The Best & Worst Glute Exercises (According To Science)

Summary by Krater

An evidence-based tier list ranking popular glute exercises from S-tier to F-tier based on stretch and tension, feel, and progression potential, concluding that exercises like walking lunges, cable pull-throughs, and 45-degree back extensions are top tier for glute hypertrophy.

From the video

Answers: What are the best and worst glute exercises for muscle growth according to exercise science?

• glute anatomy
• exercise tier list
• glute hypertrophy
• muscle stretch and tension
• glute exercises

Exercises

• dumbbell single-leg Romanian deadlift · dumbbells
• barbell hip thrust · barbell
• Nautilus glute drive · machine
• dumbbell single-leg hip thrust · dumbbell
• glute bridge · barbell
• frog pumps · dumbbell
• barbell back squat · barbell
• Smith machine squat · Smith machine
• Bulgarian split squat · dumbbells
• donkey kicks · resistance band
• fire hydrants · bodyweight
• cable kickback · cable machine
• step up · dumbbells
• machine hip abduction · machine
• cable hip abduction · cable machine
• lateral banded walk · resistance band
• walking lunge · dumbbells
• Smith machine lunge · Smith machine
• curtsy lunge · dumbbells
• barbell deadlift · barbell
• sumo deadlift · barbell
• Romanian deadlift · barbell
• 45-degree back extension · back extension bench
• cable pull through · cable machine
• kettlebell swing · kettlebell

What it concludes

• Barbell hip thrusts effectively activate the entire glute with a primary focus on the middle meat through isolated hip extension.
• Squats and hip thrusts elicit similar glute muscle hypertrophy according to recent research.
• Glutes grow best from a combination of exercises that challenge them in stretched positions like squats and shortened positions like hip thrusts.
• Walking lunges are the best overall glute builder because they hit the entire glute with high stretch and tension.
• Donkey kicks and fire hydrants rank in low D-tier because they are hard to load and fail to reach high glute tension for hypertrophy.