Best Workouts and Exercises for Stronger Glutes and Hamstrings

Summary | Train Muscles Together | Key Differences | Training | Compound Exercises | Isolation Exercises | Gym Workouts | Home Workouts | Prevent Pain | Sample Plan | Best Stretches | Foam Rolling | FAQs

The glutes and hamstrings are big muscles that power nearly every lower body movement, from everyday moves like walking up the stairs through to gym exercises like squatting. Part of the posterior chain, these muscle groups are often weak in many people due to prolonged periods of sitting; when seated, the glutes and hamstrings are 'switched off'. Over time, this leads to tightness, weakness, and muscle imbalances.

Whether you want to improve your lower body strength, grow your glutes, or improve back pain, the right glute and hamstring workouts can help you improve.

In this article, Tenzin Harley, Personal Trainer at PureGym London Holloway Road, shares how to train glutes and hamstrings safely and effectively.

• Your glutes and hamstrings power almost every movement, from walking upstairs to lifting weights.

• Training them together improves balance, strength, and coordination, reducing the risk of injuries.

• Compound movements like deadlifts and hip thrusts build strength, isolation moves refine muscle tone.

• Stretching, foam rolling, and proper recovery help prevent pain in the hamstring and glute area.

• For best results, train your hamstrings and glutes twice per week for muscle gain, definition, and power.

Your glutes (the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus) are your main hip extensors, while your hamstrings assist with both hip extension and knee flexion. Strengthening these muscles helps to protect your lower back, knees, and hips from injuries, improves posture, and increases strength and athletic performance.

While you can train these muscles groups separately, they are designed to work with each other, and working glutes and hamstrings together has several benefits including:

• Efficiency: Plenty of lower body exercises, particularly compound exercises like squats and deadlifts, target both the glutes and hamstrings together. Targeting these muscles in a single session rather than separately means they get the same amount of training with less workouts overall.  

• Balanced development: Training both muscles together helps to strengthen both groups equally, so there's less risk of one muscle group overcompensating or being overworked.

• Improved function: Working the glutes and hamstrings together teaches the body how to move as one and improving stability, coordination, power, and strength.

Although they work closely together, your glutes and hamstrings have different primary roles. Your glutes are responsible for driving hip extension, stabilising the pelvis, and rotating and abducting the thighs. Your hamstrings assist the glutes with hip extension and are responsible for knee flexion as well as pulling the leg back behind the body.

Weak or tight hamstrings can affect glute activation, and underactive glutes can lead to overcompensation from the hamstrings. The right hamstring and glute exercises will help you have balanced lower body muscles.

To strengthen both muscle groups, combine heavy compound lifts (like deadlifts and hip thrusts) with targeted isolation moves like glute kickbacks and hamstring curls. Compound exercises expose the muscles to more weight, while isolation exercises allow you to fine-tune activation and address weaknesses.

Aim to do a glutes and hamstrings workout at twice a week, leaving at least 48 hours between sessions so the muscles can recover, and progressively overload by increasing the reps or weight each week.

Compound lifts are always the best hamstring and glute exercises, as they allow you to work both muscle groups at once – usually in addition to other muscle groups too! Compound weights are usually heavier which means the muscles are exposed to more load, meaning more strength gains. They’re great for building functional strength and making the most of your time in the gym.

• Deadlifts (barbell or kettlebell)
• Romanian Deadlifts
• Hip thrusts
• Good mornings
• Back extensions

These hamstring and glute exercises build full posterior chain power and improve hip stability for better sports performance and better movement in daily life.

After your big lifts, isolation moves help refine muscle activation and shape. If you have time, add these to your glutes and hamstrings workout gym routine or home plan to activate the muscles and address weak or imbalanced areas.

• Glute bridges
• Clamshells
• Crab walks
• Glute abductions

• Leg curls (machine or Swiss ball)
• Hamstring walks
• Nordic curls (an advanced option)

You can use the above exercises to create an effective hamstring and glute workout for the gym, or give this one a try:

Warm up

• 5 minutes moderate intensity treadmill or cross trainer

• 30 seconds forward leg swings each side

• 30 seconds side leg swings each side

• 30 seconds forward fold

Workout

Do 3 sets of 10 reps per exercise. Choose a weight where you can complete 10 reps, but would fail to do 12.

• Romanian deadlift
• Barbell hip thrust
• Back extension
• Hamstring curl
• Hip abduction machine

Cooldown

30 seconds for each stretch

• Kneeling hamstring stretch each side

• Malasana squat

• Pigeon pose each side

This is one of the best workouts for hamstrings and glutes because it starts with heavy compound lifts and then brings in targeted isolation work – all in just five exercises.

If you can't get to the gym, you can still get a good workout at home. This glute and hamstring workout plan at home can be done with no kit, or with just a resistance band for added intensity.

Warm up

Do 30 seconds of each exercise as a circuit and repeat twice.

• Jumping jacks

• Forward leg swings each side

• Side leg swings each side

• Squat jumps

Workout

Do 3 sets of 10 reps each.

• B-stance or single leg Romanian deadlift (hold dumbbells if you have them)
• Single-leg hip thrust (off the sofa) or single-leg bridge
• Hamstring slides using a towel under your foot, on a polished surface
• Hamstring walks
• Clamshells (use band around the knees if you have them)

Cooldown

• 30 seconds deep squat

• 30 seconds standing forward fold

• 30 seconds pigeon pose each side

Using single leg exercises for glutes and hamstrings help to achieve a good workout even without heavy weights, and can help to address muscle imbalances and work hip stability.

• Day 1: Glutes and hamstrings (gym session)
• Day 2: Upper body
• Day 3: Cardio and mobility
• Day 4: Glutes and hamstrings (home workout or accessory lifts in the gym)
• Day 5: Upper body
• Day 6-7: Rest or light cardio

Pain in the hamstrings and glutes isn't always a sign of injury. DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, can happen after intense exercise, especially if it's a new workout. If you have tight and weak glutes and hamstrings, you might get DOMS for a few weeks before they die down. You can help to prevent DOMS by warming up before your workouts and stretching after, and gentle movement can help to relieve soreness from working out.

The best way to prevent strains from happening is to always warm up, use correct form, and progress weights slowly. If you feel sharp pain, or your soreness isn't going away, always consult a professional.

Regular stretching helps maintain flexibility and reduce the risk of DOMS. Here are some of the best hamstring and glute stretches to try after training or on rest days.

• Seated hamstring stretch
• Figure-four glute stretch
• Pigeon stretch
• Standing forward fold
• Lying knee-to-chest stretch

Foam rolling can be a great addition to stretching, by reducing tightness, getting into sore areas, and helping you ease out your muscles after training. Sit on the foam roller with one leg crossed over the other, rolling slowly over your glutes. Then move to the hamstrings, rolling from just above the knee to the bottom of the glutes. Spend 30–60 seconds on each side.

Want more inspiration for your glute and hamstring workouts? Check out these blogs:

• Leg workout routine for beginners

• Glute focused leg workout

• Lower body HIIT

Find your nearest gym here to start your training and build stronger legs and glutes.