Muscle Breakdown: Gluteus Maximus
Table of Contents
What Is the Gluteus Maximus
The gluteus maximus is the outermost butt muscle and is the biggest and strongest muscle in the entire body. Unfortunately, most people find a challenge in developing their buttocks. In addition, there are both upper and lower glute muscle fibres.
In this article, we will provide you with the knowledge required to learn, strengthen and even grow your butt.
Gluteus Maximus Function
Since the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body that comes along with many functions. Here is a list of the functions the gluteus maximus performs.
Hip Extension
External Rotation
Abduction (upper glute)
Adduction (lower glute)
Stabilizing the pelvis when walking
Gluteus Maximus Origin and Insertion
Gluteus Maximus Origin
There are many gluteus maximus origins and insertions since the muscle spans over many bones and soft tissue. The gluteus maximus origins are the following:
Illiacus
Sacrum
Coccyx
Gluteus Maximus Insertion
There are two gluteus maximus insertions eventually insert upon the thigh bone called the femur and forms your I.T band along with other muscles of the hip.
Illiotibial Tract
Gluteal Tuberosity
Gluteus Maximus Innervation
The innervation of Gluteus Maximus gluten is located in the nerve of the lower gluteus (L5,S1,S2).
Gluteus Maximus Pain
Pain in the gluteus maximus is often associated with other injuries to structures around or going through the glute.
Glute Strain
A common glute injury we see are strains of the glute muscle which is usually caused by overuse of the glutes or attempts at lifting a weight you aren’t ready for, leading to an injury to the muscle tissue.
Piriformis Syndrome
This is a spasm, swelling, or bleeding of the piriformis muscle beneath the gluteus maximus that leads to pain and irritation. Piriformis pain may also trigger sciatic nerve pain which runs adjacent to the piriformis muscle. It’s generally described as pain, tingling, and numbness running down the buttocks and potentially down to your heels. The degree of which you feel this tingling pain depends on the degree of the injury.
Sciatica
Sciatica is a general term referred to as the irritation of the sciatic nerve. This is one of the biggest nerves running through the buttocks. When this nerve is irritated it can lead to pain, tingling, and numbness of the buttocks and potentially run down the leg and to your heel. Sciatica can flare up due to lower back disc herniations.
Disc herniations are when the large cushions between your vertebrae are compressed and start pushing on your sciatic nerve. As mentioned previously in piriformis syndrome, sciatica can be accompanied along with piriformis irritation. Though this is likely caused due to lifting with incorrect techniques such as a rounded back and/or too much training with spinal movements such as sit-ups, russian twists, and side bends.
Gluteus Maximus Exercises
Exercises that perform any of the functions listed above will target the glutes. But, we want you to maximize your training, so we recommend using exercises that are multi-jointed and recruit large amounts of muscle mass to stimulate the most muscle growth. Although there are numerous glute exercises, we listed our choices of the best exercises for growing your glutes based on current research and data.
Deadlifts
Deadlifts (Dumbbell Deadlift / Barbell Deadlift) are a phenomenal exercise that requires nearly every muscle in the body to perform this exercise. We rank deadlifts as our number one choice, not just because it’s a phenomenal exercise but because it’s primary action is hip extension, which is the main function of the glute muscles.
Squats
Squats (Dumbbell Squat) like deadlifts recruit a very large amount of muscle mass. Although the quads do a significant portion of the work, the glutes have to extend the hips in order to perform the exercise. Generally, a low bar squat or a squat done with a forward lean will recruit more of the glutes. We recommend low bar squats over other variations for growing your glutes. You can also do barbell squats on a squat rack with heavier weight.
Bonus Tip: Adding a loop band above the knee will teach you to keep your knees out during a squat and will engage the glutes further.
Hip Thrust/ Hip Bridge
The hip thrust and hip bridge are an amazing accessory to add to your squats and deadlifts if you want to enhance your glute growth. The hip thrust further isolates the other leg and hip muscles to get the glutes to work more. Another great benefit we find is it’s much easier to feel glute activation in the thrust and bridge than in the squat or deadlift. One of the main reasons butts don’t grow is simply because people don’t know how to feel them. Having a good connection to whichever muscle your working is important and is highly underutilized when training.
Forward Leaning Lunge
No workout is complete without single-leg exercises. The forward-leaning lunge increases the activation of glute muscles more than a traditional lunge. When doing the forward-leaning lunge you want to sit down into it as if you’re a sprinter while your torso leans forward. We recommend starting on the weaker leg and matching the number of reps on the other leg to prevent muscular imbalances.
Monster Walks
Monster walks are a great way to feel your glutes, place a band around the top of your knees and shuffle out to the side while in an athletic stance. We recommend doing this exercise as either a pre-activation or a finisher exercise after you’re done all your big lifts.
Frog Pumps
Lastly, frog pumps are probably the king of feeling a great glute plump. The frog pumps keep the glutes under constant tension. We recommend, using frog pumps as a pre-activation or finisher exercise. Perform this exercise for high reps focusing on contracting your glutes real tight with every rep.
Gluteus Maximus Workout
Tips before you get started with this sample workout:
It is important to maintain a neutral spine.
Anterior pelvic tilt should be avoided for full glute activation. For the full activation of the glutes, full range of motion should be used.
Exercises that bring the glutes into a deep stretch such as a deadlift, deep squats and forward learning lunge are great exercises for full glute development.
To organize your exercise selection, it’s best to start with exercises that are easy and allow for a good connection to the muscle (such as kick backs and hip bridges).
In the center of the workout a compound heavier movement will allow for the greatest amount of muscle activation, (i.e deadlifts, squats and lunges). You can then choose to add in a finisher exercise if you find your glute gains are lacking or you want higher intensity training.
Day 1
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions | RPE/1RM | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glute Bridge (Pre-activation) | 2 | 15 | 5 | 1-2 min |
| Deadlifts | 5 | 5 | 70% | 2-3 min |
| Forward Leaning Lunge | 3 | 10-12 | 8 | 1-2 min |
| Monster Band Walks (Finisher) | 3 | 30 | 9 | 0.5-1 min |
Day 2
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions | RPE/1RM | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Band Walks (Pre-activation) | 2 | 15 | 5 | 1-2 min |
| Squats | 5 | 5 | 70% | 2-3 min |
| Hip Thrusts | 3 | 10-12 | 8 | 1-2 min |
| Frog Pumps (Finisher) | 3 | 20 | 10 | 0.5-1 min |
Gluteus Maximus Stretches
In order to stretch the glutes maximus you need to do the opposite of the muscle’s function. Here are a few of our favourite glute stretches:
Deep Squat
Here are a couple of more glute stretches that can be helpul!
