Most glute workouts throw 8–10 random exercises at you when you only need two. In this guide, you’ll learn the best gluteus maximus exercises—the two science-backed moves that give you the deep stretch and hard squeeze your glutes need to grow.

This is what weak, underdeveloped glutes look like. 

They’re often the hidden reason your strength stalls, your posture breaks down, and that nagging back pain never goes away. 

In this guide, you’ll learn the best gluteus maximus exercises so you can finally stop guessing and follow a simple plan that works. 

The good news is you only need two of the best gluteus maximus exercises to fix this, helping you look better, jump higher, and even run faster. 

I got these from the world’s leading glute expert, Bret Contreras — who literally invented the hip thrust, is known for creating some of the best gluteus maximus exercises in the world, and has helped thousands of people build stronger glutes. 

The first exercise you’ve probably never done before — and for the second, I’ll show you the simple bonus technique that completely changed my results.

Why the Glutes Are Hard to Grow

Not Focusing On The Gluteus Maximus

“I think a lot of people would see better results if they focus on getting stronger with just a couple of movements, rather than trying to hit the glutes from every angle possible.”

That’s Bret Contreras, AKA the Glute Guy.

Bret has a PHD in sports science and has spent his life studying and growing glutes and testing which movements truly count as the best gluteus maximus exercises.

Bret explained that while your glutes are made up of 3 muscles, the largest muscle by far is the gluteus maximus. 

When we talk about the best gluteus maximus exercises, we’re really trying to target this big, powerful muscle as directly and as effectively as possible.

This muscle gets weak and underdeveloped if you sit all day and don’t properly train it in your workouts, which for some people leads to issues with posture and back pain. 

Choosing the best gluteus maximus exercises becomes even more important if you spend a lot of time sitting and want your training to actually fix that.

Now its main function is hip extension, something you do when you deadlift or when you’re squatting.

But to my surprise, Bret didn’t pick those as his top movements, even though they’re often recommended as some of the “best” glute exercises.

“I think the reverse lunge is the best …”

“But it’s too good. It makes you too sore. If I have you do dumbbell walking lunges to failure. I just had you go up and down to absolute failure. Your glutes get too sore, your glutes, your adductors. Everything gets so sore.”

Key Problems Of Your Usual “Best Gluteus Maximus Exercises”

This is actually the problem with many glute exercises. 

It’s easy to challenge your glutes through lunges, squats and deadlifts, but they also come with 3 key problems that make them less than ideal if you’re specifically chasing the best gluteus maximus exercises.

Too Taxing

The first is most of these “best gluteus maximus exercises” are taxing compound movements that target multiple muscles all at once. 

And while this is usually a good thing, if other muscles like your lower back or even your grip are giving out first, then you could reach failure while your glutes still have 7 or 8 reps left in the tank. 

In that case, you’re working hard without really getting the full benefit of what the best gluteus maximus exercises are supposed to do.

Poor Glute Activation

What’s even worse is if you already have weak or “hard to activate” glutes, other muscles can “steal” your glutes gains. 

I actually ran into this problem myself. 

Usually squats would hit my glutes really well. But after neglecting my glutes for a while, once I came back to doing heavy squats all I could feel were my adductors (inner thigh muscles) and quads taking over. 

It’s why even if you’ve gotten really strong on squats and deadlifts, your glute growth may not reflect it — those aren’t always the best gluteus maximus exercises for you if other muscles keep taking over.

Soreness

And finally, soreness. 

It’s one of things I’ve hated about many “best gluteus maximus exercises”, like Bulgarian Split Squats. 

The days after were brutal and it would make me dread doing them again. 

In some cases it was even tough to recover before my next leg session, which meant I couldn’t train the best gluteus maximus exercises often enough to really grow.

Which is when Bret proposed an exercise I had actually never tried before, but he’s found extremely effective at growing the glutes without the soreness and limitations that most other exercises come with.

The Only Two Best Gluteus Maximus Exercises You Need

Exercise 1: Glute-Dominated Step Down

“For some reason, I don’t know why. 

You know, you can theorize. But the step up does not get you sore, and therefore you can perform it more frequently. 

And we want to train glutes 2 to 3 times a week, at least twice a week so you actually get enough practice with the best gluteus maximus exercises.”

