. Side planks are more demanding than regular planks, so beware of the challenge.

How to do it:

Lie on your side with one forearm directly under your shoulder.
Your elbow should be bent so that it's pointing towards the sky.
Lift up onto your forearm and foot, holding yourself in place with the other hand.
Keep your body in a straight line from head to toe, with hips facing forward and legs stacked on top of each other (not crossed).
Hold for a minute or longer, if you can.

If that's too difficult for you, try doing it against a wall instead of using an arm as support (you will probably have more balance on a flat surface).

If that still feels too tough, just do a regular plank where you're resting on both forearms rather than just one. Finally, if even that isn't challenging enough for you yet — or if something hurts — try resting one hand (forearm down) at about chest level and resting another hand up by your face or head (as long as it's not too much weight).

#3 Glute Bridge

The glute bridge is a great exercise for strengthening not only the glutes but also the hamstrings and quadriceps. It's also one of the most effective exercises for activating the posterior pelvic tilt — a key component for gaining strength in squats and deadlifts.

How to do a glute bridge:

Lie flat on your stomach, with the knees bent at 90 degrees and feet planted firmly on the ground about hip-width apart.
Place both hands palm down beside you.
Slowly lift your glutes off the floor till the hips are fully extended, and slowly lower back down without letting your knees touch the floor or releasing tension in the core muscles.
Perform two sets of ten reps each day.

#4 Hip Thrust

Hip thrusts are one of the best glute exercises for developing strength, size, and shape. They’re also an effective way to prevent lower back pain, as they strengthen the core and deeply stabilize the muscles around the pelvis.

To do hip thrusts:

Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor and hip-width apart.
Lift your hips off the floor to form a bridge position (the body should look like a straight line from shoulders to knees).
Holding this position, squeeze your glutes as you extend one foot straight up towards the ceiling without letting any other part of the body rotate or move.
Lower it back down till you feel the tension in the glutes again.
Switch legs so that it’s now under control while keeping both feet planted firmly on the ground.

#5 Bench Step-up

Bench step-ups are a great way to activate the gluteus medius and also work the upper body. This exercise involves standing on a bench with one foot while raising the other leg up in front of you.

Here's how it's done:

Lower yourself down so that both feet are flat on the ground before repeating this motion with your other foot.
Repeat ten times for each leg, doing three sets total.
Rest 30 seconds between each set and two minutes between each exercise or workout.

Takeaway

So there you have it: Five simple workouts that can help strengthen and tone your glutes.

Before starting any of these movements, make sure to warm up properly with some light cardio activity, such as walking or jogging around the block at a brisk pace for 5-10 minutes. Once you're done with that, go ahead, and try out one of the aforementioned exercises.