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Exercises

Exercises for side glutes: glute medius work for the gym and home

Published October 29, 2026

The best exercises for the side glutes (glute medius and minimus) move your thigh out to the side or hold your pelvis level on one leg. At the gym, use the hip abduction machine and the standing multi-hip abduction for load, plus single-leg RDLs and curtsy lunges. At home, use lateral band walks, banded seated abductions, clamshells and fire hydrants. Do 6 to 12 hard sets a week over two or three sessions, 12 to 20 reps on the abduction moves, and keep a heavy hip thrust in the week for the rest of the glutes.

  1. Hip Abduction Machine Abductors
  2. Lateral Band Walk Abductors
  3. Multi-Hip Abduction Abductors
  4. Single-Leg RDL Hamstrings, Glutes
  5. Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge Quads, Glutes
  6. Clamshell Abductors
  7. Fire Hydrant Abductors

Loaded abduction

Moving the thigh out to the side is the glute medius's main job, and these let you add weight in small steps. Lean your torso forward a little on the seated machines to bias the upper glute fibers over the outer hip.

Glute medius, seated abduction

Hip Abduction Machine

Abductors

The most direct way to load the side glutes heavily. The machine holds you still, so the only thing moving the weight is your hips pushing out, and the stack goes up in small steps.

How to do it

  1. Sit with the outside of your knees against the pads and set the start so your legs are close together.
  2. Lean your torso forward slightly and hold the handles.
  3. Push your knees apart as far as the machine allows.
  4. Pause at the widest point, return slowly without letting the stack touch, and repeat.

Cues

  • Lean forward a little
  • Pause at the widest point
  • Do not let the plates rest

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing the pads out and letting them slam back: count two seconds on the way in.
  • Using so much weight that the range shrinks to a few inches: full range with less load works better.

Swap for: Lateral Band Walk, Band Seated Hip Abduction, Standing Side Leg Raise

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Glute medius, standing abduction

Multi-Hip Abduction

Abductors

One leg at a time, standing, which trains the working side while the standing leg holds your pelvis level. Use it when the seated machine is taken or when one side is clearly weaker.

How to do it

  1. Set the pad just above the outside of your knee and stand side-on to the machine, holding the handle.
  2. Put your weight on the leg nearest the machine and stand tall with your hips square.
  3. Sweep the working leg out to the side against the pad, keeping your toes pointing forward.
  4. Return it under control until it nearly crosses your standing leg, then repeat. Switch sides after the set.

Cues

  • Toes forward
  • Tall standing hip
  • Slow on the way in

Common mistakes

  • Leaning your torso away to get the leg higher: the lift ends where your trunk starts to tip.
  • Turning the toes up toward the ceiling, which shifts the work to the front of the hip.

Swap for: Hip Abduction Machine, Band Seated Hip Abduction

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Glute medius, banded seated abduction

Band Seated Hip Abduction

Glutes, Abductors

The home copy of the abduction machine: a loop band above the knees and a chair or bench. Leaning forward and pausing at the widest point makes a light band feel heavy.

How to do it

  1. Sit with a band above your knees and feet flat.
  2. Push your knees apart against the band.
  3. Return slowly.

Cues

  • Lean forward a little
  • Slow return

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing: hold a second at the widest point.

Swap for: Clamshell, Lateral Band Walk, Hip Abduction Machine

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Band and bodyweight abduction

No machine needed. These are lighter, so use high reps and slow lowering, and make them harder with a stiffer band or a pause at the top rather than with more sets.

Glute medius, side steps under tension

Lateral Band Walk

Abductors

Every step works the leg that moves and the leg that holds, and the half-squat keeps the side glutes under tension for the whole set. It doubles as a warm-up before squats or lunges.

How to do it

  1. Place a mini band around your legs just above the knees or at the ankles.
  2. Sink into a quarter squat with your feet hip-distance apart.
  3. Step sideways with the lead foot, follow with the other without letting the feet touch, and keep tension in the band.

Cues

  • Stay low
  • Toes point forward

Common mistakes

  • Swaying the torso side to side: keep your shoulders level and take shorter steps.

