A Top Trainer Shares 2 Best Exercises for Building a Bigger Butt

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Strength coach Jeff Cavaliere C.S.C.S. has been sharing the best exercises for growing specific muscle groups on his YouTube channel, rounding up what he believes to be the most essential two moves for building strength and muscle in your chest and arms. In a recent Athlean-X video, Cavaliere turns his focus to the glutes, and breaks down the two best exercises that will help you “put meat in the seat.”

First up is a lower-body staple, the back squat, with one important caveat: you should be performing it with a low bar placement. “This is going to rest more on the back or rear delt instead of up on the back of your traps,” says Cavaliere. While a higher placement of the bar enables you to maintain an upright position throughout the motion of the squat, he explains that this actually means your quads are recruited into the exercise.

“When you shift that bar down into the low bar position, instantly it’s going to tilt your torso a little bit more forward,” he says. This will tilt your torso forwards and shift your glutes backwards, engaging them far more.

The second exercise is the barbell hip thrust. Cavaliere recommends using a pad on the bar for this one. “Push your hands and elbows straight down into your sides, almost locking the bar in place, creating rigidity in the torso, and letting the glutes operate with more stability,” he says. “The knees are bent, so the hamstrings aren’t necessarily contributing much to the hip extension function.”

A huge benefit of both the squat and hip thrust, he adds, is that you’re able to load them up: “When you’re trying to build bigger muscles, overload and using heavier weights is a great way to get that accomplished.”

Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.