If you’re looking for a simple way to tone or strengthen your glutes, Laure Dary – a yoga teacher and professional dancer – may have a solution for you. According to Dary, there are four asanas (yoga poses) that most effectively target the glutes. “These postures engage both the small and large gluteal muscles, helping to shape and tone the buttocks,” she explains. If you already enjoy yoga and want to strengthen your glutes, then these exercises are a great starting point.
4 yoga exercises to tone your glutes
The half-point chair
Stand with both feet together on a yoga mat and hold your elbows with your hands, stretch your elbows skywards, and bend your legs before rising onto demi-pointes by lifting your heels and balancing on your toes. Pull your navel into your spine to avoid arching your back. Hold for five breaths before releasing the position.
The bow
Kneel on your mat, then raise the tip of your right foot to the sky and grasp your right foot with your left hand. Look forward and activate the pose by pushing your heel as far away from your bottom as possible. Hold for five breaths before switching sides.
Glutes on fire
Kneel down on your mat with both hands under shoulders. Keeping your back straight and your navel pulled into your spine, inhale and, as you exhale, raise the tip of your right foot to the sky, inhale, lower, exhale, raise. Repeat the movement 15 times before switching sides.
The half-bridge
Lie on the mat with both legs bent and feet parallel, pelvis-width apart. Raise your pelvis to the sky, then grasp your hands together, underneath your back, resting on the floor. Extend your right leg towards the sky and lift your left heel off the ground. Hold for five breaths and then switch sides.
