The glutes are made up of 3 muscles whose jobs are mainly to take the leg behind the body and out to the side. There are all sorts of ways of working them – standing, floor work, gym machines, resistance bands, barre work etc. This glute exercises program is a 30 day challenge which uses 2 basic floor work moves – “donkey kicks” and “fire hydrants”. Like most fitness challenges, the reps increase a little each day, so that you gradually improve your muscle strength and tone.
Glute exercises challenge
Before you start the challenge, please read these general exercise guidelines.
As this workout is done on your knees, you’ll be more comfortable on a cushioned surface. Ideally, use an exercise mat or alternatively a folded blanket.
Donkey kicks
This exercise and the donkey kick pulses below mainly work the large glute muscle – gluteus maximus.
- Get into an all-4s kneeling position.
- Making sure you keep your back held straight and your knee flexed at 90 degrees, lift one leg up towards the ceiling. Stop when your thigh is parallel to the floor.
- Lower and repeat.
Donkey kick pulses
For pulses, take your thigh to where is it parallel to the floor, then move 1-2 inches down and up from here.
Fire hydrants
In this one, the leg is lifted out to the side, working the two smaller muscles, gluteus medius and minimus.
- Start in an all-fours kneeling position.
- Keeping your back in place and your knee bent to 90 degrees, lift one leg out to the side.
- Lift as high as you can without rotating your hips, then lower and repeat.
The challenge
Just follow the number of reps on the chart for each day of the challenge. You can get a printable copy e-mailed to you by entering your e-mail address below.
Sign up for My Fitness Planner updates and get a link to the glute exercises challenge PDF e-mailed to you:
After you sign up, you’ll get 2 e-mails, one will have a link to your printable download and the other will be a welcome e-mail.
If the e-mails haven’t turned up within a few minutes, please check your junk folder, as some service providers have very strict filters.
More glute exercises routines
Challenge FAQs
The first day of the challenge should feel like it needs a bit of effort, but not too much. If you really struggle with day 1, then you probably won’t get through the challenge. The idea with the challenges on this site is that the first few days get you used to the exercises and the daily habit. Usually about halfway through the challenge the effort levels start to increase more quickly.
Avoid challenges that increase effort levels very quickly – they’re simply not realistic. It’s unlikely that, for example, you would be able to increase how many squats you are able to do by 10 a day for 30 days, or increase your plank hold time by 10 seconds a day for 30 days.
In general, allowing muscles 48 hours between workouts is good because it gives our bodies time to recover and adapt. Challenges are generally short workouts and for a limited period of time (usually 30 days), so not having many rest days won’t be a problem. With challenges that alternate exercises each day, it’s not an issue, because you’re using different muscles.
Fitness improvements don’t always happen in a predictable way. Sometimes we’re just not as strong or energetic for no apparent reason, or we hit a plateau. If you get to a point where you’re struggling to complete the day’s challenge, you can try one of the following:
- Take a couple of days off and start again where you left off
- Do the challenge on alternate days rather than every day
- Instead of increasing the effort every day, stay at the same level for 2 or 3 days and then go onto the next day of the challenge
Obviously these solutions mean the challenge will last longer, but you’ll still benefit from doing it.
