Bigger Butt Exercises With a Weight Bar

Your gluteus maximus, glutes for short, makes up most of the mass of your butt. This large and powerful muscle is responsible primarily for extending your hip backward. To make this muscle bigger, you will need to train like a bodybuilder and that means moderate to heavy weights, six to 12 repetitions per set, two to four sets per exercise and multiple exercises per muscle group. While the last couple of repetitions should be challenging, you should still be able to complete them in good form. Doing these exercises with a weighted bar or barbell can be an effective butt-building tool.

  1. Deficit Deadlifts

    • Deficit deadlifts involve a larger range of movement than regular deadlifts. This increased movement places an extra workload on your butt. Take care when performing this exercise that you do not allow your lower back to round as this may lead to injury. Stand on a four to six inch high step and grasp your barbell in your hands. Push your hips back, bend your knees and lower the bar toward your feet. Stand back up and repeat. Keep your chest up and shoulders back throughout. If you find your lower back rounding excessively, perform regular deadlifts from the floor instead.

    Romanian Deadlifts

    • Regular deadlifts involve a significant amount of knee flexion which means that, along with your glutes and hamstrings, your quadriceps do a lot of work too. However, the Romanian deadlift involves much less knee movement and much more hip movement, which makes it an effective butt-builder. With the barbell in your hands, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend your knees slightly but keep them mostly rigid. Push your hips back and hinge forward from your hips. Do not let your lower back round. Lower the bar down the front of your legs to just below knee-height. Drive your hips forward and stand back up. For variation, rest and hold the barbell across your upper back -- an exercise called a good morning.

    Squats

    • Squats, especially when performed with a wider-than shoulder width stance and lowering your thighs below parallel, is an effective way to build your butt. Squats, according many bodybuilders, are the king of all leg exercises because they are so effective for building muscle mass. Stand as described and hold a barbell across your upper back. Push your hips back, bend your knees, push your knees outward and squat down until your hip creases are level with your knee creases. Stand back up and repeat. If you find your lower back becomes rounded, reduce your squat depth and work on your mobility.

    Barbell Hip Thrust

    • Most barbell butt exercises are performed in the standing position; however, the barbell hip thrust is performed while lying down. While standing butt exercises tend to get easier as you approach full hip extension, the barbell hip thrust is at its most difficult. This feature alone makes it a very useful butt-building exercise. Lie on your back with your legs bent, a barbell resting across your hips and your shoulders resting on a sturdy bench. Drive your hips up until your knees, hips and shoulders form a roughly straight line. Lower your butt back to the floor and repeat. Wrap the bar in a towel for comfort and to prevent bruised hips.

    Lunges

    • Lunges can be performed in a number of different ways, all of which strongly involve your glutes. For a basic lunge, stand with your feet together and the bar across your upper back. Take a large step forward, bend your legs and lower your rear knee to within an inch of the floor. Stand back up and repeat with the opposite leg. Lunges can be performed forward, backward, sideways, diagonally and also for distance -- the so-called walking lunge. For all lunge variations, make sure you keep your torso upright and your front shin vertical.