If you want to cause a shitstorm among coaches and trainers ask them what the best exercises are for training glutes.

Everyone will offer up an opinion:

"Squats are the best."

"Nah, bro, squats suck! It's all about hip thrusts."

"Bitch please, Thrusts are so 2019; it's all about Kas Glute Bridges now."

"There is no best exercise" (there's always that one fence sitter).

Blah, Blah Blah etc

The truth is there are a ton of movements that train the glutes to varying degrees, and I believe they all have a place in your training.

But is there some concrete hard evidence that shows us the best (or better) choices for training your glutes?

Yes, dear reader, there is.

A recent study called: Gluteus Maximus Activation during Common Strength and Hypertrophy Exercises (linked here) yielded interesting and unexpected results.

So from MOST effective to Less (but still very) Effective, let's look at the glute exercises that will grow your glutes the best.

These are the exercises ranked as

VERY HIGH ACTIVATION:

Step Ups

Yes, you read that right; step Ups, not hip thrusts, have the highest glute max activation of any exercise when done correctly.

Variations include:

Lateral Step Ups
Diagonal Step Ups
Crossover Step Ups

Trap Bar/Hex Bar Deadlifts

Coming in second place is trap/hex bar deadlifts. Even for me, it is a surprise that it came higher than conventional and Romanian deadlifts, but not too surprising as I use this often with my clients.

Hip Thrusts & Kas Glute Bridges

Down in third place is the mighty hip thrust. It may not be #1, but it's still responsible for all the best butts we've got in the world today.

If you want bigger glutes, you should do these every week.

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Belt Squats

Coming way above both Back and Front squats are the belt squats.

It's a fantastic choice.

But it's useless to many of us if you don't have access to a belt squat. So for convenience's sake, it’s probably best to stick with regular squats.

Up next is everyone's favourite,

Split Squats

In my humble opinion, the Bulgarian Split Squat variation is the one you should choose for maximal glute growth. With a slight forward lean over the working leg, you can bias the glutes and hit them hard for more growth.

Lunges are next on the list.

From static lunges to walking lunges they will help to grow your glutes in record time.

My personal choice will always be the following:

Deficit Reverse Lunge.

Coming in at the end of the VERY HIGH ACTIVATION list is:

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Conventional Deadlifts

Still an absolute belter for glute growth, but more importantly, as an overall strength developer.

Nothing will make you strong like deadlifts.

Now, let’s move on to the High Activation exercises.

HIGH GLUTE ACTIVATION

First up in the HIGH GLUTE ACTIVATION group is

Parallel Back Squats

Contrary to what many glute coaches and girls will tell you, the squat is a very good glute exercise. We now have the science to prove that it is equally as good, if not better, than hip thrusts.

When trying to bias the glutes for growth, we can aim for a parallel squat with less knees over toes than a deep back squat, otherwise known as a glute-focused squat.

However, I enjoy getting low and deep for maximum stretch on the glutes. Either way is fine. The lesson here is to do your squats.

Next on the 'team squats' is the awesome:

Front Squats

If you want to look like you know what you're doing in the gym, few exercises do that better than front squats. However, I found it surprising that it's this high up the list as for me it's very much a quad-heavy move.

But who am I to argue with the science!?

Coming in at the bottom of the HIGH GLUTE ACTIVATION list is the humble

Romanian Deadlift

RDL's are an absolute MUST for growing your glutes, in my opinion.

It's one exercise I would never miss off a program.

However, it is still, first and foremost, a hamstring development exercise.

Coming in at the bottom of the pile are Sumo Deadlifts and Deep Back Squats.

This isn't too shocking to me.

Sumo deadlifts are great, but the body position doesn't provide enough hip flexion and extension to hit the glutes, as well as conventional or Romanian deadlifts.

The same goes for deep squats; the deeper you go, the more quads and adductors you use and the less favourable it is for the glutes to contibute.

So that's what science shows us, at least in this study.

But I think it's worth discussing my own experience and that of my clients.

Also, we need to add exercises not included in the study.

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My top list of glute-building exercises would look like this:

Glute Focused Step Ups
Barbell Hip Thrusts & Variations
Kas Glute Bridge
RDL's & Variations
Bulgarian Split Squats
Deficit Reverse Lunges & Lunges in general
Conventional Deadlifts & Floating Deadlifts
Back Squats & Squat variations
Glute Dominant Back Extensions
Sumo Deadlifts
Cable Kickbacks
Cable Abductions

You won't go wrong with picking from this list of glute growth must-dos.

If you took all 12 of these moves on my list and split them into three workouts (4 actions per workout)

I can't imagine a world where your glutes won't grow.

These have all worked well for me and form the foundation of all my client’s glute workouts.

Try putting your own glute workout together from this list of amazing glute exercises, and let me know how you get on in the comments.

Don’t forget we need calories and protein to build those glute muscles. I've gone into greater detail in this article I suggest you read next: How To Eat To Build Your Glutes.

I’ve got a brilliant and handy CALORIE CALCULATOR on my website that will give you custom calorie targets, advice on macro splits and advice on building muscle, check it out.