Building the muscles of the bottom, specifically the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus, is one of the biggest questions we get from our female trainees at SPC.

Well, luckily for you, you don’t need an abundance of equipment to start seeing changes to your body if you choose the right type of exercises.  Here are our 4 favourites that involve nothing but your own bodyweight and a small resistance band, similar to the exercises we use in our Women’s Group Training Programme. Be prepared for 8 weeks of hard work!

Bodyweight Hip Thrusts

Key Points:

Extend the hips from the floor

Avoid over-arching the lower back

Focus on squeezing the gluteus muscles HARD at the top of each rep

Hold for 2s

Lower slowly under control

Banded Hip Thrusts

Key Points:

Keep your knees pushed outwards – resist the band pulling the legs together

Focus on doing this each repetition

Concentrate on a strong connection with your glute muscles

Squeeze HARD!

Banded Hip Thrust with Abduction

Key Points:

At the top of each rep, drive the legs outwards to create abduction

Pull the band apart with as much range of motion as you’re able to

Repeat at the top of each rep

Single Leg Bodyweight Hip Thrust

Key Points:

Drive through the leg in contact with the floor

Push the foot forcefully into the ground

Squeeze the hamstrings and glute of the working leg

Avoid over-aching the lower back muscles

Ensure your body is in alignment – avoid rotating or losing the correct position of your hips

Sets and Reps

Focusing on progressive overload, we recommend the following (OF EACH EXERCISE):

Beginners to Intermediate:

Week 1: 50 reps

Week 2: 75 reps

Week 3: 100 reps

Week 4: 125 reps

Week 5: 150 reps

Week 6: 200 reps

Week 7: 225 reps

Week 8: 250 reps

Advanced:

Week 1: 300 reps

Week 2: 325 reps

Week 3: 350 reps

Week 4: 375 reps

Week 5: 400 reps

Week 6: 425 reps

Week 7: 450 reps

Week 8: 500 reps

Please note: we recommend performing these amounts of repetitions for each exercise. Complete the reps in as many or as little sets as your require, always focusing on really feeling the gluteals working on every rep.

Perform these exercises 2-3x per week, with at least 24 hours between workouts.

Don’t know where to get a resistance band? Click Here

Want to be accountable? Want expert coaching? Want to see results over a 12 week period? Check out SPC Women