10 Best Dumbbell Glute Exercises for a Round, Firm Backside

Want a firm, toned, and lifted butt but only have dumbbells? If you’re tired of endless squats and lunges that barely show results, I’ll show you how to get a rounder and firmer backside using only dumbbell exercises.

Most glute workouts leave your thighs burning and your glutes flat and unchanged. Many women struggle with glute exercises that promise peachy results yet don’t deliver anything more than wasted time and a plateaued booty.

Dumbbells might seem basic, but they’re the ultimate versatile home tool for sculpting great glutes. You don’t need complicated machines or an expensive gym membership to get a toned and perky butt (without looking muscular).

Here you’ll discover my top 10 best dumbbell glute exercises to shape, strengthen, and transform your backside, no matter your starting point. In my 20 years of personal training experience, these are the best exercises for targeting the glutes using only dumbbells.

Why Train Glutes With Dumbbells? (Surprising Benefits)

Ready to look and feel confident in shorts, miniskirts, and even long tapered dresses? Dumbbells are overall the best piece of fitness equipment for toning and shaping the glutes for that lifted look. You don’t have to worry about “bulking up,” getting huge legs, or looking too muscular when using dumbbells for glute exercises. 

Dumbbells provide precision and control to isolate the glute muscles better. This helps to minimize help from other muscles like your lower back and thighs. You can focus on placing the tension exactly where you want it… on the glutes!

If you want bigger glutes with better proportions, you can do so even with light dumbbells. While having a set of adjustable dumbbells helps with progressive overload, you really don’t need heavier weights or a gym to get real results.

So what counts is gradually increasing the challenge. Dumbbells are great because you can use unilateral versions of exercises (one-legged variations) to make it harder. I’ll also show you how to use proper form and increase sets/reps in your workouts to maximize your results.

Meet Your Glute Anatomy

Your glutes are actually a group of three muscles on the backside of your pelvis that work together to give your hips power, stability, and shape. All three of your gluteal muscles play a role in pelvic stability during single-leg movements like walking or running (helping to prevent injuries).

Gluteus Maximus: This is the largest and most visible of the three gluteal muscles. It’s the big main muscle that covers the majority of your butt. Its main job is to extend your hips. So it helps you stand up from a chair, climb stairs, and run. It also assists with rotating your hip outward, giving your hips stability and keep good posture.

The gluteus maximus gives your butt its size, shape, and “lift.” A well-developed glute max creates a round, full, and lifted look.

Gluteus Medius: This muscle sits partly under the gluteus maximus on the outside of your hip. Its main job is to move your leg away from your body (hip abduction) and help your thigh rotate inward. This muscle is important for keeping your pelvis stable and level when you walk or run so it doesn’t tilt from side to side.

This muscle shapes the upper, outer curve of your hips, helping to create the “hourglass shape.” This look gives your glutes a more sculpted side profile.

Gluteus Minimus: This is the smallest and deepest glute muscle. It’s found underneath your gluteus medius on the side of your hip. It helps to move your leg out to the side (hip abduction), helps rotate your thigh inward, and works with the gluteus medius to keep your pelvis stable.

It’s small and less visible, but the gluteus minimus adds a subtle roundness to the side of your hips, giving them a smooth and balanced contour.

The 4 Essential Dumbbell Glute Exercises

These four are the most essential glute dumbbell exercises. I would concentrate most of your workouts on including these exercises in one form or another to get the fastest results. 

I’ll break down each exercise and show you the proper form for glute activation. I’ll also give tips to maximize the mechanical tension in the exercise to signal for your body to increase growth. 

Mechanical tension is the primary trigger for muscle growth and strength.¹ It means how hard your muscles are forced to contract against resistance. This signals your body to build and strengthen the glute muscle.

Dumbbell Hip Thrusts

This is the #1 most effective glute exercise and is often called the “queen of glute exercises.” It ranks highest in EMG studies for glute activation.² Even without a barbell, doing weighted hip thrusts at home with dumbbells will still create the strongest glute activation.

1. Sit on the floor with your upper back against a bench or the edge of a couch or bed. Your knees should be bent, and your feet should be flat on the floor. Hold a heavy dumbbell or two dumbbells on top of your hips.
2. Hold the dumbbell securely on top of your hips and brace your core. Then press through your heels to drive your hips up towards the ceiling, squeezing your glutes at the top. Try to keep your chin tucked towards your chest throughout the movement. 
3. At peak contraction, pause and hold at the top for 1-2 seconds while squeezing your glutes. In the tabletop position, try to make sure your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
4. Lower your hips back down with control and repeat without letting your hips rest on the floor.

Trainer Tip: Keep your chin tucked towards your chest and your ribs down to avoid arching your lower back. Focus on pushing through your heels to maximize glute engagement. Avoid bouncing and use a slow, controlled lowering during the descent.

