The Gym Equipment to Enlarge the Gluteus Maximus

If you’re looking to improve skills such as running or jumping, strengthening the gluteus maximus muscle in your butt should be on your to-do list. If you’re not an athlete, but you want a stronger body, then you still can’t ignore the largest gluteus muscle, which is also the biggest muscle in your body. Although several body-weight exercises can strengthen your glutes, you’ll also find plenty of equipment in any moderately well-stocked gym that can help you add mass to your gluteus maximus.

  1. Free Weights

    • Use weights such as barbells, dumbbells or kettlebells to strengthen your gluteus maximus. Perform barbell squats with the weight set low on the back of your shoulders to target the glutes. Hold dumbbells or kettlebells in your hands to do forward lunges. Take a large step forward to focus on your gluteus maximus, rather than your quads. You can also hold a barbell, dumbbells or kettlebells to do step-ups and other lunge and squat variations. Use a barbell to perform straight-leg deadlifts or bent-knee good-mornings.

    Weight Machines

    • Perform squats, lunges and even stiff-leg deadlifts with cable machines. For example, do squats with a low twin-cable machine by holding the handles, squatting and then rising against the machine’s resistance. Try a Smith machine to replicate barbell exercises. A variety of lever machines let you perform squats, lunges, deadlifts, hip extensions and leg presses. Do leg presses by setting your feet high on the resistance plate and then pushing through your heels to target your gluteus maximus.

    Exercise Ball

    • If you prefer body-weight exercises over weighted activities, use a stability ball to help strengthen your gluteus maximus. Perform wall squats with the ball between your back and the wall. Do a glute bridge on your back with one calf on top of the ball, or perform reverse extensions, in which you begin face down with your midsection on the ball and your hands and toes on the floor. Leave your hands in place as you lift and extend your legs so your body is straight and parallel with the floor from head to heels.

    Muscle-Building Program

    • Warm up before every exercise session. Perform at least five minutes of aerobic exercise before working your glutes. When you do weighted exercises, use the heaviest load you can handle while performing no more than 12 repetitions with correct form. To enlarge your gluteus maximus, try to perform your selected exercises three times per week, but never on consecutive days. Let your muscles grow during a 48-hour minimum rest period between workouts.