Small Butt Mighty: 5 Best Gluteus Minimus Exercises

The gluteus minimus is the smallest of your gluteal muscles.

But small doesn't have to mean weak, unless you skip leg day, that is.

What is the gluteus minimus? Let's get acquainted with this small butt muscle. Although it may not have the celebrated reputation of its neighbor, the gluteus maximus, we'd like to think the minimus is still pretty cool.

We'll unpack the anatomy of the gluteus minimus, learning more about its structure and function.

Plus, we'll take you through a few gluteus minimus isolation exercises that you can do to grow this upper glute muscle.

If you struggle with a pancake butt, an inverted butt, or a square butt, working out your medius in a targeted way could help you reap huge benefits.

So don’t minimize the minimus. Learn more about how this little powerhouse could give you the fuller, perkier glutes that you’ve always wanted.

Gluteus Minimus Anatomy

This fan-shaped muscle, located on the outer, upper side part of your hip, originates at the ilium and inserts at the femur along the greater trochanter. Your gluteus minimus sits deeper than the other gluteal muscles, under the gluteus medius.

The gluteus minimus is a smaller muscle that works together with your gluteus medius to abduct your hips. This means that it pulls the hip away from the midline of your body.

Know that abduction is different than external rotation, which means turning your leg out from the hip.

You can abduct your hip and rotate it at the same time, but they are not the same movements.

Why Should You Train Your Gluteus Minimus?

Help Muscular Imbalances

Training your gluteus minimus can be a great way to get more even-looking buttocks.

Many of us struggle with muscular imbalances, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be corrected or that they’re the most functional.

Your gluteus maximus is hard at work when you run, jump, or walk without you even thinking about it.

Sometimes little minimus needs a little more TLC to feel activated. But targeting work to this smaller glute muscle can help you round out the top of your butt for perkier, sag-free glutes.

If you’re looking to build up a round butt or alter your butt shape, making sure the top of the glutes are strong and balanced is key.

Better Posture

Take a step back and think about taking a snapshot of your full body. When we look at it holistically, the gluteal muscles are directly connected to the back.

This makes them an integral part of determining how your posture sits and looks. The glutes help to support your pelvis. And as an extension of your back, healthy glutes can mean better posture.

If, for example, your gluteus minimus on one side is weaker than the other, you might compensate by leaning into the alternate hip.

You may even shift too much weight into the back or knees.

All these things can throw off your postural alignment. Although we're talking about individual muscle isolation here, it's important to think of the way your body functions and the muscular interactions that it goes through as a whole.

Mind-Muscle Connection

Because the gluteus minimus is so small in comparison to the other gluteal muscles, it can feel a little bit confusing to search for it and feel it activating.

Doing isolation exercises, rather than compound moves that work your whole butt can help you feel better acquainted with your body.

You can carry this knowledge away from the glutes to really any smaller muscle that you might be working.

Thinking about your muscles acting in isolation and together helps you feel in tune with your body. This is important when it comes to growing stubborn muscles, and helping with injury prevention.

Gluteus Minimus Abduction Workouts

Where the gluteus minimus thrives is an abducting your hips. To draw your thigh outward and away from the center line of your body, this small muscle needs to be strong.

Although total glute workouts are great for building balanced buttocks, to motivate the  Minimus to grow, you'll need to do a little bit of isolation work.

Here’s where abduction workouts come in. Although hip abduction is any move where you're drawing the hip outward away from the center of your body, there are a few moves that we think are most efficient for really stimulating the muscle to grow.

Banded Hip Abduction

Any kind of banded hip abduction exercise is great to perform when you're trying to target your gluteus minimus muscle.

Using resistance bands forces you to work against the power of movement on both the concentric (where the muscle shortens) and the eccentric part of the move (where your muscle lengthens).

Sitting down is one of the simplest ways to work this move.

To perform a seated banded hip abduction:

• Set up: Grab a weight bench, block, or any comfortable sitting surface. If you're working out at home, you can even use a chair. Grab a resistance band, looping it around the middle of both thighs.

• Hand Placement: For hand positioning, you can either grab the sides of your weight bench, bring your hands to your hips, or clasp the hands in front of your chest. Take a hand position that will keep your body stable while you work your legs.

• Action: Plant your feet comfortably on the ground. Push your knees outward to send your hips away from your midline. Working against the tension of the band, bring your knees back to the starting position with control. Make sure your band doesn’t snap or jerk your knees together.

• Reps: Repeat for as many reps as you’d like. We recommend 3 sets of 10 reps.

Alternatives and Variations

• Clamshells: Grab a yoga mat or comfortable surface and lie down on one side with your arm extended to support your head. Bring your free hand up and plant it by the side of your chest firmly to support and ground the non-working side of your body.

