The Best Resistance Band Glute Workout

Your glutes are the strongest and largest muscle in the body and thus have a huge impact on all other bodily functions.

While building stronger glute muscles will make your behind more round and taught, it also comes with some other impressive benefits.

Improving the strength of your glutes can increase flexibility, mobility, and make daily tasks easier. Things like lifting heavy weights, climbing the stairs, running, sitting with correct posture and much more can be made easier with stronger, more robust glute muscles.

Strengthening the glutes is not a difficult task, either. They’re one of the easiest muscles to build with minimal effort on your behalf.

Why You Should Incorporate Resistance Bands

While many of these exercises could be performed on their own, adding a resistance band brings them to a whole other level.

There are a number of reasons that you should incorporate resistance bands into your workouts, but here are just a few:

1. They improve the quality of your exercises. Your muscles are under constant tension, so each repetition of the exercise is significantly improved.
2. They help to focus your control. Using resistance bands may make you feel slightly shaky at first, but with regular use, your stability and control will significantly improve.
3. They recruit your stabilizing muscles (which is why you may feel unsteady at first, but then improve over time). This means your core will indirectly strengthen over time, even when you’re working your glutes.
4. Improve joint function and mobility.
5. They’re lightweight, and can easily be packed in your bag wherever you go.
6. They engage several muscles at once, making for a very efficient workout that uses more energy and improves your coordination.
7. They promote better form, which means reduced risk of injury.

Employing resistance bands in the right way can really help you improve the quality of your workouts. And they’re really convenient too.

The Best Resistance Band Glute Workout

Use this resistance band glute workout to shape and strengthen your derriere.

If you want to see real, tangible results, complete this glute workout 2-3 times a week. In just a few months, you’ll start to see some exciting results.

Below are my top 8 resistance band glute exercises to keep your behind round and shapely, while also helping protect your lower back and posture.

Aim for 2-3 sets of each exercise. If you’re a beginner, do 5-10 repetitions of each exercise, completing only 1-2 sets. You can increase the number of repetitions and sets after one week.

1. Lying Side Leg Raises

Lying side leg raises are a great way to build strength in the outer thighs and the hip abductors, which includes the gluteus medius and minimus.

1. Loop a resistance band around your ankles and lie on one side with your feet stacked one on top of the other.
2. Bend your arm closest to the floor at a 90-degree angle, your forearm resting on the floor and your hand positioned at ear level supporting your head.
3. Lay your other arm across your midsection, palm planted on the floor.
4. Tighten your core and steadily lift your top leg to the ceiling, with hips stacked. Hold for a second, then bring your leg back down.
5. Repeat 15-20 times, then repeat the same exercise on the other leg.

2. Hip Bridge with Pulse

Performing any type of bridge exercise isolates and strengthens your gluteus (butt) muscles — the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus — and hamstrings.

For this exercise, make sure you keep your pelvis tucked under to eliminate the arch in your back.

1. Loop a resistance band just above your knees around both thighs.
2. Lie on your back with your hands at your sides, knees bent, and your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
3. Squeeze your glutes and core as you lift your hips a few inches off the floor.
4. Hold the bridge and push your knees away from each other.
5. Slowly return your knees together to complete 1 rep. Continue to pulse your knees together and apart without lowering your hips.
6. Complete 15-20 reps.

3. Kneeling Banded Kickbacks

Banded kickbacks target the glutes and help improve muscle strength and tone. This exercise also encourages core stability and balance and helps sculpt the hips, legs, and thighs.

1. Start by kneeling on all fours, with your hands shoulder-width apart and knees hip-width apart.
2. Loop a resistance band around both legs. The static leg will hold the band to the floor just below the knee, and the working leg will have the band positioned just above the knee.
3. Slowly kick back the working leg, squeezing your glutes, so that your leg is straight.
4. Hold here momentarily, then return to the starting position.
5. Repeat 15-20 times, and then switch sides.

4. Single Leg Deadlift

Single-leg deadlifts work the hamstrings, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius. They also help challenge foot, hip, and torso stability.

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, stepping on the rubber band with one foot, and holding the other end in both hands. Stagger the other foot slightly behind you as shown in the image above.
2. Keeping your legs and back straight, and sticking your buttocks out, straighten out your hips and stand up, knees slightly bent.
3. Slowly return to the starting position, and then repeat 15-20 times.
4. Perform the same exercise on the other side.

5. Squat

Squats are one of the best total-body exercises and are great for helping build a shapely behind. They not only help strengthen your glute muscles, but they improve core strength and work up your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and lower back.

1. Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart with a resistance band just above your knees. Your toes should be pointed slightly outward.
2. Slowly push your hips back into a sitting position while bending your knees.
3. Continue lowering yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Your knees should be at a 90-degree angle. Hold for a few seconds, then slowly lift back up into the starting position.
4. Perform 15-20 reps.

6. Leg Side Abduction

The hip abductors are important and often neglected muscles that allow us to stand, walk, and rotate our legs with ease. Leg side abduction exercises can help you get a tight and toned backside while helping prevent and treat pain in the hips and knees.

1. Loop a resistance band just below the knees and stand tall.
2. If your balance isn’t the greatest, you can hold onto a sturdy object like a chair or rest your hands on a wall (don’t become dependent on this – working on your balance will increase muscle strength throughout the body).
3. Raise one leg up and lift it out, laterally away from your body. Pause, and then return to the starting position.
4. Repeat 15-20 times.
5. Perform the same exercise on the other side.

7. Kick Butt Extension

Kick butt extensions help work the hip flexors, adductors and quads, contributing to a stronger and more shapely backside.

1. Loop a resistance band around both feet.
2. Lie faceup with both legs extended, arms flat by your sides.
3. Bend your right knee into your chest, with your right foot in the center of the band (try to position the band along the arch of your foot so it stays in place).
4. Hover your left leg slightly off the ground. Extend your right leg out again at a 45-degree angle, then bring it back into the chest.
5. Repeat 15-20 times, and then perform the same exercise on the left leg.

8. Jump Squat

Jump squats will increase your explosive power, improve upper and lower body strength, and burn calories faster than regular squats.

1. Place a resistance band around your thighs right above your knees.
2. Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart.
3. Perform a regular bodyweight squat (reference squat above).
4. From the lowest squat position, jump up explosively and extend your legs, using your arms to gain momentum. Make sure you land on the ball of your foot and absorb the impact from the jump through your feet.
5. Repeat 15-20 times.

The Cooldown

Stretch or foam roll after your workout to improve muscle recovery and reduce soreness. Check out my guide to foam rolling.

The Bottom Line

Training your glutes is a wise choice if you want to not only build a more shapely behind but also improve your posture and help eliminate back pain.

Adding a resistance band to your glute exercises will help improve the quality of each of these exercises compared to when performed alone. Resistance bands also help stabilize your muscles and improve balance.

With these 8 resistance band glute exercises, you can build a more shapely backside and burn a sufficient amount of calories to turn this into a total-body workout.