Make it Harder: You can also use the single-leg variation of the hip thrust to increase intensity without using a heavier weight. It’s a great way to add progressive overload if you don’t have heavy enough weights at home.

Dumbbell Glute Bridges

The glute bridge is different than hip thrusts since it’s performed on the floor with your upper back on the ground, while hip thrusts are done with your upper back elevated on a bench. Hip thrusts are better for targeting your glutes and maximizing mechanical tension since they have a greater range of motion and higher glute activation.²

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet hip-width apart, and only your heels on the ground with your toes pointed straight up. Your feet should be underneath your knees. Hold a dumbbell or pair across the top of your hips.
2. Engage your core and tilt your pelvis up so your lower back goes flat against the ground.
3. Drive through your heels to raise your hips up until your body forms a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
4. Pause at the top for one to two seconds and squeeze your glutes to maximize the contraction.
5. Slowly lower your hips back to the ground with control and repeat. Do not let your hips rest on the ground for too long to keep tension on the glute muscles.

Trainer Tip: Keep your toes pointed up and press through your heel during the exercise to isolate your glutes better, not the hamstrings. Avoid overarching your lower back by tilting your pelvis upwards, keeping your ribs down and core engaged.

Make it Harder: You can also use the single-leg glute bridge to increase intensity without adding extra weight. This unilateral version is a great way to keep your glutes progressively overloading so you can keep getting results. Single-leg glute bridge can be an effective replacement for a dumbbell kickback exercise, where you’d need a special strap to attach the dumbbell to your foot.

Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats (Glute Emphasis)

While traditionally considered a leg exercise, Bulgarian lunges, when done with a tweak, can emphasize your glutes much more. You’ll get a deep stretch in your glutes, and with a powerful extension during the exercise, you’ll maximize glute activation.³

1. Stand about two feet in front of a bench that’s slightly below knee height (or a couch, bed, chair, etc.) holding dumbbells at your sides. Place your rear foot on the bench behind you, with the top of your foot resting on the bench.
2. Have your front foot forward far enough so that when you lower down, your shin stays mostly vertical and in line with your foot, but your knee doesn’t go past your toes.
3. Lean slightly forward with your torso and keep your core braced. Then lower your hips straight until your front thigh is about parallel to the ground, and you feel a deep stretch in your glute.
4. Pause at the bottom for 1-2 seconds, and then press through your front heel (not your toes) to come back up. Then, focus on squeezing your glute muscle at the top.
5. Repeat and perform all reps on one leg before switching sides.

Trainer Tip: Keep your front foot flat and drive through your heel to maximize glute engagement. Keep a slight forward lean by hinging at your hips to better target your glutes instead of your quads. If you have trouble balancing, move your back foot out slightly to the side of the bench for better stability.

Dumbbell Step-ups (Glute Emphasis)

By slightly tweaking the dumbbell step-up, you can significantly emphasize the glute muscles more. This makes it a highly effective unilateral exercise to build strength, power, and muscle in your glutes, helping you build a more sculpted and stronger posterior chain.⁴

1. Stand facing a sturdy box or bench that allows your knee to be bent at about a 90-degree angle when your foot is on top. Hold the dumbbell in each hand and hold it at your sides.
2. Lean your torso forward slightly by hinging your hips over your hips to increase glute activation.
3. Press through the heel of your foot on top of the box to lift your body onto the box, keeping your back leg loose and relaxed.
4. At the top, keep leaning forward with your upper body and squeeze your glute on the working leg.
5. Step down slowly and with control. Repeat and complete all reps on one leg before switching sides.

Trainer Tip: Keep your weight centered over your front heel, not your toes. Avoid pushing off with your back leg, and instead, make your glutes work on the elevated leg.

6 More Top Glute Exercises

Dumbbell Front Foot Elevated Split Squat

The dumbbell front foot elevated split squat creates a high glute activation by giving you a deeper stretch and greater range of motion than traditional split squats.⁵ Elevating the front foot increases the range of motion, creating greater hip flexion. The need to power out of the deep position will strongly recruit your glute max muscle.

1. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides and place one foot on a low platform or step in front of you with your back foot at a comfortable stride behind you. Keep your feet shoulder-width or hip-width apart, depending on what’s most comfortable.
2. Keep your chest up and your core brace in line with your front knee and ankle. Lean slightly forward with your torso to increase glute activation during the exercise.
3. Slowly lower your back knee down towards the ground. Let your front hip drop below your front knee to maximize the stretch in your glute and hamstring.
4. Press through your front heel to rise back up, and squeeze your glute at the top to maximize the contraction.
5. Repeat and complete all rips on one side before switching legs.

Trainer Tip: Use a platform about 2-6 inches high to increase the range of motion without making it harder to balance. Keep a slight forward lean in your torso to better target your glutes instead of your quads. Pause for 1-2 seconds at the bottom for extra stretch and muscle activation in the glutes.