Wrap a resistance band around the middle of both thighs. Keep a slight bend in your knees and place the feet together.

With your top leg, externally rotate your thigh and pull your knee upward to work against the resistance of your band. From the top of the move, slowly bring your leg back into place making sure that your resistance band doesn't snap or jerk the motion of your leg.

• Standing Banded Hip Abduction: Wrap a band around your thighs and pull one leg outward while standing on the other leg to balance. Keep the hand of the working leg planted on your waist and hold on to a chair, door frame, or machine at the gym if you need support in your balance.

Pro-Tip: Try the standing variation with a cable machine if you're at the gym. Simply attach the end of a cable to one ankle, and perform the same movement that you would with a resistance band.

Unilateral Glute Exercises

Training a single-legged move, like a one-legged glute bridge is an example of unilateral training.

This just means to work the sides of the body separately from one another. When we think about most key resistance training moves that we perform, like a traditional squat or deadlift for example, we usually train bilaterally.

In other words, we work both sides of the body evenly and in the same way.

But what is the benefit of unilateral training?

Evidence suggests that training the sides of the body separately is a great way to help prevent and correct muscular imbalances.

A study from the Journal of Applied Physiology indicated that unilateral training may generate more strength gains than bilateral training, however more research is needed on this topic to be conclusive.

When we apply this training principle to building healthier gluteus medius muscles, correcting imbalances can help with things like pelvic alignment, or improving your gait when you walk if you take uneven steps.

Weak muscles may be at play here, so it's important to think about incorporating some unilateral training into your routine.

It can also be a great way to improve your one-legged balance. If you want to work up to complicated exercises, like say a pistol squat, the ability to balance on one leg is crucial.

Single-Leg Glute Bridges

To perform a single-legged glute bridge:

• Set-up: Lie down on a yoga mat, bending your knees to plant both feet on the floor.

• Action: Ground down into the palms of your hands, pressing them into the ground. Press your left foot down to take the weight out of the right side of your body.

• Ascent: Drive your hips up, and roll through the spine to lift your back, coming to balance on your shoulders, as you slowly lift your right leg, bending at the knee to extend the leg straight up into the air.

• At the top: Hold here for a moment. You can either perform this move as a held posture for 30 seconds or pulse your leg at the top for 10 reps.

• Descent: Slowly bend the knee and bring the leg back down, rolling out the vertebrae of your spine starting from the shoulders to the tailbone as you come down.

• Reps: Repeat on the other side, whether you held the move or pulsed for reps. Aim to do three to four sets of 10 reps, or three 30-second holds per side.

Curtsy Lunges

This is one of the most underrated moves to work your upper-side glutes. All you need for curtsy lunges is a set of dumbbells and a little bit of space to move around.

• Set-Up: Grab a pair of medium-weight dumbbells, holding one in each hand with an overhand grip.

• Lunge: Bring the hands to your sides and start with both feet together in a standing position. With the right leg, lunge out and step to the side in a long stride. Cross your left leg behind you, then bend down into both knees, aiming to come to a 90° bend in the legs.

• Return: Step back the way you came with your back leg, lunging sideways in the other direction. Then cross the front leg behind it to switch sides.

• Reps: Continue to alternate sides until you have performed 10 curtsy lunges per side. This is one set. Continue this move for 3 to 4 sets of 10 reps.

Fire Hydrant

• Set-Up: Come to an all fours or tabletop position on your hands and knees.

• Movement: Keeping your thigh pointing forward, pull up from your side glute to lift your upper leg and knee between a 45 and 90° angle. Make sure that you are abducting the thigh and not rotating.

• Return: Slowly and with control, bring your knee back to the starting position.

• Reps: Repeat 10 times on your first leg, then do 10 reps on your second leg. This is one set. we recommend doing this move for three sets of 10 reps.

Pro-Tip: From this position, add on donkey kicks to work your gluteus medius and gluteus maximus for a body-weight total butt burn.

Although donkey kicks are more focused on the medius, and maximus, the gluteus muscle sees a little bit of action here.

Working out the other butt muscles is crucial for a balanced shape and it’s super simple to swing it when you’re already in the tabletop position.

For a donkey kick:

• Set-Up: Brace your core, stacking your elbows over your wrists and your hips over your knees. Ground into your other three limbs as you lift your right leg off the ground with your knee at a 90° bend.

• Movement: Your knee should stay pointing downward as you flex your foot and drive the heel and sole of your foot straight up into the air.

