Skip to contentNo equipment. No excuses about equipment.
Bodyweight.
Every movement here needs nothing but the floor. Each one lists what it trains, how to do it well, and the mistake people actually make. Point at a muscle to narrow it down.
17 exercises for glutes
Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Feet shoulder-width, toes slightly out
- Sit back and down between your heels
- Knees track over your toes
- Chest proud the whole way down
- Push the floor away to stand
What usually goes wrong
- Heels lifting off the floor
- Knees caving in
- Chest dropping toward the thighs
- Stopping well above parallel
Calves · Glutes also Hamstrings, Quads, Core
How to move
- walk tall, eyes on the horizon
- roll heel to toe with each step
- swing the arms with bent elbows
- walk fast enough that talking takes effort
What usually goes wrong
- strolling pace that never raises the breathing
- overstriding with a hard heel strike
- looking down at the feet or phone
Beginner
Glutes · Hamstrings also Lower back, Core
How to move
- Push your hips back like closing a car door with your butt
- Soft knees, shins stay vertical
- Keep the stick touching head, upper back, and tailbone
- Feel the stretch in the back of your thighs
What usually goes wrong
- Squatting down instead of pushing the hips back
- Rounding the upper back to reach lower
- Locking the knees straight
- Bending from the waist instead of the hips
Glutes · Quads also Inner thigh, Calves, Core
How to move
- sit into an athletic stance
- push off the trailing leg
- keep the feet from clicking together
- stay level — no bouncing up and down
What usually goes wrong
- standing up tall between steps
- crossing the feet
- bobbing up and down with each step
Beginner · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Step back, not down
- Front shin stays fairly vertical
- Lower the back knee under control
- Push through the front heel to come back up
What usually goes wrong
- Stepping back too short so the front knee slams forward
- Torso pitching forward
- Stepping into a straight line and losing balance
- Dragging the back toe on the return
Beginner · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core, Inner thigh
How to move
- Take a comfortable stride, feet hip-width apart for balance
- Drop the back knee straight down
- Front heel stays heavy
- Torso tall — a gentle lean is fine
What usually goes wrong
- Feet in one line, wobbling like on a tightrope
- Front knee diving inward
- Pushing off the back leg instead of the front
- Bouncing the back knee off the floor
Triceps · Glutes also Shoulders, Core, Hamstrings
How to move
- fingers pointing toward the feet or out to the sides
- lift the hips clear of the floor
- move opposite hand and foot together
- chest open, shoulders away from the ears
What usually goes wrong
- hips dragging along the floor
- shoulders shrugging up around the ears
- head jutting forward toward the chest
Intermediate · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core, Inner thigh
How to move
- Step out long, land heel first
- Absorb the step — don't crash into the knee
- Drop the back knee toward the floor
- Push hard through the front heel to step back
What usually goes wrong
- Short step throwing the knee way past the toes
- Front knee caving on the push-back
- Chest collapsing over the front thigh
- Slamming the back knee into the floor
Quads · Glutes also Calves, Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Load a quarter squat, then explode up
- Drive through the whole foot
- Land soft — toes, then heels
- Sink into the landing before the next rep
What usually goes wrong
- Landing with stiff, straight knees
- Knees caving on the landing
- Cutting the dip short and jumping off the toes
- Letting reps get sloppy when tired
Intermediate · one side at a time Quads · Glutes · Inner thigh also Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Step wide, toes pointing mostly forward
- Sit into one hip while the other leg stays straight
- Chest up as the hips go back
- Push off the bent leg to return
What usually goes wrong
- Bending both knees
- Knee rolling inside the foot
- Rounding the low back to force depth
- Step too short to actually load the hip
Intermediate · one side at a time Hamstrings · Glutes also Core, Obliques, Calves
How to move
- Hinge at the hip, reach the back leg long behind you
- Keep hips square, back toes point at the floor
- Make a straight line from head to heel
- Grip the floor with the standing foot
What usually goes wrong
- Hips opening up toward the ceiling
- Rounding the back instead of hinging
- Standing knee locking out or caving in
- Rushing and losing balance instead of owning the movement
Intermediate · one side at a time Glutes · Quads also Inner thigh, Hamstrings, Calves, Core
How to move
- bound sideways off one leg
- stick the landing on a soft knee
- swing the arms across your body
- chest up, hips back like a skater
What usually goes wrong
- landing on a stiff, straight leg
- knee diving inward on the landing
- upright torso with no hip hinge
Intermediate · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core, Calves
How to move
- Long smooth steps, knee over toes
- Lower down before you travel forward
- Push off the front heel into the next step
- Stay tall — no wobbling side to side
What usually goes wrong
- Feet landing in one line like a tightrope
- Bouncing the knee off the floor
- Leaning forward to gain momentum
- Rushing steps without control
Advanced · one side at a time Quads · Glutes · Inner thigh also Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Sit all the way onto one heel, other leg straight with toes up
- Working heel stays glued down
- Chest tall as you shift across
- Use your arms as a counterbalance
What usually goes wrong
- Working heel lifting at the bottom
- Collapsing into a rounded back
- Dropping in fast with no control
- Forcing depth the hips aren't ready for
Advanced · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core, Hip flexors, Calves
How to move
- Arms and free leg reach forward as a counterweight
- Descend slowly — own every inch
- Heel stays down, knee tracks the toes
- Squeeze up with no bounce out of the bottom
What usually goes wrong
- Falling into the bottom position
- Rounding the back to reach forward
- Heel popping up mid-rep
- Knee whipping inward on the stand
Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Calves, Core
How to move
- accelerate low out of the start
- decelerate with short, choppy steps
- sink the hips to touch the line
- plant and drive hard out of each turn
What usually goes wrong
- braking on a straight leg
- bending from the back instead of the hips at the line
- rounding the turns instead of planting and cutting
Hamstrings · Glutes also Quads, Calves, Hip flexors, Core
How to move
- build to speed over the first few strides
- run tall with the knees driving forward
- arms hammer from hip to cheek
- walk until breathing settles between reps
What usually goes wrong
- sprinting all-out on the first rep with no build-up
- overstriding so the foot lands far ahead of the hips
- cutting rest short so speed collapses
These are cues from a reviewed catalogue, not personal instruction. Train within your own limits and stop anything that hurts.
