Best Barbell Exercises for Glutes — Top 10
Barbell training is heavy compound lifts (squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press). Here are the best barbell exercises for targeting your glutes, ranked by effectiveness. The barbell is the gold standard for heavy compound lifting.
Ranked by glutes muscle activation percentage, range of motion quality with barbell, and progressive overload potential.
The hip thrust produces the highest glute activation of any exercise. It allows heavy loading in a position where the glutes are maximally shortened, producing exceptional hypertrophy stimulus.
Key Form Cue
Sit on the floor with your upper back against a bench, barbell across your hips.
The barbell hip thrust is the single best exercise for glute hypertrophy, loading the glutes at peak contraction where a deadlift goes slack. Sit with your upper back on a bench, roll a barbell over your hips, and thrust upward until your torso is parallel to the floor.
Key Form Cue
Position your upper back against a bench at roughly the bottom of your shoulder blades.
The glute bridge is the foundational glute exercise. Lying on the floor, you drive your hips up by squeezing your glutes. It is simpler than the hip thrust and is an excellent warm-up or standalone exercise.
Key Form Cue
Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
The barbell glute bridge is performed lying flat on the floor instead of elevated on a bench, reducing range of motion but allowing heavier loads. Roll the barbell over your hips, plant your feet, and drive upward for maximum glute contraction.
Key Form Cue
Lie flat on the floor and roll a padded barbell over your hips.
The barbell curtsy lunge is a cross-behind lunge that targets the gluteus medius and outer glute through a diagonal stepping pattern. With a barbell on your back, step one foot behind and across the other, then drop into a lunge for deep glute engagement.
Key Form Cue
Place the barbell on your upper back and stand with feet hip-width apart.
The sumo deadlift uses a wide stance with toes turned out, placing more emphasis on the glutes and quads while reducing the range of motion compared to conventional deadlifts.
Key Form Cue
Take a wide stance (1.5-2x shoulder-width) with toes turned out 30-45 degrees.
The barbell back squat is the king of all exercises. It trains the entire lower body and core while producing the highest hormonal response of any lift. If you only do one leg exercise, make it squats.
Key Form Cue
Position the bar on your upper traps (high bar) or rear delts (low bar).
The Romanian deadlift is the best hamstring exercise and a foundational hip-hinge movement. It loads the hamstrings through a deep stretch while building the entire posterior chain.
Key Form Cue
Stand with feet hip-width, holding the barbell with an overhand grip just outside your thighs.
The sumo deadlift uses a wide stance and toes-out position to pull a barbell from the floor with a more upright torso than conventional pulling. It targets the hamstrings, glutes, and inner thighs while reducing lower-back demands.
Key Form Cue
Stand with feet wide and toes pointed out 45 degrees, shins touching the bar.
The stiff-leg deadlift keeps the knees straighter than the Romanian version, putting more stretch on the hamstrings. The bar starts from the floor on each rep, unlike the RDL which is done top-down.
Key Form Cue
Stand with feet hip-width apart, barbell on the floor.
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