Glute Exercises

Lie flat on your back, keeping your knees and feet together, bend your knees to an approx. forty-five degree angle, feet are flat on the floor. Arms are resting on the ground, tight against the side of the body with the palms of the hands facing downwards. Now - pushing down through your heels, raise your hips off the floor and push them up so that there is a straight line running from your shoulders, up through your hips and to your knees. With your upper back (between your shoulders) remaining flat on the floor, the effort should all be going through your bum muscles and you should feel the tension in your bum. Now, without moving any other part of your body, clench your butt and raise your left foot off the ground and make a straight line along your leg from your hip to your foot. Don’t let your left hip drop towards the ground but keep your hips perfectly in line with one another (same distance from the ground). Now slowly put your left foot back flat on the ground. Now do the same with the right leg: clench buttocks, lift the right foot off the ground, creating a line from your hip to your foot, before slowly placing the right foot back on the ground. Repeat alternate legs until you’ve done ten on each leg, then slowly roll your hips back down onto the ground.

If you’ve not tried single leg squats before, I suggest easing yourself in and using some additional support to begin with. The back of a dining chair works well, alternatively something at approximately hip height that you can hold to as you squat.

Start in an upright position, sideways on to the back of the chair with your feet together. Place the hand that is closest to the chair on top of the back of the chair and using the chair as a support, keeping your left leg straight, first lift your left foot off the ground, directly in front of you, until it is at an approximate 45 degree angle to your right leg (which is planted firmly on the ground, right foot also facing forwards). Now, keeping your back straight (without leaning forwards), bend your right knee such that your right butt cheek moves a couple of inches down towards your right ankle, then pushing through your right foot, push back up to a straight leg position. It is a simple up and down movement of the hip through the bending and straightening of the leg; try and keep everything else still so that you can move in a stable way through the squat. Repeat this ten times on each leg.

If you search online, there are plenty of glute strengthening exercises that we can do with a Swiss ball. A simple one is the Swiss ball squat: Standing with your back to a wall, standing close enough to the wall so that you can place the Swiss ball between the wall and the middle of your back and the ball stays in position. Now move your feet forward a couple of inches, so that they are very slightly in front of you; feet are facing forwards and are approximately hip distance apart. Keeping your chest up and your back in a straight line, keeping the tension on the ball, bend both knees at the same time and allow the ball to roll up towards your shoulders. Hips, back and shoulders move in a parallel line to the wall, first downwards and then push back up until your legs are almost straight again. Repeat this fifteen times. As the glutes strengthen, we can eventually squat so that our knees are at a ninety-degree angle.

​

No problem if you don't have a Swiss ball, this is a great workout for glutes and legs without the ball between you and the wall!

Lie on your left side on the floor, with your head supported so that your neck is in a straight line with your spine (I use a rolled-up hand towel). Keeping your upper body in a straight line, bend your knees to a ninety-degree angle, legs and feet are together, right leg on top of left. Now clench your buttocks and keeping your feet touching together, slowly raise your right knee, creating a clam shape between your left leg on the ground and your right leg. Then slowly lower your right leg back on to your left. Repeat twelve times while lying on your left side and then flip on to the right side of your body and repeat twelve times with your left leg.

Lie on your back, knees bent at a ninety degree angle. Keep your spine in neutral (neck curve, upper and lower back curves all in their natural positions; head, shoulders and hips running in a straight line). Lift your left ankle and rest it against your right leg, just above your right knee. Keeping your legs in this position, very gently raise your right foot of the ground a few inches, feeling the stretch deep in your left glute. Hold the stretch for ten seconds, release and then switch legs.