Are you looking for the finest dumbbell exercises to target your glutes?
While using dumbbells for techniques like bicep curls, shoulder presses, and triceps extensions is a no-brainer, they're also great for lower-body exercises. Dumbbells, in particular, can be used to achieve a fantastic butt workout.
Of course, using only your bodyweight to perform squats and lunges is a great way to work your glutes. But if you want to get stronger and put on more muscle, using weights in your butt exercises allows you to boost the intensity and challenge your body more.
Dumbbell Donkey Kickbacks and 4 Other Best Dumbbell Exercises for Men
Strengthening the glutes should always be a top priority. There are many techniques to help with this. Squats, lunges, and various deadlift variations are the best exercises for developing your glutes.
Dumbbells are a fantastic instrument to aid in this because of their adaptability and ease of use. The top 5 dumbbell exercises for glutes are listed below:
1) Dumbbell Single-Leg RDL
Single-leg RDL is one of the trickier dumbbell exercises due to the need for balance, but when done correctly, it provides numerous benefits. Reduced muscular imbalances, hamstring strains, improved balance, and glute hypertrophy are a few of these benefits.
Instructions:
- Grasp one or two dumbbells out in front of or beside your quads at arm's length.
- Lift one foot off the ground, maintain balance, and relax your working knee.
- Try to hinge back while keeping your shoulders down and your chest up. Do not rotate the hip that is working upward.
- When your belly button is parallel to the floor, hinge until your hamstring stretches.
- After stabilizing, go back to where you were before and repeat.
2) Dumbbell 5 O’Clock Lunge
This variation of lunges is one of the best dumbbell exercises that focuses on glutes, hamstrings and hip adductors. Additionally, it also develops muscle tissue, improves your core, and strengthens your lower body.
Instructions:
- Your feet should be hip-width apart as you stand. Your hands should be facing inward and your elbows should be bent while you hold one weight with both ends in front of your chest.
- With your right foot, take a large step out to the side, turning your body counter-clockwise towards the fifth hour.
- Flex your right knee and press your butt back to drop into a lateral lunge while maintaining a straight left leg, flexed left foot, and elevated chest.
- As you rotate back to the beginning posture, press through your right heel to stand up.
3) Dumbbell Clean
Any level can benefit from a dumbbell clean. This dumbbell exercise improves hip and thoracic mobility specifically by focusing on glute activation. It further helps one achieve proper body balance and coordination.
Instructions:
- When bringing weights to your shoulders, flip your wrists so they face forward and make a small hop.
- Stand by slowly, extending your legs.
- Before assuming a squat stance and repeating, lower the weights until they are at your thigh.
4) Dumbbell Donkey Kickbacks
Given that they are effective, donkey kicks are a common glute exercise found in almost all workout videos and classes. While it may be painful to hold a dumbbell between your calf and hamstring, this dumbbell exercise directly works the glutes and hamstrings, making you feel the burn.
Instructions:
- Get down on all fours, hands and knees under shoulders and hips.
- Put a small dumbbell tight on the inside of your knee and wedge it in one leg.
- Lift your bent leg back until your glute and hamstring contract. Lift the working knee just off the ground.
- Resuming from where you left off, pause for a moment.
- Before moving to the next side, complete all reps on the first side.
5) Dumbbell Side Lunge
Compared to the other versions, side lunges target the gluteus medius and minimus. They also help to strengthen your glutes on a different level. This particular lunge variation helps prevent groin strains by strengthening and repositioning your adductor (groin) muscles, which also improves overall hip mobility.
Instructions:
- Carry one or two dumbbells out in front of you or at arm's length, take a tall stance with your feet close together.
- Take a large step to the side with your left leg while keeping both of your toes pointed forward.
- Feel a pull in your right adductor muscle as you hinge your left hip back and maintain a straight right leg with toes pointed in front.
- Regain a position with your feet together by planting your left foot firmly on the ground.
Wrapping Up
All of these dumbbell exercises engage the glutes, but they also train many other muscles in the lower body, including the core. After all, because your buttocks are connected to both your core and your legs, it's difficult for them to function without the help of some of the contiguous areas.