When deciding which exercises to include in one’s programming, getting the best stimulus-to-effort ratio is important. If your goal is developing stronger, juicier glutes, wasting time on less-than-optimal exercises is, well, a waste.
In mid-March 2025, bodybuilder and fitness educator Jeff Nippard ranked what he believes the best glute exercises are and used recent research to support his choices.
Nippard ranked exercises with the following grades from best to worst: S+, S, A, B, C, D, E, F, F-. Exercises were ranked based on the quality of stretch and tension sustained, the comfort of training, and the capacity for progressive overload to grow over time.
[Related: The Anatomy of Your Leg Muscles, Explained]
Glute Anatomy
The gluteals comprise three muscles:
- Gluteus Maximus
- Hip Extension
- External Rotation
- Gluteus Medius
- Hip Abduction
- Important stabilizer for single-leg training
- Gluteus Minimus
- Key stability role
In addition to the trio of gluteus muscles, the glutes can be divided into the upper, mid-, and lower glutes.
Barbell Hip Thrust — B Tier
The barbell hip thrust is a well-researched exercise and has been shown to be an effective glute builder. (1)(3)(4)(5) It activates all three sections of the glute, biasing the mid-glute, thanks to more-targeted hip extension.
It is simple to progress a barbell hip thrust by adding weight plates while maintaining the same form when training.
Nippard’s issues with barbell hip thrusts are the potential discomfort applied to the front of the hip where the barbell sits at heavier weights and the time it takes to set up. There are barbell pads that can help ease the pressure a bit, though it can remain awkward.
Additionally, barbell hip thrusts typically offer a stretch of up to 90 degrees when performed on a weight bench, which is significantly less than the 130 degrees possible. Barbell hip thrusts have been shown to elicit similar mid-glute hypertrophy as squats, though Nippard suggests training both exercises so the glutes are trained in lengthened and mid-stretch positions. (2)
Nautilus Hip Thrust Machine — A Tier
Using a hip thrust machine with a belt could solve the comfort issue and speed up the setup process, as the only need is plate-loading. The added stability is a nice asset as well.
Nippard ranks machine hip thrusts as the best exercise for the mid-glutes.
Single-Leg Dumbbell Hip Thrust — A Tier
These are easy to set up, as only a dumbbell is needed. The unilateral aspect of the exercises requires more stability, which places a lot of stimulus on the medius and minimus.
Glute Bridge — B Tier
It is similar to a hip thrust but easier to set up as it can be done from the floor. The downside of glute bridges is even less range of motion.
Frog Pump — C Tier
Similar to a glute bridge but with externally rotated hips and the soles of the feet together. The stability of frog pumps biases the medius, and the external rotation hits the Maximus.
The downsides are their difficulty to load and lack of deep stretch. Nippard feels they are passable as a finisher for glute training.
Back Squat — A Tier
Nippard praises barbell back squats for their deep stretch, hitting all three glutes. Their downside is, as a compound movement, they aren’t glute-isolating. It isn’t the most targeted option for someone focused on glute hypertrophy. (6)
Deep squats are better for building the glutes, so reps should break parallel. Low bar squats with a forward lean provide more hip flexion and, therefore, train the glutes in a more lengthened position.
Smith Machine Squat — A Tier
Smith Machine squats are great for their stability, allowing you to focus your mind-muscle connection more on biasing the glutes. Stepping farther forward in the position under the barbell will put more emphasis on the glutes than the quads.
Bulgarian Split Squat — A Tier
Bulgarian split squats (BSS) provide a deeper glute stretch than barbell squats, hitting the upper glutes more as a unilateral exercise.
BSS’s issues are their difficulty to load — holding dumbbells makes grip a limiting factor and how quickly they can burn out the quads.
Donkey Kicks — D Tier
Nippard isn’t a buyer of donkey kicks. They don’t apply much tension, even when using a resistance band, and can’t really be loaded in the stretched position.
Fire Hydrants — D Tier
Similar to donkey kicks but with external rotation instead of extension, fire hydrants don’t offer much glute tension. While potentially valuable for rehab and mobility, they are a dud for hypertrophy.
Kickbacks — A Tier
Kickbacks are great for the upper glutes when kicking up and out diagonally since the glutes provide hip extension and abduction. This exercise is relatively stable, given that one can grip the cable machine or weight bench.
Step Ups — A Tier
Nippard favors step-ups as the stretch is deep, and unilateral movement biases the glute stabilizers.
Machine Hip Abduction — S Tier
“Fantastic for the upper glutes,” Nippard praised, recommending a forward lean of 30 degrees to offer the targeted muscle fibers a better stretch, working in the 15-20 rep range. He considers this the best upper glute exercise available.