Swap for: Clamshell, Band Standing Hip Abduction

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Glute medius and minimus, side-lying rotation

Clamshell

Abductors

Lying on your side takes balance out of it, so you can feel the side glute work even if you never have before. Add a band above the knees once 20 slow reps are easy.

How to do it

  1. Lie on one hip with knees bent, stacked, heels touching.
  2. Pillow your head on the lower arm; keep the hips stacked.
  3. Keep your feet touching and lift the top knee as high as you can.
  4. Lower the knee slowly back to the other one.

Cues

  • Feet together
  • Hips stacked
  • Pause up top

Common mistakes

  • Rolling the top hip back: only the knee should move.
  • Rushing the reps: a two-second lowering makes a light move useful.

Swap for: Fire Hydrant, Standing Side Leg Raise

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Glute medius, all-fours abduction

Fire Hydrant

Abductors

On hands and knees, the thigh lifts out against gravity with the hip bent, which reaches the upper glute fibers that standing moves miss. No equipment and almost no setup.

How to do it

  1. Start on hands and knees with your back flat.
  2. Keep the knee bent and swing one thigh sideways, away from your body.
  3. Lift until the thigh is close to level with your hip without tipping your body.
  4. Lower slowly and repeat before changing legs.

Cues

  • Hips stay square
  • Knee leads
  • Slow down

Common mistakes

  • Rolling the body away to lift higher: a smaller lift with level hips works more.
  • Letting the foot rise above the knee: it turns the thigh the wrong way.

Swap for: Clamshell, Standing Side Leg Raise

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Glute medius, standing abduction

Standing Side Leg Raise

Abductors

Lifting one leg out to the side while the other holds your weight trains both sides at once. Hold a wall for balance at first, then let go to make the standing hip work harder.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, feet under your hips, hands resting on your hips.
  2. Keep the outer leg straight with the toes pointing forward.
  3. Lift it out to the side without leaning your torso away.
  4. Lower slowly until the foot almost touches the floor.

Cues

  • Toes forward
  • Stay tall
  • Slow lower

Common mistakes

  • Turning the toes up: that shifts the work to the front of the hip.
  • Leaning sideways: lift only as high as you can with an upright body.

Swap for: Fire Hydrant, Clamshell

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Single-leg strength

Standing on one leg forces the side glute to stop your hip from dropping, and these lifts load that job heavily. They also train the rest of the glutes and legs, so they earn their place even on a short day.

Glutes and hamstrings, one-leg hinge

Single-Leg RDL

Hamstrings, Glutes

Hinging on one leg makes the side glute fight to keep your hips level while the big glute and hamstrings lift the weight. It builds side glute strength under real load, not only with a band.

How to do it

  1. Stand on your left leg with a dumbbell in your left hand and the standing knee softly bent.
  2. Hinge forward at the left hip while your right leg extends straight behind you, keeping your hips level.
  3. Lower until your torso and back leg are close to parallel to the floor or the standing hamstring stops you.
  4. Drive the left hip forward to come back up, then finish the set before switching sides.

Cues

  • Back leg and torso move as one
  • Hips level, back toes down
  • Slow on the way down

Common mistakes

  • Opening the hip so the back leg rotates out: point the back toes at the floor the whole time.
  • Touching the free foot down between reps to rebalance: slow down and hold a wall with your free hand if needed.

Swap for: Dumbbell B-Stance RDL, Single-Leg Hip Thrust

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Glutes and quads, crossing lunge

Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge

Quads, Glutes

Stepping back and across puts the front hip into a stretched, inward-angled position, so the side and upper glute work hard to stand you back up. Hold the dumbbells at your chest to keep your torso upright.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall with your feet under your hips and a pair of dumbbells held up at your chest.
  2. Step your right foot back and across, landing it behind and outside your left heel on the ball of the foot.
  3. Bend both knees and sink straight down until your front thigh is close to parallel and your back knee hovers just off the ground.
  4. Keep your hips and chest facing forward, with your front knee pointing over your front toes.
  5. Push through the whole front foot to stand, bring the back foot home, and repeat with the other leg stepping across.