Single-Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift (1-Legged RDL)

One-legged RDLs have the highest glute activation for the glute max over other deadlift variations like RDLs and conventional deadlifts.⁶ With the one-legged RDL, you’ll have to stabilize your pelvis and keep balance while hinging at your hips deeply. This makes it so your glute max and glute medius work harder than any other dumbbell deadlift.

1. Stand tall while holding a dumbbell in one hand on the opposite side of the working leg that will be planted on the ground. Holding the dumbbell in the hand opposite of your standing leg will enhance glute activation due to the cross-body tension. Keep a slight bend in your working standing knee.
2. Keep your back flat and your core tight, then hinge at your hips while extending your free leg straight behind you as you lower the dumbbell down toward the floor.
3. Slowly lower your torso and go down until you feel a deep stretch in your glute and hamstring, keeping your hips square to the ground.
4. Then, return back up by driving through your heel and contracting your glute to return to the standing position, bringing your torso and back leg back in line.
5. Repeat and complete all reps on one leg before switching sides.

Trainer Tip: Focus on keeping your hips square and level. Don’t let your top hip rotate upwards to compensate. Keep a soft bend in your knee and avoid rounding your back (have a neutral spine). For the mind-muscle connection, think about starting the movement by pushing your hips back and then feeling the stretch and contraction in your glute and the standing leg.

Dumbbell Sumo Squats

Sumo squats use a wider stance with the toes turned out, which places more outward and rotational demands on the hips. Studies have shown that this wider stance creates more glute activation.⁷ Going deeper on sumo squats will also increase glute activation.

1. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, your toes pointed slightly outward (30-60 degrees), and hold a dumbbell with both hands in front of you.
2. Keep your chest up, your core tight, and your shoulders back.
3. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower your hips into a deep squat. Try to keep your knees in line with your toes.
4. At the bottom, pause and feel the stretch in your glutes for 1-2 seconds. Then, stand back up, drive through your heels, and squeeze your glutes at the top.
5. Repeat for the number of reps you want. Be sure to keep the movement under control. Use a slow descent on the way down to maximize time under tension.

Trainer Tip: Keep your torso lean slightly forward and maintain a neutral spine to maximize glute activation. Press your knees slightly outward as you squat to better engage your glutes. Go as deep as your mobility lets you for a better stretch in the glutes.

Dumbbell Glute Squats

I originally found this exercise from bodybuilding coach Charles Glass. It’s a new and different exercise for targeting your glutes using only a dumbbell. You can really isolate your glutes and get a good stretch and contraction with general movement.

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, your toes pointed slightly outward. With both hands, hold a dumbbell in front of your body.
2. Lean forward with your torso until your upper body is parallel to the ground. Try to keep your back straight as possible and your chest out.
3. Lower your hips towards the ground by bringing your hips back and keeping your knees out. Don’t let them come in.
4. Get a stretch at the bottom as your thighs go below parallel. Don’t allow the dumbbell to touch the ground.
5. Then, raise your hips up by pushing them back. But don’t let your torso move. It’s important that your hips do the moving during this exercise and not your torso (keep your back flat the entire time).
6. Repeat this up-and-down movement for the number of reps you want to complete.

Dumbbell Frog Pumps

Frog pumps are a glute bridge variation in which you lie on your back and keep the soles of your feet together. Your knees will be out wide like a butterfly stretch, and then you’ll thrust your hips upward. This creates a unique glute activation and strong pump sensation. 

The externally rotated soles together put your glutes in a mechanically advantageous position by limiting quad and hamstring help, forcing your glute max to do the work. The range of motion during frog pumps is shorter than the hip thrusts. Still, the glute contraction is intense, especially when you’re doing higher reps.

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and the soles of your feet pressed together, letting your knees fall open to the sides in a butterfly or frog position. Place a dumbbell (or two) across your hips and hold it in place with each hand.
2. Keep your upper back relaxed on the floor. Brace your core by drawing your belly button in towards your spine and gently tuck your chin to keep a neutral neck and spine.
3. Press the outer edges of your feet together and into the floor, then powerfully squeeze your glutes to lift your hips off the ground towards the ceiling. Try to focus on driving with your glutes and not your lower back.
4. At the top of the movement, pause for 1-2 seconds at peak contraction and try to squeeze your glutes as hard as you can. Ideally, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your knees without hyperextending your lower back.
5. Slowly lower your hips back down to the starting position in a controlled descent. Keep tension on your glutes throughout the entire lowering part.

Dumbbell Kneeling Hip Raise

This is an exercise by Bret Contreras, also called the weighted glute stretch. It’s a unique glute exercise that emphasizes maximizing the glute stretch and then contraction with specific hip positioning. It really lengthens the glutes and then intensely contracts them. 

