From Bodyweight to Gym Equipment,
Recommended Glute Workout Options to Pump Up Your Muscles
If you are struggling with a flat, saggy glute line or a hollow hip dip, you have come to the right place.
🔍 What is a Hip Dip?
: A hip dip is a gentle inward curve found on the sides of your body, right below the hip bone. For most people, it is a completely natural anatomical feature determined by bone structure, fat distribution, and muscle development.
Most people try to substitute a dedicated glute workout with general lower-body exercises like squats. While general lower-body exercises are certainly effective and beneficial, you need targeted glute workout strength training that focuses solely on isolating and shaping the hips.
From easy bodyweight home workouts to commercial gym equipment, we highly recommend the most effective glute workout routine to turn flat glutes into shapely apple hips. Choose the method that best fits your current environment and start building resilient, beautifully contoured apple hips today.
🏠 Part 1. [Home Workout] Bodyweight Glute Workout Routine on the Mat
The core of doing bodyweight glute exercises at home is accurately feeling the muscle activation. Even without heavy weights, maintaining the correct form will yield a highly effective hip-up result.
However, if you find it difficult to adjust the difficulty level or lack stamina, there is no need to rush into the entire routine from the start. You can adjust the number of exercises and sets according to your physical condition, or simply choose a few favorite movements to start feeling the glute burn.
- Glute Bridge | Target: Gluteus Maximus
Recommended Volume: 20 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Lie on the mat, bend your knees, and place your feet hip-width apart. Drive through your hips to lift your pelvis upward.
Tip: Avoid hyperextending your lower back. Focus on squeezing your glutes at the top, ensuring your torso and thighs form a straight line.
- Donkey Kick | Target: Upper Glutes
Recommended Volume: 15 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Start on your hands and knees. Keeping one knee bent at a 90-degree angle, lift your leg so the sole of your foot faces the ceiling.
Tip: Engage your core tightly to ensure your pelvis doesn’t tilt to one side and your lower back doesn’t sag as you lift.
- Side Lying Clam | Target: Gluteus Medius / Side Glutes
Recommended Volume: 20 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Lie on your side with your knees bent at 90 degrees and heels together. Open your top knee upward like an opening clamshell.
Tip: Keep your pelvis locked so it doesn’t roll backward, and feel the deep activation in the side of your hip (gluteus medius).
Lying Hip Abduction | Target: Side Glute Line Contouring
Recommended Volume: 20 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Lie straight on your side, bend your bottom leg slightly for stability, and lift your top leg straight up keeping the knee extended.
Tip: Similar to the Side Lying Clam, but by lifting the entire leg, you can deliver a stronger contraction to the upper gluteus medius.
- Fire Hydrant | Target: Hip Dip Cheat Code
Recommended Volume: 15 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Start on your hands and knees. Keeping your knee bent at 90 degrees, lift your leg directly out to the side and lower it back down.
Tip: When opening your leg to the side, brace your core so your upper body doesn’t collapse to the opposite side to isolate the side glutes.
💪 Part 2. [Gym Workout] Equipment Glute Workout Routine for Maximum Volume
In the gym, utilize machines and resistance weights to aggressively maximize glute volume through intense glute exercises.
Since handling heavier weights increases the risk of injury, it is essential to adjust the weight, reps, and sets according to your body condition. Feel free to select and perform just a few exercises that stand out to you from this list. Also, if a specific machine is not available at your gym, you can easily substitute it with other alternative equipment.
- Barbell Hip Thrust | The King of Overall Glute Volume
Recommended Volume: 12 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Rest your upper back against a bench, place a barbell across your pelvis, and drive the weight vertically using your glutes.
Tip: Push firmly through your heels to minimize quad dominance and achieve maximum glute contraction at the top.
Hip Abduction | Gluteus Medius Routine for Filling Hip Dips
Recommended Volume: 15 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Sit in the machine with the pads against your outer thighs. Use your glutes to press your legs wide outward.
Tip: Lean your upper body slightly forward and maintain a deep, controlled range of motion to stretch and contract the back and side glutes.
- Glute Kickback Machine | Targeted Glute Isolation Machine
Recommended Volume: 12 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Secure your body against the machine pads and kick one footplate backward using the strength of your glutes.
Tip: This machine is explicitly designed for glute contraction, so focus on squeezing the upper crease of your glutes when your leg is extended.
- Cable Hip Abduction | Maximizing Side Glute Volume
Recommended Volume: 15 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Stand next to a cable machine, attach an ankle strap to the lower pulley, brace yourself, and sweep your outer leg directly out to the side.
Tip: Avoid using momentum; control the weight with your side glutes while feeling the continuous resistance of the cable.
Smith Machine Wide Squat | Target: Lower Glute Line
Recommended Volume: 12 reps x 4 sets
How-to: Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width and toes flared outward at 45 degrees. Sit deep into the squat, then drive back up.
Tip (App Log): When logging or searching in the BurnFit app, select [Smith Machine Squat]. Simply widen your stance to a wide position during the actual movement.
Tip (Form): Push through the entire foot as you rise, fiercely squeezing the lower crease of your glutes.
💡 Quick Comparison of Location-Based Hip-Up Routines
- Home Routine: Glute Bridge → Donkey Kick → Side Lying Clam / Lying Hip Abduction / Fire Hydrant (Focus: Mind-muscle connection & shaping)
- Gym Routine: Barbell Hip Thrust → Hip Abduction → Glute Kickback / Cable Hip Abduction → Wide Squat (Focus: Progressive overload & volume growth)
🔥 Tracking Your Glute Workout Routine with BurnFit
Whether you are performing bodyweight home workouts or lifting weights at the gym, tracking your progress is vital for fast muscle growth. Utilizing the routine feature in the workout log app ‘BurnFit’ allows you to manage your glute workout much more efficiently.
Custom Home & Gym Routine Setups: Pre-register your glute exercises in the BurnFit app to build a streamlined daily plan. This cuts down on decision fatigue during your workout and maximizes focus.
Logging Sets and Weights for Progressive Overload: Your glute muscles grow when they are challenged with more resistance or volume than before. Logging every completed set and rep in BurnFit gives you an exact benchmark to safely overload next time.
Visualizing Growth Data: Watch your consistency stack up beautifully on the app calendar. Seeing your data grow provides the ultimate motivational fuel to build a lifelong fitness habit without quitting.
Image Source: Unsplash, GIPHY, BurnFit
[References]
Korean Journal of Physical Education (KJPE) – Comparative Efficiency of Bodyweight vs. Weighted Exercises for Gluteus Maximus and Medius Activation
American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) – Guidelines for Lower-Body Muscle Development and Progressive Overload Training
Korean Society of Sports Medicine (KSSM) – Importance of Gluteal Muscle Strengthening for Pelvic Stability
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