How To Grow Side Glutes? 8 Effective Workouts

To get a fuller-looking backside, you have to work on your side glutes, which primarily consist of gluteus medius and minimus.

These muscles not only add to the aesthetics but also contribute significantly to functional movements and overall strength.

In this article, I will go over the best side glute exercises, correct forms, and additional information for increasing the efficacy of your workouts~ Let’s dive in!

Understanding The Side Glutes

The side glutes refers to the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles~ they are part of the gluteal muscle group.

As the name suggests, these muscles are located on the side of your buttocks of the hip region.

They are often overlooked when considering glute development, as the gluteus maximus muscle tends to receive more attention due to its larger size.

The gluteus medius and minimus have several important functions in the body.

• Hip stability– the side glutes help stabilize the pelvis and maintain balance while standing and walking & running. It helps prevent the pelvis from tilting or dropping to one side.

• Lateral hip movement– these muscles are also involved in moving the hip laterally (outwards) away from your body~ this action is essential for activities like walking, running, and side-stepping.

Best Side Glute Exercises

1. Lateral Banded Walk
2. Fire Hydrant
3. Lateral Lunge
4. Lying Side Leg Raise
5. Banded Clamshells
6. Side Plank
7. Barbell Hip Thrust
8. Single Leg Box Squat

Lateral Banded Walk

As one of the functions of the side glutes is allowing your hips to move outwards, therefore walking sideways with a resistance band is a great way to get the muscles fired up.

1. If you have a long resistance band then place it just below your knees or if it’s short then place it around your ankles.
2. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart or at a distance until you feel the tension from the band.
3. Hold your hand in front of you and get down to a quarter squat position.
4. Begin the lateral walk by taking a step to the side with one foot and following with the other foot. Your feet should stay at the same distance as the starting position.
5. Continue taking the step in the same direction until a set distance or rep range, then repeat in the opposite direction.

Key Tips

• Make sure there’s constant tension within the band throughout the exercise, which can be achieved by keeping your feet far apart from each other.
• While walking sideways avoid letting your knees collapse inwards, as this can put unnecessary pressure on them.

Fire Hydrant

This exercise gets its name due to the movement resembling a dog peeing on a fire hydrant.

However, don’t let the name fool you~ a fire hydrant is great for isolating the side glutes and getting them fired up.

1. Get down on your hands and knees. Position your hands directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
2. Lift your right knee out to the side until it is bent at a 90-degree or till your thigh is parallel to the floor~ ensure you don’t move your foot.
3. Hold for 2-3 seconds at the top and focus on squeezing the glutes.
4. Gradually lower your knee back down to the starting position, however don’t let it touch the ground, hover it just above the floor and lift your knee back up again. 
5. Repeat for 10-15 reps then switch legs.

Key Tips

• When lifting your knee, avoid twisting your hips. Keep your whole body still~ the only thing that should be moving is one of your knees.
• Don’t forget to engage your core, this will help balance your body.

Lateral Lunge

Lunges are a great exercise that targets various muscles in your lower body, especially the glutes.

However, due to our main focus being the side glutes, performing a lateral lunge (a variation of the lunge) will allow you to get a better contraction through those muscles.

1. Start by standing tall, with your feet close together.
2. Take a large step to the side with your right foot (at a distance wider than shoulder-width apart).
3. As you step to the side, shift your body weight onto your right foot. 
4. Lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the ground or as close to parallel as your flexibility allows.
5. At this point, your left leg should be extended straight but the foot should stay planted on the floor.
6. Push off your right foot and return back to the starting position.
7. Repeat for 10-15 reps and perform the exercise on the other leg.

Key Tips

• For added resistance, you hold a dumbbell close to your chest. This will help you build a bigger and stronger side glute muscle.
• While lunging, make sure to keep an upright posture and prevent leaning forward.

Lying Side Leg Raises

If you’re feeling lazy, but still want to get an effective workout then lying side leg raises is the choice for you.

The exercise might look and sound easy, but you might be surprised at how quickly it can get exhausting.

1. Lie on your side on a comfortable surface. You can support your head with your hand or place a cushion under your head.
2. Stack your feet on top of each other and lie your body in a straight line.
3. While keeping your top leg straight, slowly lift it as high as possible and hold it for 2-3 seconds.
4. Gradually lower the leg back down to the starting position~ this is one rep.
5. Repeat for 10-12 reps then switch legs.

Key tips

• If you feel unstable, you can place one of your palms down on the ground in front of you.
• Even if you are lying down, don’t forget to engage your core, this will support in stabilizing your spine.

Banded Clamshells

If you don’t have any resistance bands or if you struggle to perform the exercise with the band, then you can just use your body weight.

1. Place a resistance band above your knees and lay down on your side on a comfortable surface.
2. Bend your knee at a 90-degree angle while keeping your feet together
3. By keeping your feet together and without twisting your hips, lift your top knee as high as you can.
4. Focus on using your hip abductors (the muscles on the side of your hips) to lift your knee.
5. Hold the top position for 2-3 seconds and lower the knee back down.
6. Repeat for 10-15 reps and switch legs.

