The glutes are one of the biggest and most important muscle groups in the body. And they’re also probably one of the most popular areas to train; heavy squats, resistance band walks, leg press – they’re all lower body moves that particular target those butt muscles. What you might not realise, however, that the glutes are actually made up of three different muscles and each part needs to be trained individually as well as collectively if you want to get stronger. 

Perhaps the most neglected of these glute muscles is the gluteus medius. They’re located on the upper sides of your hips and play a big role in hip abduction (moving your leg away from the midline of your body) and general movement in this area.

A lot of glutes-specific exercises will target all three muscles, but there’s certainly no harm in paying some extra attention to the gluteus medius, especially if you’re a runner or looking to start squatting heavier weights.

“It’s important to strengthen your gluteus medius to make sure all three of the muscles in the glutes are equally strong. If one muscle was weaker than the others, this could lead to injury,” explains PT Pippa Sealey. “The gluteus medius also stabilises the pelvis, which can help reduce instability in this area and prevent injury.”

For maximum glutes gains, add these 12 gluteus medius exercises into your routine…

Squats

This might be an obvious one, but squats are a great way to target all three glutes muscles. Think about squeezing your glutes as you move, and add weight in the form of a barbell, kettlebell or a dumbbell to make the exercise more challenging.

How to do a squat: 

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Push your weight back into your heels and sit back as if going to sit in an invisible chair – keep your back straight and legs at a 90º angle.
3. Keep your knees behind your toes and push back up to stand

Hip thrusts

Again, hip thrusts are a failsafe glutes exercise for a reason. Try these with a barbell to make sure the weight is balanced across your hips and all of your muscles are engaged.

How to do a hip thrust:

1. Sit in front of a bench, sturdy chair, sofa or box with your legs extended out in front of you and your back leaning against the surface, around your bra strap.
2. Bend your knees so your feet are flat on the ground, shoulder-width apart. Take a deep breath and brace your core, then press through your heels and squeeze your glutes to lift your hips off of the floor. Keep your stomach drawn in, ribs down and pubic bone pushing towards the sky.
3. When you reach the top of the move, pause for a second. Then lower your hips back to the ground, keeping your core engaged. 

Pistol squats

Single-leg exercises are great for isolating the gluteus medius because they are located at the side of the hips, so putting your weight onto one side will ensure they are working hard. Pistol squats are also great for hip mobility, which goes hand-in-hand with strengthening this muscle.

How to do a pistol squat:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Lift your leg leg out straight in front of you, so it’s parallel (or as close to parallel) to the floor.
3. Push your hips back and bend your right knee to lower your bum to your heel, ensuring you don’t tip to your right hand side.
4. Press through your right foot to stand back up. 

Single leg step-ups

Another single-leg exercise you can try is step-ups. Think about squeezing the glutes as you move and pushing the knee slightly outwards to engage the hips.

How to do a single-leg step-up:

1. Stand hip-width apart, or slightly further, with a box or step in front you and step one foot onto the box while keeping the other leg on the floor.
2. Push through the leg that’s on the box to bring the opposite leg to stand on the box push off the floor to step up on to the box, squeezing the leg muscles for stability.
3. Step back down to the floor keeping the same front leg on the box. Switch legs and repeat.

Deadlifts

The deadlift is one of the best lower-body movements for a reason, engaging almost all of the leg muscles. The below tutorial is for a kettlebell deadlift, but you can use a barbell or dumbbells if you’d prefer.

How to do a kettlebell deadlift:

1. Place the kettlebell on the floor and stand just behind it with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Hinge at the hips and slightly bend your knees so your hands can hang straight down to grip the handle.
3. Engage your core and roll your shoulders back and down.
4. Press through your heels to stand, straightening your legs and pushing your hips forwards to a neutral position.
5. Hinge at the hips and bend the knees to lower the weight back down. 

Side plank hip abduction

The gluteus medius is responsible for hip abductions in everyday life, so doing exercises that incorporate this movement is one of the best ways to functionally strengthen this muscle.

How to do a side plank hip abduction:

1. Start in a side plank position with one elbow resting on the floor and your ankles stacked on top of each other.
2. Lift your top leg as high as possible and then lower it back down.
3. Repeat and then switch sides.

Single-leg Romanian deadlifts

The Romanian deadlift is designed to engage the hips more than a conventional deadlift, which means it’s a great way to strengthen the gluteus medius. Try this single-leg variation to challenge yourself.

How to do a single-leg Romanian deadlift:

1. Place one foot slightly in front of the other, with the weight in your front foot.
2. Hinge forward from the hips as you lower your torso toward the ground and raise your back leg up off the floor.
3. Your front knee should be straight, but not locked out – so there’s a slight bend in your knee.
4. Push through the heel to bring yourself back up to the starting position. You should feel a stretch in the back of that hamstring.

Lunges

Lunges are a great single-leg exercise that, done with the correct form, can help you build muscle in the glutes and around the hips.

How to do a lunge:

1. Stand up with your feet hip-width apart and step forwards with your right foot.
2. Keep your left leg outstretched behind you with just your toes on the ground.
3. Bend your right knee until it reaches a 90’ angle – making sure that it doesn’t go beyond your toes. Bend your left knee at the same time so that it hovers just above the ground.
4. Lift your front lunging leg back to the starting position and repeat.

Banded lateral walks

Lateral walks also require hip abductions and mimic everyday movements. Add a resistance band to make this exercise more challenging and encourage glute engagement.

How to do a banded lateral walk:

1. Loop a resistance band under your feet and hold the ends in front of your body, at about chest height.
2. Bend your knees in a squatting position, but don’t go all the way down.
3. Instead, hold the position and walk sideways.
4. Take 10 steps to the left, before doing the same to the right.

Clamshells

You can do clamshells with or without a band to practice hip abduction. Move slowly and intentionally rather than rushing through reps in order to boost the time your muscles are under tension.

How to do a clamshell:

1. Lie on your left side with your hips and knees bent at 45 degrees.
2. Stack your right leg on top of your left leg, heels together.
3. Keeping your feet together and left leg on the floor, raise your right knee as high as you can without your heels coming apart.
4. Pause, then return to the starting position. 

Single-leg leg press

If you train at a gym, make sure you’re making the most of the leg-press machine. Single-leg leg presses, in particular, will help you isolate the gluteus medius.

How to do a single-leg leg press:

1. Sit in the leg press machine and plant your right foot on the foot plate. Push the foot plate away from you slightly to release the leg press from its locked position. 
2. Bend your knee and lower the foot plate towards your torso until your knee almost touches your chest.
3. Extend your knee (but don’t lock it out) and push the foot plate away to return to the starting position, ensuring that your knee remains in line with your toes at all times. 

Single-leg glute cable kickbacks

The cable machine is another brilliant way to build strength in your glutes. Mind-muscle connection is really important here so make sure you’re moving slowly and squeezing the glutes as you lift the leg.

How to do a single-leg glute cable kickback:

1. Attach an ankle strap to a cable machine, then loop it around the ankle. Add the desired amount of weight to the machine then stand with the feet together and lean forward slightly, keeping your back flat and core engaged.
2. Squeeze the glutes to activate the muscle, then lift the leg attached to the machine back behind the body with control.
3. Pause at the top of the movement, then bring your leg down and back to the starting position slowly.

Images: Getty; Pexels