Cable Hip Abduction — B Tier
While similar to machine hip abductions, they are less stable and harder to overload.
Lateral Banded Walk — C Tier
The movement pattern is similar to the previous hip abduction exercises but provides no stimulus in the stretch.
Walking Lunge — S+ Tier
Walking lunges hit all three glutes through deep stretches, hip extension during concentrics, and stability requirements. Nippard considers them the best of the best glute-building exercises.
Smith Machine Lunge — A Tier
Smith Machine lunges have all the same benefits as walking lunges, but Nippard feels more motivated by walking through space. That’s a personal preference rather than a science-based one, so he still ranked them well.
Smith Machine Elevated Lunge — S Tier
All the benefits of a Smith Machine lunge but with a deeper stretch. Set it up by adding a small platform to elevate the starting position.
Curtsy Lunge — B Tier
While the stability needed to step back on a diagonal offers some upper glute benefit, Nippard finds curtsy lunges more awkward than a standard lunge and a bit more challenging to load.
Conventional Deadlift — B Tier
As a compound movement, deadlifts are more fatiguing than targeted movements despite the exceptional hip extension they provide. Deadlifts have a high stimulus-to-fatigue ratio, meaning that while the stimulus is exceptional, the fatigue involved to perform them is also steep. (7)
Sumo Deadlift — B Tier
There isn’t a significant difference in glute maximus activity between sumo and conventional deadlifts. The external rotation presumes that the glute medius is better biased in a sumo position, therefore ranks it higher in the B tier as a glute builder compared to its conventional counterpart.
Romanian Deadlift (RDL) — A Tier
Nippard ranks RDLs as the best option for glute hypertrophy among the deadlifts. “It smashes the gluteus Maximus as a basic compound lift that’s easy to overload. He considers it the best exercise for building the lower glutes.
45-Degree Back Extension — S Tier
Typically thought of as a lower back exercise, back extension involves hip extension by driving the hips into the pad to extend the back. Rounding the back helps target the glutes better by easing the load on the erectors.
Cable Pull-Through — B Tier
Nippard considers cable pull-throughs mediocre overall. They are easy to set up but difficult to load as the grip will be awkward and limiting at higher weights.
Kettlebell Swings — D Tier
While kettlebell swings can be a great cardio session, they don’t offer much in the way of loading the glutes in the stretched position, and the tension of the hip thrust is lost to momentum.
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References
- Kassiano, Witalo & Kunevaliki, Gabriel & Costa, Daniella & Nunes, João Pedro & de Castro e Souza, Pâmela & Tricoli, Ian & Ribeiro, Alex & Cyrino, Edilson. (2024). Addition of The Barbell Hip Thrust Elicits Greater Increases in Gluteus Maximus Muscle Thickness in Untrained Young Women. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning. 10.47206/ijsc.v4i1.284.
- Plotkin, D. L., Rodas, M. A., Vigotsky, A. D., McIntosh, M. C., Breeze, E., Ubrik, R., Robitzsch, C., Agyin-Birikorang, A., Mattingly, M. L., Michel, J. M., Kontos, N. J., Frugé, A. D., Wilburn, C. M., Weimar, W. H., Bashir, A., Beyers, R. J., Henselmans, M., Contreras, B. M., & Roberts, M. D. (2023). Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2023.06.21.545949. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.06.21.545949
- Contreras, B., Vigotsky, A. D., Schoenfeld, B. J., Beardsley, C., & Cronin, J. (2015). A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyographic Activity in the Back Squat and Barbell Hip Thrust Exercises. Journal of applied biomechanics, 31(6), 452–458. https://doi.org/10.1123/jab.2014-0301
- McCurdy, K., Walker, J., & Yuen, D. (2018). Gluteus Maximus and Hamstring Activation During Selected Weight-Bearing Resistance Exercises. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 32(3), 594–601. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001893
- Delgado, J., Drinkwater, E. J., Banyard, H. G., Haff, G. G., & Nosaka, K. (2019). Comparison Between Back Squat, Romanian Deadlift, and Barbell Hip Thrust for Leg and Hip Muscle Activities During Hip Extension. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 33(10), 2595–2601. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003290
- Kubo, K., Ikebukuro, T., & Yata, H. (2019). Effects of squat training with different depths on lower limb muscle volumes. European journal of applied physiology, 119(9), 1933–1942. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04181-y
- ESCAMILLA, R. F., A. C. FRANCISCO, A. V. KAYES, K. P. SPEER, and C. T. MOORMAN, III. An electromyographic analysis of sumo and conventional style deadlifts. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 682–688, 2002.
Featured image: @jeffnippard on Instagram