Cues

  • Hips square to the front
  • Sink down, not forward
  • Front knee over front toes

Common mistakes

  • Twisting your hips toward the back leg: step only as far across as you can while your belt buckle still faces forward.
  • Letting the front knee cave inward: push it out over your middle toes, and use lighter dumbbells until it stays there.
  • Shifting your weight onto the back foot: keep most of your weight on the front heel and midfoot, and let the back leg only balance you.

Swap for: Reverse Lunge, Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Bulgarian Split Squat

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Glutes, quads and adductors, side lunge

Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Stepping out to the side and sitting back loads the hip in a direction most leg days skip. It trains the side glutes and inner thighs together, and the dumbbells let you progress it.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet together and a dumbbell hanging at each side.
  2. Take a wide step to the right and sit your hips back over the right foot, left leg straight.
  3. Lower until the right thigh is near level with the floor, dumbbells on either side of the bent knee.
  4. Push hard off the right foot to step back to the start, then step out to the left.

Cues

  • Step wide, sit back
  • Trailing leg stays long
  • Both feet point forward

Common mistakes

  • Stepping too short, which turns the lunge into a squat with no stretch on the trailing leg.
  • Letting the bent knee drift inward past your big toe: keep it in line with the foot.

Swap for: Kettlebell Lateral Lunge, Cossack Squat, Goblet Squat

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The heavy glute lift

Side work shapes the upper outer glute, but most of the size of your glutes comes from the gluteus maximus. Keep one heavy hip extension in the week so the whole muscle grows, not only the edge.

Gluteus maximus, loaded hip extension

Hip Thrust

Glutes

The heaviest glute exercise you can do, and the base the side work sits on. A strong thrust builds the bulk of the muscle, while the abduction work fills out the upper and outer part.

How to do it

  1. Sit with your shoulder blades against the long side of a flat bench and roll a padded bar over your hips.
  2. Plant your feet flat about hip width apart, close enough that your shins are vertical at the top.
  3. Drive through your heels and lift your hips until your torso and thighs form a straight line.
  4. Hold the top for a second with your chin tucked, then lower your hips most of the way down and repeat.

Cues

  • Chin tucked, ribs down
  • Shins vertical at the top
  • One-second squeeze

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back to get higher: stop when your hips are level with your knees and squeeze your glutes there.
  • Feet too far out, which turns it into a hamstring exercise: bring them in until your shins are vertical at lockout.

Swap for: Dumbbell Hip Thrust, Smith Machine Hip Thrust, Glute Bridge

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Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in.

Session 1

Two glute days at the gym

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets21 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench, Dumbbells, Hip Abductor

You train lower body at a gym twice a week and want the upper, outer part of your glutes to catch up with the rest.

Each day has one heavy glute lift, one single-leg lift and one or two abduction exercises, which comes to about 8 direct side glute sets a week plus the single-leg work. Heavy lifts go first, high-rep abduction last, where fatigue costs nothing.

Day A: Thrust and abduct
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Hip Thrust2 warm-up sets first 4 × 6–10 2 2:30 min
Single-Leg RDLPer leg. 3 × 8–10 2 90 s
Hip Abduction MachineLean forward slightly. 3 × 12–20 1 75 s

Open Day A: Thrust and abduct in the session builder

Day B: Lunge and abduct
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge1 warm-up set firstPer leg. 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
Dumbbell Lateral LungePer leg. 3 × 8–10 2 90 s
Multi-Hip AbductionPer leg. 3 × 12–15 1 1 min
Hip Abduction Machine 2 × 15–20 1 1 min

Open Day B: Lunge and abduct in the session builder

How to run it
Do Day A and Day B with at least two days between them, for example Monday and Thursday. They can replace your current glute days or sit after your squats on leg days.
How to progress
Double progression on everything: once all sets reach the top of the range at the target reps in reserve, add weight and start again at the bottom. On the machines, go up one plate on the stack; on dumbbell lifts, the next dumbbell.
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Session 2

At home with a loop band and dumbbells

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets26 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells, Resistance Bands

You train at home with a mini loop band and one or two pairs of dumbbells, and want rounder side glutes without a gym.