The exercise Bret has me suffering through is called the Glute-Dominated Step Down. 

It looks similar to a lunge or split squat, but there’s one key difference — by keeping one leg in the air and following a few simple form tweaks, it forces your glutes to do almost all the work. 

That’s what makes it one of the best gluteus maximus exercises you can do with just your body weight.

How to Set Up the Glute-Dominated Step Down

And the way we’ll load it in 30 seconds makes it hit your upper glutes too, which is exactly what you want from the best gluteus maximus exercises.

Now Bret does have a custom platform just for this, but even if your gym doesn’t have one that won’t be a problem.

Just move a bench next to any equipment or rack you can hold onto for balance so you can focus on form and really turn this into one of your best gluteus maximus exercises for growth.

Step-by-Step Form Cues for Max Gluteus Maximus Activation

Then, slowly push your hips back while folding over at your torso. 

Reach your back leg out until it lightly touches the ground, then without using momentum or boosting yourself up, drive your hips forward to the top by using the glute of your planted leg.

To prevent your quads from taking over, try not to let your knee bend forward towards your toes. 

For max glutes, keep your knee right over your foot so the gluteus maximus is doing most of the work — exactly what you want from the best gluteus maximus exercises.

Lastly, try to choose a bench height so that at the bottom of the movement, the thigh of your front leg is parallel with the ground. 

And if your platform is too high, you can always add a plate for your back foot to shorten the rep. 

This simple tweak keeps the tension in the right range and helps the step-down remain one of the best gluteus maximus exercises for your body.

How to Progress the Glute-Dominated Step Down

Now, even though my glutes are already struggling with just body weight, you’ll want to progressive overload with weight over time. 

And there’s a way to use that weight for even better glute activation so this continues to be one of your best gluteus maximus exercises long term.

“When you have weight in the opposite hand, this glute has to stabilize you. 

When you’re standing straight up, it’s mostly glute medius. When you go down into the stretch, it’s not glute medius anymore, it’s the gluteus maximus so that it has to produce a little more activation to counteract the rotational torque imposed on the hip.”

In fact this exercise worked so well for me, that it hasn’t just become a staple of my workouts, but I actually asked my team to add it to our built with science plus app, so our members can easily add it to your workout plan complete with a form guide and easy progress tracking — and use it as one of their main best gluteus maximus exercises.

Exercise 2: Hip Thrusts

But here’s the thing. 

This first exercise challenges your glutes the most at the bottom, when they’re fully stretched. And Bret believes that’s where you’ll build more of the lower glutes. 

But if you want that full, round shape — the kind of glutes they write country songs about — you’ll want to pair it with another exercise that challenges your glutes in the squeezed position and may help develop more of the upper region. 

That’s where hip thrusts come in as one of the best gluteus maximus exercises you can add to your routine.

Now, in the past I was biased toward only doing “stretch-focused” movements like the stepdown because they seemed to grow muscle faster. 

But recently, Bret and I ran a new study that compared training muscles in the stretch vs squeezed position — and we even tested the glutes specifically. 

And while you can see the full results of our study in this article here, what I will say is that combining one stretch-focused and one squeeze-focused movement is likely to give you the biggest benefit. 

When you put those together, you basically create your own mini-list of the best gluteus maximus exercises for both shape and strength — and not just for growth.

“I’ve seen big, strong dudes that squat 315, 405 …”

“They didn’t have in range hip extension strength. So they were prone to getting low back pain because they wanted to anterior tilt and put everything in the flex position.

When you have extended range hip extension strength, you start noticing good things. 

Your body starts distributing stress better. Squats feel better. Other things feel better. You start taking longer strides when you walk.”

So to build the type of strength Bret is describing, we’re using the hip thrust. 

Done properly, it’s one of the best gluteus maximus exercises for building that end-range hip extension strength he’s talking about.

Options If You Don’t Want to Hip Thrust in the Middle of the Gym

Now, I know what some of you guys are thinking — “I’m not doing that in the middle of the gym.”

Now if you’re not comfortable, there is a more subtle, easy to setup alternative that works just as well: the single-leg dumbbell hip thrust. 

This still counts as one of the best gluteus maximus exercises you can do if you want serious results without feeling like you’re on display.