Key Tips

• Your feet should always stay in contact with each other during the exercise, this will ensure that the intended muscle gets targeted.
• Maintain proper body alignment, ensuring that your head, shoulders, hips, and feet are all in line. There should be no twisting motion happening while you lift your knee.

Side Plank

If you thought time went slow during planks, wait till you try the side planks.

Unlike regular planks, the side planks target more of the muscles that are located on the side of your body such as side glutes, obliques and side delts.

1. Begin by lying on your side on a comfortable surface.
2. Have your elbows bent at 90 degrees and position it beneath your shoulder. Your forearm and palm of your hand should be flat on the ground.
3. Place your legs on top of each other.
4. Lift your hips off the ground and support your weight using your arm and your feet.
5. Maintain the position for as long as possible, while maintaining a correct form.
6. In the beginning, you can start by holding the position for 10-20 seconds and slowly increase the time by a few seconds each week.
7. Aim for 2-3 sets.

Key Tips

• Keep your body in a straight line and fight the urge to sag your hips down. This will help keep proper tension during the exercise.
• If you are struggling, you can place your bottom knee on the floor, this will provide added support making it easier for you to hold the position.

Barbell Hip Thrust

The Barbell glute bridge is a great compound movement for not only adding size but also strength to your glutes.

With that being said it’s not as effective as the other exercise to isolate the side glutes, but as you can load up heavy weights on the barbell, it can lead to higher strength gains.

1. Load the barbell up with the appropriate weight, or you can just start off by performing the exercise using the weight of the barbell. 
2. Place an elevated object (no higher than knee height) behind you such as a bench.
3. Sit on the floor with your back against the elevated object.
4. Roll the bar over your hips, positioning it across your pelvis~ make sure it’s stable & secure.
5. Grab the bar with both hands, with your hands slightly being wider than shoulder-width apart.
6. Brace your core and push the barbell up by using your hips.
7. At the top squeeze your glutes and hold the position for a second and lower your hips back down. But don’t let your butt touch the ground, soon as it’s close to the floor, shoot your hips back up.
8. Aim for 8-10 reps.

Key Tips

• When you lift your hips, make sure you don’t overextend your lower back as this can lead to injuries.
• Your focus should not be about just lifting the weights, but rather being able to feel the contraction of your glutes.

Single Leg Box Squat

Some consider the squats king of all exercises due to their ability to target multiple muscles at once.

The reason why I chose this exercise instead of the regular squats is because doing squats with a single leg adds a balancing component. This requires the side glute muscles to fire up more, leading to extra growth.

1. Find a stable box or bench (the lower it is, the harder the exercise will be).
2. Stand in front of the elevated surface.
3. Slightly lift one foot off the ground and hover it in front of you.
4. Take a deep breath and slowly sit down on the elevated surface by bending your knee.
5. Soon as your butt touches the surface, push through your heel to get back to the starting position.
6. Repeat for 8-10 reps, then execute the movement on the other leg.

Key Tips

• While lowering your body, don’t lean your upper body too far forward. Try to keep your torso as upright as you can maintain it.
• To make the exercise easier you can have your hands in front of you which will make it easier to balance. But if you want to make it a bit harder, have your hands down by your side or behind your head.

Macros For Side Glute Growth

For not only growing the side glutes but growing muscles in general, you need to have a balanced diet.

All three macros~ fats, carbohydrates, and protein play a role in muscle building.

Fats

Fats are essential for the production of various hormones that regulate muscle growth~ this includes testosterone and growth hormone. Therefore not consuming adequate amounts of fats can stunt your muscle growth.

Fats are also important for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. These vitamins are involved in various bodily functions, including the immune system and bone health. This helps keep your body healthy which indirectly supports your muscle-building efforts.

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy. During your workout session, your muscles will rely on glycogen (the stored form of carbohydrates) for fuel.

Having sufficient glycogen reserves in the tank will allow you to work out longer and with greater intensity, leading to better muscle-building workouts.

If you don’t consume enough carbohydrates, your body might not have enough energy stores to function. In this case, your body might break down muscle tissues instead to fuel itself~ making gaining muscle harder.

Protein

Now protein is probably the most important macronutrient of the three when trying to grow your muscle.

The reason is simple, proteins are composed of amino acids which are the building blocks of muscle tissue.

When you engage in different exercises, it causes tiny tears in your muscle fibers. Consuming protein-rich foods provides your muscle the amino acids necessary for repairing and rebuilding itself.

Calories

Getting all your macros in is great, however getting in enough calories is also vital to build muscle efficiently.

In the process of adding muscle to your frame, the body requires extra energy for repair and growth. Therefore you need to be in a caloric surplus, meaning eating more calories than what you burn daily.

The reason why this can get a bit tricky is that once you start eating more food, you risk gaining excess fat.

This is why a good place to aim for is being at a surplus of about 200-300 calories. This gives your body that extra energy while minimizing fat gains.

Conclusion

As the glutes are made out of three parts, so to build stronger and defined glutes, it’s important to target the side part of the muscle.

I have listed various exercises in the article, in which you can pick a couple at a time to see how they feel and then switch them around.

After a hard workout session, you need to prioritize recovery by eating the right foods, so your body can have correct & enough building blocks to heal the damaged muscles.

Remember work hard and you’re bound to see some amazing results!