• At the top: Squeeze your butt at the top of the move, then slowly lower down with control. Be careful not to move your back and sway into this movement. You want to maintain a neutral spine for stability and to add an ab burn.

The fire hydrant/donkey kick combo is one of the best ways to hit all the muscles of the glutes, no weight required.

Side Plank Hip Dips

This is a beautiful move for working both your gluteal muscles and your core. As we mentioned above, the muscles of your trunk and back are both supported by the glutes and the pelvis.

This makes gluteal strengthening moves an excellent choice if you want to get stronger abs and better posture.

To perform this move:

• Set-Up: Place a yoga mat on the ground and come to a plank position on your elbows.

• Side Stance: Rotate the right side of your body externally and come to balance on your elbow in a plank, supported on your left foot. Stack the right shoulder over the left shoulder to keep your torso balanced.

• Dip: Bring the right hand to the right side of the waist for support. Dip your left hip downward toward the ground. Before you make contact, pull the hip back into the starting position with control.

• Reps: Repeat this movement for 10 slow and sustained reps to target the side of your glutes. After you're finished on one side, rotate back to a centered forearm plank, then open up the left side of your body to repeat the side plank move on the other side.

After you do 10 reps here, this completes one set. We recommend 3 to 4 sets of 10 reps.

The Takeaway

Don't minimize the minimus!

Although it may seem inconsequential compared to your big butt muscles like the gluteus maximus, it's just as important to keep your gluteus minimus strong.

If you suffer from an inverted butt, square butt, or pancake butt, you're probably lacking volume toward the top and sides of your glutes.

Is this you? If you answered “Yes!”, it's extra important to work on paying attention to your gluteus minimus muscles.

Isolating these muscles and making your upper glutes pop can give you a more attractive and filled-out shape, like a round, heart-shaped butt, or shelf butt.

To recap, the gluteus minimus serves the same function as the gluteus medius, its slightly larger cousin.

The minimus’ primary function is to abduct your hips. This means to move your thighs away from the midline of your body.

In this case, focusing primarily on hip abduction exercises is your best friend.

Gluteus Minimus Workout

For a few minimus-specific moves, try:

• Banded hip abduction

• Fire hydrants

• Side plank hip dips

• Curtsy lunges

All of these moves target the sides of your glutes. Mix them up with other glute work and you should see a growing tush in no time.

On top of your glute isolation exercises, don't forget to stretch and cool down.

Making sure your recovery is just as powerful as your workouts will prevent you from getting injured or seeing a lack of growth in your muscles. Stretch, try some foam rolling, or even muscle scraping for a unique muscle recovery technique.

Remember that to see growth, you have to fuel your muscles properly as well.

Focus on incorporating foods with lots of lean protein, healthy fat, and complex carbohydrates. Maintaining a clean diet will help you achieve your goals faster in the gym.

To lose weight or build a booty, eat to support your workouts. This is the best way to increase the speed of your progress.

Remember to get plenty of sleep as well. Feeling unmotivated or too lazy to work out or even like you need a nap after a workout might mean that you're not getting enough sleep at night.

Focus on positive sleep hygiene habits. Turn your phone off before bed. Try not to look at any screens for at least an hour before you hit the hay.

Sleeping in a slightly cooled-down room can be beneficial for a better night's sleep too.

Combining these healthy techniques can help you make progress on your gluteus minimus muscles and all your workout goals. Don’t forget to track your progress as you go. The medius proves that it’s the little things that count. Every small improvement matters!

References:

Greco AJ, Vilella RC. Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Gluteus Minimus Muscle. [Updated 2023 May 22]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556144/

Howard, J. D., & Enoka, R. M. (1991). Maximum bilateral contractions are modified by neurally mediated interlimb effects. Journal of Applied Physiology, 1, 306–316. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1991.70.1.306

Liao, K. F., Nassis, G. P., Bishop, C., Yang, W., Bian, C., & Li, Y. M. (2022). Effects of unilateral vs. bilateral resistance training interventions on measures of strength, jump, linear and change of direction speed: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Biology of sport, 39(3), 485–497. https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2022.107024

Padulo, J., Laffaye, G., Chamari, K., & Concu, A. (2013). Concentric and eccentric: muscle contraction or exercise?. Sports health, 5(4), 306. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738113491386

Shah A, Bordoni B. Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Gluteus Medius Muscle. [Updated 2023 Feb 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557509/

Suehiro, T., Mizutani, M., Ishida, H., Kobara, K., Fujita, D., Osaka, H., Takahashi, H., & Watanabe, S. (2015). Effect of abduction and external rotation of the hip joint on muscle onset time during prone hip extension with knee flexion. Journal of physical therapy science, 27(1), 289–291. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.27.289