Best Gluteus Medius Exercises: 11 Moves to Construct Your Butt | Well+Good

But the muscle that almost all of us really need to pay more attention to is the gluteus medius. Located along the perimeters of the hips, sitting slightly below the gluteus maximus, it might not be as big as its neighbor with the more impressive name. Yet neglecting gluteus medius exercises can come back to bite you within the, well, butt.

“It’s stabilizing all your [lower-body] joints,” says personal trainer Holly Roser, CPT. “The very first thing we have a look at with injury prevention is strengthening your glute medius.”

Why you would like strong gluteus medius muscles

The glutes usually often find yourself weak and underused because most of us spend a lot time in chairs and couches and cars.

“If you spend all day sitting in your muscle, you are obviously not using it,” says fitness coach Jill Goodtree, CPT. When we do stand up after several hours seated, our “dead butt” won’t activate properly, leaving us a bit wobbly—and weaker there over time.

The gluteus medius specifically plays a serious role in helping to stabilize the hips, particularly whenever you’re on one leg, like whenever you’re transferring your weight from one foot to the opposite as you walk or run. When it’s not firing right, your hip might drop whenever you take a step, which may result in a complete host of issues like low back pain¹, IT band syndrome², shin splints³, and plantar fasciitis⁴.

“Anything where you are moving your feet quickly and you do not need to fall—like mountain climbing or running, Zumba, step class, rollerblading—you should stabilize your glute medius,” says Roser.

The 11 best gluteus medius exercises

While many exercises can partially engage the gluteus medius, whenever you really need to strengthen this muscle, it pays to zero in on it with targeted moves so you understand other muscles aren’t doing the work. “You really need to isolate this body part,” says Roser. “You wish to have the opportunity to feel it.”

“You really need to isolate this body part.”—Holly Roser, CPT

Here are 11 gluteus medius exercises that Roser and Goodtree recommend for feeling the burn right where you would like it, demonstrated by Goodtree and Amanda Gabriella Ang, DPT. They range from beginner-friendly moves to more advanced challenges.

To know when it’s time to up the ante, Goodtree gives this guideline: “The last couple of reps of your set should feel quite difficult,” she says. “If you may do like 1,000,000 reps of the identical exercise, it is perhaps time to extend the intensity.” That might mean adding a resistance band or ankle weight, or introducing an unstable element like a Bosu ball.

1. Clamshell

1. Lie down on a mat on the ground in your side, together with your hips and knees bent. Keep your hips stacked on top of one another without tilting forward or back, and be certain your head, hips, and feet are in a single line.
2. Keeping your ankles together, slowly raise the highest knee toward the ceiling, then return.
3. Do 3 sets of 15 on either side.

2. Banded clamshell

1. Lie down on the ground in your side, together with your hips and knees bent, resting in your right elbow and lifting up through your obliques to maintain your spine long.
2. Wrap a mini-band around your thighs, just above the knees. Keep your hips stacked without tilting forward or back, and be certain your head, hips, and feet are in a single line.
3. Keeping your ankles together, slowly raise the left knee toward the ceiling, then return.
4. Do 3 sets of 15 on either side.

3. Side-lying hip abduction

1. Lie down on the ground in your side with each legs out straight, and your top hand frivolously holding onto the ground in front of you to keep up your balance.
2. On an exhale, lift the highest leg straight up to simply above the hip joint. Make sure your knee stays pointing forward, and your hips stay stacked on top of each other.
3. Bring your leg back down on an inhale.
4. Do 2 sets of 10 on either side.

4. Side-lying hip abduction with ankle weights

1. Wrap a 2- or 5-pound ankle weight onto each leg.
2. Lie down on the ground in your side. Bend your bottom leg, keep your top leg straight, and hold onto the ground in front of you together with your top hand to keep up your balance.
3. On an exhale, lift your top leg straight up to simply above the hip joint. Make sure your knee stays pointing forward, and your hips stay stacked on top of each other.
4. Bring your leg back down on an inhale.
5. Do 2 sets of 10 on either side.

5. Standing abduction

1. Stand together with your feet hip-width apart, knees barely bent, shoulders back, and feet pointed straight ahead.
2. On an exhale, lift one leg straight out to the side while keeping your hips level, going as high as you may without using momentum or losing your balance.
3. Slowly return to the beginning on an inhale.
4. Do 3 sets of 10 on each leg.

6. Lateral lunge

1. Stand together with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Step your right leg about 2 to three feet out on to the side, landing on a bent leg together with your hips pushed back so your thigh is parallel to the bottom.
3. Push through the fitting foot to return to the beginning.
4. Do 8 to 12 reps on either side, completing 3 to five sets total.

7. Lateral lunge with a knee drive

1. Stand together with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Step your right leg about 2 to three feet out on to the side, landing together with your right leg bent and together with your hips pushed back so your right thigh is parallel to the bottom.
3. Push through your right foot to bring your weight back to your left leg, bringing your right knee up toward your chest.
4. Hold your balance for a second, then repeat.
5. Do 8 to 12 reps on either side, completing 3 to five sets.

8. Lateral step-up

1. Stand sideways next to a step or a stair.
2. Lift your foot that is closest to the step, and lift it up and over onto the step. Bring your weight up onto the step. Bring your other foot to fulfill it. Make sure each feet are pointing straight the entire time.
3. Come back down, bringing each feet together again off of the step.
4. Do 2 sets of 10 on each leg.

9. Monster walk

1. Stand together with your feet hip-width apart, and loop a mini band around your thighs just above your knees.
2. Sit back right into a shallow squat.
3. Step to 1 side, increasing resistance on the band. Keep each feet pointed straight ahead.
4. Bring the feet back to hip-width apart.
5. Repeat 10 times in each direction, completing 2 sets on either side.

10. Single-leg balance on a Bosu ball

1. Stand on top of the bouncy a part of a Bosu ball on one leg, lifting your other foot a few inches off the Bosu. Keep a slight bend in your knee, and barely tuck your pelvis.
2. Hold for 30 seconds, and repeat for a complete of two sets on each leg.

11. Foam rolling

Although this move doesn’t activate the muscle like the opposite gluteus medius exercises on this list, it may well help keep the implications of a weak gluteus medius at bay. “Your surrounding muscles try to overcompensate to stop the pelvis from dropping,” explains Roser. “This results in tight muscles, and tight muscles result in injury.”

1. Sit on the highest of a tough foam roller. Rest your left ankle across your right knee.
2. Roll backwards and forwards over your right glutes, and switch side to side, lingering a bit longer on any spots that feel extra tight.
3. Spend 30 seconds on either side, and repeat 2 times on either side.

How long it takes to see results

Goodtree recommends working a few of these gluteus medius exercises into your workouts at the least two or thrice every week. With regular practice, it is best to begin to feel your hips getting stronger and more stable inside a month or two.

If you’re struggling, Goodtree recommends booking a session with a private trainer or physical therapist. Given the most important impact the gluteus medius can have on our bodies and the way comfortably we move through life, don’t just wing it for those who’re undecided the right way to best strengthen this muscle. “When doubtful,” says Goodtree, “ask an individual.”