Think of it as the glute equivalent of a dumbbell fly for the pecs. This exercise can be challenging to get down if you’re a beginner. It’s great as a finisher or accessory exercise after you do main glute exercises like hip thrusts. It can really capitalize on the fatigue in the muscle and cellular swelling to enhance your results.

1. Place one knee on a bench and extend your other leg out to the side in a straight line with your toes on the ground.
2. Hold a dumbbell in the same hand as the side of the foot on the ground. Keep your other hand on the bench for stability. That’s on the same side as the knee on the bench.
3. Move your hip out to the side of your leg on the bench by rotating your torso around the leg and the bench. Try to get a deep glute stretch, and your torso will likely be somewhat angled towards the floor.
4. Then, from this deeply stretched position, squeeze your glute to raise your hip and body. Push your hips forward and return to the more upright kneeling position. Focus on contracting your glute and feeling your hip extending and rotating.
5. Be sure to slowly lower with control and get into the deep stretch position, feeling the glute lengthen out.

Trainer Tip: You can do this exercise on the ground, but you really need a higher bench so you can get a deeper stretch in your glutes. Torso rotation is key, so don’t just hinge at your hip; try to rotate your torso around your working leg during the lowering phase to maximize the stretch in the glutes. Try to relax your non-working leg on the floor and use it more for stability than any pushing.

Dumbbell Glute Workout for Progressive Overload

The optimal frequency to train your glutes is 1-3 times per week. It’s common for beginners to want to hit their glutes constantly, but 2 to 3 times per week is plenty. 

You should take rest days between workouts to recover. Your muscles grow during this period, and you’ll also want to avoid burnout by doing glutes every day.⁸ If your booty is sore and tired, it’s a good idea to take a rest day so you can recover properly and keep getting results.

Progressive overload is critical for continuing results. You may be limited to lighter dumbbells, but progressive overload is more than just adding heavier weight. You can change your sets, reps, tempo, time under tension, rest periods, supersets, drop sets, circuits, and even use single-leg unilateral variations to increase progressive overload.

You’ll get results as long as you combine progressive overload and consistency.

How to Get Better Glute Activation

Have you had trouble “feeling” your glutes working during an exercise? It could be due to a few common reasons…

Lazy glute syndrome (“gluteal amnesia”) is when your glute muscles, especially the glute maximus, becomes very weak and inactive.⁹ This usually happens from sitting too much and not actively activating your glute muscles. 

This can cause compensation patterns when other nearby muscles, such as your quads, hamstrings, and lower back, take over the work during an exercise that’s supposed to target the glutes. If you’re not feeling the “burn” during a glute-focused exercise, then you could be compensating by using other nearby muscles to help. 

Add a few rounds of glute activation exercises like bodyweight glute bridges before your workout.

Activation drills can get your glutes to fire properly and allow you to feel the exercises better in your glutes.¹⁰ Pause at the top of glute bridges and really squeeze your glutes hard to activate them.

Focus on your form and make sure you’re following all the steps and the visual demonstration I provided. Small tweaks in your stance and form can make a huge difference in targeting your glutes and not your thighs. Slow down the exercise and pause at the bottom to really stretch the glutes for higher mechanical tension.

Use the mind-muscle connection to better activate and target your glutes during an exercise.

Really concentrate and focus on squeezing your glutes during the movement. Visualize and picture your glute muscles contracting and extending with each movement.

Maximizing Your Glute Gains

Just because you’re not so sore that you have to avoid the stairs the day after your glute workout doesn’t mean it wasn’t effective. It’s a common myth that you have to be sore the next day for the workout to have done its job.

DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) is a normal response to challenging your glutes with new or intense exercises or workouts.¹¹ Soreness mainly shows that your muscles did something new and unfamiliar, not that they’re growing or adapting.

You can still have a very effective glute workout that will give you strength and muscle gains without causing a lot of soreness.

This is especially true as your body adapts, and your strength and muscle size can better measure consistent progress, and not just how sore you feel afterward.

You’ll need to consume enough protein for your glute muscles to rebuild so they can become stronger and grow more. Studies have found that 0.8 grams per pound of body weight in protein daily creates the best results for muscle gains.¹²

If you’re having trouble reaching your daily protein intake, consider taking a low-carb protein powder. It’s a quick and easy way to get a lot of protein quickly without a bunch of calories and carbs. It makes a great snack and meal replacement, too.

You’ll want to consume enough calories that also help with muscle growth. But you’ll want to make sure you stay in a calorie deficit to not gain fat and to stay slim while gaining a rounder bum.

As you gain muscle, you may see the scale go up, but this could be muscle weight, not fat. Instead of just weighing yourself, measure your inches in circumference and use a smart scale to track your body fat percentage for a more accurate picture of your progress.