Top 10 Glute Exercises Brooke Burke Recommends For a Strong & Toned Booty

Anyone who knows me knows I love a sexy booty burn! Our gluteus maximus is actually the biggest muscle in our body, and we tend to lose muscle as we get older. That means two very important things that we should be sure to keep in mind. One is that working out your booty will feel really intense… really fast. The other is that this is not a body area where you need to be afraid of using small weights.

We actually want to build muscle here in order to tone, tighten, and lift this part of our body. I use good 3 to 8-lb weights, but if you are new to booty building, you may want to start without weights (or with lower weights) just until you get your routine and form down. 

The good news is that it does not take a lot of time to shape and sculpt your glutes. My Booty 101 workout (or as I sometimes call it, Bootyology 101) is only about twenty minutes in length, but it features my Top 10 best glute exercises for building a bubble booty.

We often think of abs as being the counter-balance support for our backs, and they are. But our glutes provide a lot of much-needed support for our backs, as well.

Top 10 Glute Exercises:

Sumo Squats

Sumo squats are a great place to start! Grab a 3-lb weight with both hands and stand with your feet wide apart and slightly turned outward. Then zip your body up really tall, and squat nice and low and slow. Straighten back up, again, nice and slow, squeezing your booty as you go. Aim for fifteen reps and lean into the burn.

Triple Lunges

From a standing position, step one leg forward and go down until the knee is bent at a 90-degree angle. Step back to a standing position. Step out to the side as wide as you can and go down the same way, returning to a standing position. Then, step all the way back and go down once more, and back to stand. Do ten to fifteen reps per side.

Fire Hydrant

This is a good spot to settle into a child’s pose to relax and stretch before moving on. For this one, we are going to add a light weight back in. Start by taking it down to the ground on all fours. Place your weight behind your knee. And then lift your bent leg out to the side. Try to keep your upper body relaxed. After a set of ten, switch sides.

Hydrant 3’s

Again, this movement can incorporate light weights. It’s an extension of the fire hydrant movement, but in this variation, the move goes up like normal, but then the thigh extends to push the foot across to the other side, then back to the first side, and down. Try for a set of 15 and then, at the end, hold in the middle “across” position and pulse up and down for 10 to 15 reps. Now switch sides.

Cheerleader

For this next move, you can set the weight aside. Stay down on the mat and find your balance on your elbow/forearm and knee/shin on one side using your other straight arm for support. Lift the non-weight-bearing knee and then extend your leg up at an angle heel toward the ceiling, squeezing and flexing your glutes. Once you’ve completed twenty on one side, move on to the rainbow move for the same side, and we’ll circle back to the opposite leg afterward.

Rainbow

Staying on the same side to really fatigue those muscles, extend your leg out straight, then slide it across to the other side. Lift it up in a high arch back across and out to the side, tapping your toes. After a set of ten, switch sides and return to the cheerleader before coming back and adding the rainbow at the end.

Bridge Feet

This is a good spot to settle into a child’s pose to relax and stretch before moving on. From there, lay on your back, knees high, feet shoulder-width apart, and press your hip up as high as you can go. Repeat to a set of twenty, really squeezing those butt and inner thigh muscles.

Scorpion

First, find your balanced triangle on one hand and knee. Then bend your other knee and return your opposite hand to the floor. Come around with the bent knee in a half-circle toward the other side underneath your abdomen and then the back up as far as you can go at the top. Fifteen of these, followed by fifteen on the other side, will really help build and shape and tone.

Triangle Pulse

Staying in your triangle position, raise your free arm, lift your bent leg up, and pulse for twenty counts. I recommend settling into a child’s pose here, too, to relax and stretch before moving on our last and biggest challenge. We’re almost done! 

Cobra Raise the Roof Pulse

Let me start by emphasizing that this may be the most important move we do. We really do want to build and lift this muscle for support, so I recommend a heavier weight behind the knee. I use an 8-lb weight. Come down on your elbows/forearms and knees. Then you are going to lift your bent leg, doing three squeezes at the top before coming back down. This is tough, so try to keep the tension out of your shoulders and face. Fifteen reps is good, then pulse for ten. Remember, you should be feeling this move in your glutes, not in your back and neck.

Whew! That is a lot of work squeezed into only twenty minutes. That burn and fatigue you feel means that your booty is reshaping to the force of your will and hard work. Embrace the change you are creating in your body and know that the investment you are making in your physical health will also pay dividends with your mental health. Look good. Feel better. Be your best!