Glute and Hamstring Workouts to Build a Stronger Lower Body

Pairing glute and hamstring training in the same session is one of the most effective ways to build a stronger, more shapely lower body. Because many hip-dominant lifts recruit both muscle groups at once, a combined approach delivers more bang for your buck than isolating glutes alone. The workouts below are designed to be efficient, balanced, and easy to scale, whether you train at a gym or at home.

Why Train Glutes and Hamstrings Together

The glutes and hamstrings share a key function: hip extension. Exercises like deadlifts, hip thrusts, and glute bridges activate both, so training them on the same day allows you to move more weight, accumulate more volume, and develop real-world power and athleticism.

Keeping glute work separate from quad day also makes sense. Squats, lunges, and leg presses already involve the glutes, so they pick up bonus volume without extra exercises. On glute day, focusing on hip-dominant movements gives the glutes and hamstrings room to grow without competing with quad fatigue.

Nutrition Still Matters

No routine builds muscle in a calorie deficit. Eating enough total calories and protein is essential for growth, especially when training glutes and hamstrings with heavy, demanding movements. Under-fueling and over-training is a common reason progress stalls.

Understanding the Glute Muscles

The buttocks are made up of three muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Each plays a distinct role in shaping and stabilizing the hips and lower body.

Gluteus Maximus

The largest of the three, the gluteus maximus drives hip extension, lateral rotation, and hip abduction, and helps stabilize the sacroiliac (SI) joint. Building this muscle is what most people mean when they talk about growing a bigger butt.

Effective gluteus maximus exercises include:

• Deadlifts
• Sumo squats
• Forward, reverse, and curtsy lunges
• Hip thrusts
• Glute bridges
• Bulgarian split squats
• Glute-ham raises

Because the gluteus maximus works alongside the hamstrings during hip extension, any hamstring-dominant lift also counts as a glute lift.

Gluteus Medius and Minimus

The gluteus medius sits on the outside of the hip and is roughly half the size of the maximus. It handles lateral rotation, lateral extension, and abduction, and it's often the missing piece behind a flat-looking butt. Weak gluteus medius muscles are also linked to knee instability and ankle issues, so strengthening them can pay off beyond aesthetics.

Effective gluteus medius exercises include:

• Frog pumps
• Lateral band walks
• Side lunges
• Cable or band hip extensions
• Fire hydrants
• All lunge and single-leg squat variations

Workout 1: Glute and Hamstring Superset Session

Use roughly 75 percent of your one-rep max on the big lifts. If you normally leg curl 100 pounds, work in the 70- to 80-pound range. If you lunge with a 40-pound barbell, choose a 30-pounder. Move directly from the first exercise to the second, rest 90 seconds between sets, and add an optional fourth set if you're experienced.

Superset A

• Seated leg curl: 3 sets of 20, 15, 12 reps
• Walking lunge: 3 sets of 30 alternating reps (15 per side)

Superset B

• Barbell deadlift: 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps
• Lateral band walk: 3 sets of 40, 40, 30 alternating reps (20, 20, 15 per side)

Superset C

• Lying leg curl: 3 sets of 12, 12, 10 reps
• Hip thrust: 3 sets of 25, 20, 15 reps

Superset D

• Banded frog pump: 3 sets of 30, 30, 20 reps
• Bodyweight squat: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps, 1 minute rest

Workout 2: Hamstring-Focused Session

This version pushes the hamstring lifts heavier while leaning on single-leg, bodyweight, and banded moves to keep the glutes working. Add an optional fourth set if you're experienced.

Superset A

• Seated leg curl: 3 sets of 20, 15, 10 reps
• Walking lunge: 3 sets of 50, 40, 30 alternating reps (25, 20, 15 per leg)

Superset B

• Dumbbell single-leg Romanian deadlift (left): 3 sets of 10, 6 to 8, 6 to 8 reps
• Dumbbell single-leg Romanian deadlift (right): 3 sets of 10, 6 to 8, 6 to 8 reps
• Lateral lunge: 3 sets of 30, 30, 24 alternating reps (15, 15, 12 per side)

Superset C

• Lying leg curl: 3 sets of 12, 12, 10 reps
• Hip thrust: 3 sets of 25, 20, 15 reps

Workout 3: Home Butt-Building Tri-Sets

Home glute training doesn't have to mean endless high-rep bodyweight work. This routine uses three tough tri-sets that combine lunges, Bulgarian split squats, and single-leg deadlifts with more isolated moves like ball hamstring curls to really light up the glute medius. A fourth set is optional for every exercise.

Tri-Set A

• Reverse lunge: 3 sets of 30, 30, 24 alternating reps (15, 15, 12 per side)
• Hip thrust: 3 sets of 20 reps
• Dumbbell Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Tri-Set B

• Bulgarian split squat (left): 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps
• Bulgarian split squat (right): 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps
• Lateral band walk: 3 sets of 40, 40, 24 alternating reps (20, 20, 12 per side)
• Single-leg Romanian deadlift (left): 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
• Single-leg Romanian deadlift (right): 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Tri-Set C

• Dumbbell sumo squat: 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps
• Single-leg glute bridge (left): 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps
• Single-leg glute bridge (right): 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps
• Exercise ball leg curl: 3 sets of 15 reps

Putting It All Together

Glute growth responds best to consistent effort, smart loading, and enough food to recover. Rotate through these workouts across the week, focus on technique, and increase weights or reps gradually. Over time, the combination of heavy hip-dominant work, targeted glute medius training, and steady nutrition will build a stronger, more athletic lower body.