Bands are light, so the side glute volume comes from more sessions and higher reps: about 6 abduction sets per session, three times a week. Each session also has one dumbbell lift so the glutes keep getting real load.

Session 1
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge1 warm-up set firstPer leg. 3 × 10–15 2 75 s
Band Seated Hip Abduction 3 × 15–25 1 1 min
ClamshellPer leg. 3 × 15–20 1 1 min

Open Session 1 in the session builder

Session 2
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Single-Leg RDL1 warm-up set firstPer leg. 3 × 10–12 2 75 s
Lateral Band WalkSteps each direction. 3 × 12–20 1 1 min
Fire HydrantPer leg. 3 × 12–20 1 1 min

Open Session 2 in the session builder

Session 3
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dumbbell Lateral Lunge1 warm-up set firstPer leg. 3 × 10–12 2 75 s
Standing Side Leg RaisePer leg. 3 × 15–20 1 1 min
Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 × 20–25 1 1 min

Open Session 3 in the session builder

How to run it
Three short sessions a week, 20 to 25 minutes each, on non-consecutive days such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Rotate through the three routines in order.
How to progress
On band work, go up to a stiffer band once every set reaches 20 slow reps with 1 to 2 reps in reserve. On the dumbbell lifts, add reps to the top of the range, then use the heavier pair or slow the lowering to 3 seconds if you have nothing heavier.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Runners and field-sport players

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets18 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Dumbbells, Hip Abductor

You run or play a field sport several days a week and want your hip to stay level and strong when you land on one leg.

Running already uses your legs a lot, so one or two lift days with about 9 sets each is plenty. The work is mostly on one leg, since that is how your sport loads the side glutes.

Single-leg strength
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Lateral Band WalkSteps each direction. 2 × 12–15 3 1 min
Single-Leg RDL1 warm-up set firstPer leg. 3 × 6–10 2 90 s
Dumbbell Lateral LungePer leg. 2 × 8–10 2 90 s
Multi-Hip AbductionPer leg. 2 × 10–15 2 1 min

Open Single-leg strength in the session builder

Hip control
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Lateral Band WalkSteps each direction. 2 × 12–15 3 1 min
Dumbbell Curtsy LungePer leg. 3 × 8–10 2 90 s
ClamshellPer leg. 2 × 15–20 2 1 min
Standing Side Leg RaisePer leg. No wall. 2 × 12–15 2 1 min

Open Hip control in the session builder

How to run it
Lift once or twice a week, on easy run days or after a short easy run, never the day before a long run, race or hard interval session. In race week, do the first session only, at 3 reps in reserve.
How to progress
Add reps to the top of the range, then use a heavier dumbbell. Keep the lateral band walk as the warm-up for every session, and move to a stiffer band when the steps stop feeling hard.
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Make it fit you

Questions

What muscles are the side glutes?

The gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, which sit at the upper outer side of your hip under and beside the gluteus maximus. They move your thigh out to the side and keep your pelvis level when you stand on one leg.

Can I do side glute exercises every day?

Light band work like clamshells can be done most days, but it will grow faster with two or three harder sessions a week and a day or two of rest between them. Hard sets need recovery to turn into muscle.

How long does it take to grow your side glutes?

Strength usually goes up within 4 to 6 weeks. A visible change in shape takes about 3 months of steady training, longer if you are already well trained.

Will 20 squats a day make my bum bigger?

Not much. Bodyweight squats get easy fast and mostly work the quads. Loaded hip thrusts, lunges and abduction work with progressively more weight or reps do far more for the glutes, including the sides.

What is the best machine for side glutes?

The seated hip abduction machine. The standing multi-hip machine set to abduction is a close second and works one leg at a time.

How can I stretch my outer hip glutes?

Lie on your back, cross one ankle over the other knee, and pull the bottom leg toward your chest until you feel it in the outer hip of the crossed leg. Hold 30 seconds per side after your session.