This is a pretty common question I get asked all the time - How can I grow my glutes, not my thighs?

Now many women these days like a big bum, but not every woman wants to have thicker thighs.

This can be an issue because a lot of exercises that highly activate the glutes also highly activate the quads (front of the leg) and hamstrings (back of the leg).

So when you begin to build your glutes with resistance and strength training it’s pretty common that your legs will grow too.

Many woman want this to happen, but for some of you it’s not what you want.

That’s why I wrote this article, to give you a step by step guide to growing your glutes not your legs.

Do Weight and Reps Matter?

The amazing thing about muscles is we can grow them across a wide spectrum of rep ranges and weights:

Low reps (1-5),
Medium reps (6-12),
High reps (12-20),
Really high reps (30+)

All these rep ranges can create muscle growth, you just need to keep the training intensity high and push close to failure.

But what this means is that simply avoiding a certain rep range won’t stop your legs growing i.e. not lifting heavy (1-5 reps). They can still grow even if you are training them lightly.

Whats the solution?

First off to avoid growing you legs we want to AVOID exercises that highly activate your Quads (front of leg) , Hamstrings (back of leg) and Adductors (inner thigh).

And Secondly we want to perform exercises that HIGHLY ACTIVATE/STRESS the Glutes (ideally in isolation).

What Exercises Should You Limit So Your Legs Don’t Grow?

Well…. To be honest once you read this next bit you’ll see there aren’t a lot of options left!

Exercises to limit because they highly active your Quads and Hamstrings:

All Squat variations
Bulgarian split squats
Jumps
Lunges
Leg Press
Step-ups
All Deadlift variations - Conventional, Sumo, Trap Bar.
Leg Extensions

These all recruit and activate the Quads to high a level and will lead to your thighs growing.

Romanian Deadlifts
Leg Curls
Glute Ham Raise
Back Extensions
Good Mornings
Nordics
Hip Thrusts - YES even Hip Thrusts are a no go as they involve Quad and Hamstring recruitment and we can do glute bridges instead.
Adductor exercises.

These all recruit and activate the hamstrings to a high level and will lead to your legs growing.

So…yeah… 90% of all the biggest and best glute builders are off the table.

Should you eliminate them entirely?

No, this doesn’t mean they are off the table forever, they are just exercises to limit doing if your goal is glute growth without leg growth.

We don’t want to risk developing muscle imbalances that could lead to injury by having glutes and hamstrings that are far more powerful and developed than your quads. We must always consider balance between the front and back of the body, the legs are no exception.

But if your goal is to grow glutes not thighs, I recommend only using one the above Quad and Hamstring exercises once per week to keep Quad and Hamstring growth to a minimum, while not completely ignoring them.

And if I was writing a plan for client who wanted to grow their butt not their legs I would still include some hamstring movements, as typically the bulk women want to avoid on their legs is Quads not Hamstrings, as the Quads give the thighs that thicker appearance.

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What Exercises Should You Do To Grow Your Glutes Not Legs?

Luckily there are still some heavy hitters to choose from:

Barbell Glute Bridges

This will be your main go to Glute exercise instead of hip thrusts as Quads and Hamstrings are minimally involved . You want to focus most of your time and effort into getting stronger in the glute bridge. Remember - getting stronger builds curves.

Kas Glute Bridge

A heavy hitter as you can use lighter weight for high reps and heavy weight for low reps. It’s a small, controlled range of motion that eliminates almost all Quad and Hamstring recruitment and focuses purely on Glutes. It may not look like much, but do not underestimate the glute building power of the Kas Glute Bridge.

Included in this are any and all Glute Bridge Variations:

Knee banded glute bridges
Banded glute bridges
Feet elevated glute bridges
Frog Pumps (Banded and Weighted) etc.

Abduction Exercises

All the abduction exercises are a great choice and there are tons of them:

Abduction Machine

Banded Abductions

Side Lying Hip Raises

Extra Range Side Lying Hip Abductions

These are just a few, some more examples include:

Banded Fire hydrants
Cable Abductions
Lying Banded Hip Abductions
Clams
Extra range Side Lying Hip Raises
Lateral band walks
Monster Walks
Band hip hinge abductions
Glute Bridges with abductions etc etc

Kick Backs

You’re going to be doing a lot of cable kick back variations as they are great for targeting the glutes with next to no quad or hamstring involvement.

Other variations include:

Glute Medius cable kick backs
Kneeling cable kick backs
Smith machine kick backs
Band Kick backs

Back Extensions

This isn’t your regular back extension this is a glute focused one. Keep your feet together, toes pointing out and round your upper back. Really focus on pulling purely with your glutes and hamstrings.

Other similar variations would be:

Cable Pull throughs

Reverse Hyperextension Exercises

There are a ton of Reverse hyper exercises to choose from. If you are luck your gym will have a reverse hyper machine that you can add weight too, if not then you can use a GHD (Glute Ham Developer) or simply a standard bench.

Reverse Hyper on GHD

Frog Reverse Hyper

Other Variations include:

Weighted Reverse Hypers on a Reverse Hyper machine
Banded Reverse Hypers
Spread Eagle Reverse Hypers
Reverse Hypers with ankle weights
Cable Reverse Hypers (similar to kick backs).
Swiss Ball Reverse Hypers

Hip External Rotation Exercises

This is pretty much your only choice and not an easy one to execute so give it a try but don’t worry if you struggle with it to begin with.

And Finally, Isometric Exercises

These are static glute squeezes such as:

RKC Planks
Standing Glute Squeezes

So Will Your Glutes Grow?

100%, all it takes is consistency, drive and effort over time. Make sure you are challenging yourself and using a variety of weight and rep ranges to overload your training.

If you’ve ever wondered “Why are my glutes not growing?” then you need to read this article next. I break down all the common reasons why your glutes aren’t getting any bigger.

And if training is not the issue then it could be your diet. Check out this article on how to Feed Your Glutes next.

Putting Together A Plan

As a simple to rule to build a workout pick 1-2 exercises from each main area above

2 Bridge Variations - One Heavy, One Lighter Load.
- Sets 2-4, Reps 8-20
2 Abduction Variations - One Medium, One Lighter Load
- Sets 2-4, Reps 12-30
1 Kickback Variation - Medium to Light Load
- Sets 2-4, Reps 12-20
1 Back Extension and/or Reverse Hyper Variation - Medium to Light Load
- Sets 2-4, Reps 12-30

1 Exercise as a high rep finisher e.g. Frog Pumps, Banded Abductions
- Sets 1-2, Reps 50+

Confused?

Then let me take care of all of it for you by becoming a coaching client:

If you are looking to make that change, work with a strength and conditioning coach who understands exactly how to get you the glutes you want then

apply for ONLINE COACHING HERE

And Check out of a few of my clients below who’ve added up to 4 inches to their glutes.