How to Ensure Hip Thrusts Are One of the Best Gluteus Maximus Exercises

But regardless of if you use a barbell, hip thrust machine, or the single leg version, they’ll only grow your glutes if you follow these 3 steps.

First, make sure your upper back is high up on the bench to maximize your stability.

Second, plant your feet far enough away such that at the top position, your knees are directly over your feet. 

If they’re too close, you’ll work more quads but if they’re too far away, you’ll work more hamstrings. 

Getting this position right is key if you want hip thrusts to truly behave like one of the best gluteus maximus exercises rather than just another “leg” move.

Lastly, brace your core, squeeze your glutes and then drive your hips up. 

Think about driving through your heels and pushing your hips up using your glutes so the gluteus maximus is doing most of the work — exactly what you want from the best gluteus maximus exercises.

The Scoop Method – A Small Tweak for Big Glute Gains

But the final tip Bret showed me might just be the game-changer your glutes have been missing.

It’s called the scoop method. 

You tuck your chin and keep your eyes forward. Then you let your back arch at the bottom and simply focus on moving from the chest down, tilting your pelvis upwards by squeezing your glutes. 

It feels weird at first and you won’t be able to thrust as high, but it created the perfect setup for my glutes to dominate the movement. 

The key, I found, is keeping that chin tucked into your chest, which is why Bret was holding my head. 

When you get this right, the hip thrust quickly climbs to the top of your personal list of the best gluteus maximus exercises.

It’s also a great option for people who struggle with recurring back pain, like my wife Tahnee, who previously had to cut hip thrusts entirely from her routine after she slipped a disc. 

But after Bret got her to start training with her chin tucked she’s been able to work up to heavy hip thrusts completely pain free. 

I’m actually challenging her right now to see who can grow our glutes the most in 90 days, so be sure to stick around for when that article comes out.

But this is where it gets really interesting. 

So for Bret’s clients, 60% of them found the scoop method worked better. But the other 40% prefer something called the hinge method.

Where you look forward at the bottom and look up at the top, and hinge your body in a straight line.

For some people, the scoop style hip thrust will be one of the best gluteus maximus exercises they’ve ever tried. For others, the hinge style might feel better. Testing both helps you lock in the version that truly feels like the best gluteus maximus exercise for your body.

How to Use the Best Gluteus Maximus Exercises in Your Routine

Now before you go, let me show you how to actually work these into your routine for the best results with the best gluteus maximus exercises.

Bret recommends doing 3 sets of 8–12 reps, 2–3 times per week.

This is what each workout could look like, but for the best results you’ll want these workouts personalized to your body and how you respond to the best gluteus maximus exercises.

And with our Built With Science+ app, you don’t just get form guides and progression tracking for every exercise, but it builds you a personalized plan to grow whatever muscle you want to focus on — including plugging these best gluteus maximus exercises into a complete program — and keeps your training and nutrition all in one place.

And now, we have an AI version of myself that knows all your strength and workout data to give you real-time tips and coaching on exercises like these, just like I would.

It’s this deep personalization that’s the key behind the countless transformations our members have been getting — and you can try it free for two weeks right now by clicking the link below.

Click the button below to try the BWS+ app for 2 weeks, for free, no strings attached:

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Then check out this article next for two exercises that completely transformed my shoulder growth. 

Thanks for sticking to the end, and I’ll see you next time.

TL;DR

• You can build impressive glutes with just two movements: the glute-dominated step down and the hip thrust, instead of juggling 8–10 different “glute” exercises.
• Most big compound lifts (heavy squats, deadlifts, lunges) aren’t always the best gluteus maximus exercises because other muscles take over, your lower back or grip gives out first, and the soreness makes it hard to train glutes often enough.
• The glute-dominated step down loads your glutes hard in the stretched position with less overall fatigue, making it great for building size and strength in the lower glutes without wrecking your recovery.
• The hip thrust is your squeeze-focused exercise, challenging the glutes hardest at the top and helping build more of that upper, rounded shape. It complements the step down perfectly so together they function as two of the best gluteus maximus exercises you can do.
• For best results, run both exercises for 3 sets of 8–12 reps, 2–3 times per week, ideally inside a personalized plan (like the Built With Science+ app) that adjusts these glute exercises to your body, recovery, and goals.

By the way, here’s the article summed up into a YouTube video: