17 Exercises to Shape

and Tone Your Booty

By Lisa Jey DavisUpdated Jun 12, 2019

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Tone your booty with these exercises.

Image Credit: gilaxia/E+/GettyImages

Make your booty one of your strongest assets. Your backside can be one of the
most challenging areas to tone and sculpt, but don't worry! We have a booty-
firming workout you can implement at home, the gym, a park or just about
anywhere.

If you perform all the exercises listed below as a circuit, start with the lower
number of suggested reps. But watch and learn, then try these exercises for yourself
— you're sure to feel your booty burn (and take on a great shape)!
 VIDEO OF THE DAY

1. Lying Hip Raise

Here's the proper form for lying hip raises.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Ease yourself into your workout with this warm-up exercise. With little to no
impact, you'll engage your quads and hamstrings and focus on your glutes at the top
of the move.

1. Lie on the floor or a mat with your knees bent and feet flat on
the floor. Keep your feet hip-width apart.

2. On the inhale, drive through the heels of your feet and slowly lift
yourself up into a bridge, starting with the tailbone and curling
your spine off the floor one vertebrae at a time.

3. Lift all the way up into bridge and hold for a couple of seconds.

4. On the exhale, lower back down, vertebrae by vertebrae, until

the tailbone reaches the floor.

Reps: 10, building up to 30

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2. Pelvic Tilt
Here's the proper form for pelvic tilts.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Firm your glutes while waking up and strengthening your pelvic floor muscles,
which may help prevent prolapse or incontinence. But this isn't a rapid-fire pelvic
tilt, do this move slowly and with control.

1. Lie on your back and come into a low bridge with the glutes and
lower back off the floor (your upper back remains on the floor)
with feet hip-width apart.
 2. Slowly tilt your pelvis so that your tailbone tilts up to the ceiling
without allowing the lower back to come down to the floor.

3. Return to a neutral pelvis and repeat.

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Reps: 10 to 30

Read more: 15 Exercises Every Woman Should Do to Improve Her Sex Life

3. Barbell Hip Raise

Here's the proper form for the barbell hip raise.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Take the first exercise in this workout and really amp it up by adding a barbell.
You'll need a workout bench and a barbell with weight plates ranging from 15 to 25
pounds each (or higher, if you're confident in your form). Barbell hip raises isolate
the glutes and engage your abdominals, too.

1. With your shoulder blades propped up on a bench, hold the

barbell across the top of your hips (feel free to use a towel to pad
the hip bones).

2. With a wide overhand grip on the barbell, start with your tush
hovering an inch off the floor.

3. Engage your core and drive through the heels to lift your hips to
just above knee height (if possible).

4. Slowly lower your glutes back to their hovering position and

repeat.

Reps: 10 to 30

4. Squat Thrust
Here's the proper form for squat thrusts.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM
Squats are the single best exercise for your lower body. But this variation also gets
your heart pumping and target your glutes in a whole new way.
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1. Start in a plank — abs engaged, inner thighs and glutes engaged

and heels pressed back.

2. Jump the feet to the hands and launch yourself straight up.

3. As you're in the air, separate your feet so you land with them
just wider than mat width.

4. Land in a squat, then place both hands back on the floor as you
jump back into a plank.

Reps: 10 to 20

Read more: The 30-Day Squat Challenge

5. Squat Jack
Here's the proper form for squat jacks.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Keep your heart rate up with this next exercise. Moving from standing and twisting
down as you crouch not only works your glutes, it engages your obliques.

1. Stand with your legs together and hands at your sides.

2. Engage your core and jump your feet out to the sides.

3. At the same time, crouch down into a twisted squat and touch
the right hand down to the floor near your left foot.

4. Jump back up to an upright stance and repeat, switching hands

and sides.

Reps: 10 to 20

6. Speed Skater
Here's the proper form for speed skaters.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Channel your inner Olympian with this cardio and agility drill. This exercise works
the glutes, arms, outer thighs and obliques. Plus, it'll get your heart rate up.
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1. Stand on one end of a mat and jump the left foot out wide to the
left as you swing the right foot back behind the grounded leg.

2. At the same time, swing your arms so they are opposite to the
feet.

3. So, if your left foot is grounded, your right arm swings forward
toward that foot, and vice versa.

Reps: 10 to 20

Read more: A 35-Minute HIIT Workout That Won't Hurt Your Knees

7. Frog Jump
Here's the proper form for frog jumps.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Take a note from the animal kingdom on this move. Similar to simple, traditional
jump squats, frog jumps engage your glutes, quads and calves, as well as challenge
your core stability.

1. Start in a low squat with your feet turned out to 10 and 2 o'clock.

2. Take your hands to the floor between the feet (in a frog stance).

3. As you jump up, let the arms and feet relax.

4. When you land, take it back down to a low frog squat with the
hands on the floor.

Reps: 10 to 20

8. Diamond Jump
Here's the proper form for diamond jumps.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM
Just like diamonds are a girl's best friend, this move will be your booty's bestie.
Named for the diamond shape both your arms and legs make during this exercise,
this booty burner will also open your hips.
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1. Start with your feet shoulder-distance apart and your arms by

your sides.

2. Engage your core and swing your arms forward as you jump
straight up.

3. Face your palms toward one another, bending your arms at the
elbows, fingertips touching (diamond shape).

4. Turn your knees out and bend with the soles of your feet
touching to make the diamond shape with your legs.

5. Land with feet facing forward at hip width and repeat.

Reps: 10 to 30

9. Vertical Jump
Here's the proper form for vertical jumps.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Remember those days as a kid when your PE teacher would ask, "How high can
you jump?" Jumping causes your glutes and the rest of your leg muscles to fire,
strengthening and sculpting them at the same time.

1. Stand with your knees slightly bent with your feet parallel and
hip-width apart.

2. Engage your abdominals and crouch down slightly.

3. Swing your arms and jump high enough to straighten your legs.

4. As you land, put a soft bend in your knees and repeat

immediately.
 5. Keep your toes pointed forward with the knees aligned to your
second toe (next to the big toe) to protect the knees.

Reps: 10 to 30

10. Plié Squat

Here's the proper form for plie squats.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Sculpt the backside of a ballerina with the plié squat. It's excellent for activating the
lower glute and inner-thigh muscles.

1. Stand with your feet wide apart (about three feet, depending on
your height) and turned out. Make sure your feet are set wide
enough apart so that when you come all the way down your
knees end up just over the ankles.

2. Tuck your tailbone under and engage your lower-abdominal

muscles.

3. Lower down, bringing your arms in front of you for balance.

Don't arch your lower back and keep your torso straight
throughout the squat.

Reps: 10 to 30

11. Assisted Pistol Squat

Here's the proper form for TRX-assisted pistol squats.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

You'll really challenge your balance and lower-body strength with this one! But
you can also modify as you build up your strength. This squat variation works the
quads, glutes and calves.

1. Holding a rope, TRX attachment or other prop without elasticity

as an anchor, stand on one leg and extend the opposite leg out in
front of you.
 2. Slowly and with control, lower down into a single-leg squat,
keeping the bent knee directly over the ankle.

3. As you lower, keep your free leg from touching the floor so that
when your glutes touch the floor (or come close), your free leg is
hovering parallel just a couple of inches above the floor.

4. Slowly rise up, driving through the heel of the bent leg, keeping
the knee and shin from coming too far forward.

Reps: 10 to 15 on each leg

12. Goblet Squat

Here's the proper form for goblet squats.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Goblet squats take an already great lower-body exercise (the traditional squat) to a
whole new level. You'll work deep into your gluteal muscles and legs and
challenge your core and arms.

1. Stand in a plié stance (feet two to three feet apart and turned out)
and hold a kettlebell or dumbbell at chest level.

2. Engaging your ab muscles, squat down as low as you can.

3. Stand up and repeat.

Reps: 10 to 20

Read more: 9 Fat-Torching Kettlebell Moves

13. Dumbbell Sumo Squat

Here's the proper form for dumbbell sumo squats.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

These squats are quite similar to goblet squats. But rather than one large dumbbell
held at the center of your chest as with goblet squats, you'll use two dumbbells (one
in each hand).
 1. Stand with your feet slightly turned out and about two to three
feet apart.

2. Hold the dumbbells at one end with each hand so they hang
down.

3. Engage your core and slowly squat down, taking your seat as
low as you can, keeping your weight focused in the heels of your
feet.

4. Come all the way down until the ends of the dumbbells tap the
ground, then drive through your heels to return to standing.

Reps: 10 to 20

14. Side Lunge

Here's the proper form for side lunges.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

Take a quick break from squats for this exercise. The side lunge will continue to
engage the glute and quad muscles from a different angle, offering a bit of a
variation to the muscles.

1. Standing with feet together, step your right foot out wide to the
side.

2. Shift your body weight to the right leg and bend over your right
knee with the left leg out straight.

3. Push off the right foot to come back up to standing, legs

together.

Reps: 10 to 20 reps, alternating sides

15. Pretzel
Here's the proper form for the pretzel exercise.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM
The pretzel is one of those subtle exercises that offers solid engagement in one of
those hard-to-reach areas: the gluteus medius (ie. side of your butt). Pay attention to
form to ensure the gluteus medius is activating properly and adjust your feet and
legs to fit your range of flexibility.

1. Sit on the floor or mat with your left leg bent back behind you
and your heel reaching toward the left glute. Your right leg
should be bent in the same direction with the heel touching the
top of the left quad.

2. With your chest and arms squared over your right leg, keep both
sit bones grounded to the floor.

3. Gently lift the left knee off the ground, keeping your left foot
down on the ground.

4. Return the knee back to ground.

Reps: 30 on each side

16. Fire Hydrant

Here's the proper form for the fire hydrant exercise.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

You may feel silly doing this move, but the fire hydrant is a fantastic exercise that
activates the gluteus medius and hamstrings. It also opens up the hips and stretches
out the inner thighs.

1. Start on all fours with your toes curled under and your feet
flexed.

2. Line up your knees directly under your hips and your shoulders
directly over your wrists.

3. Keeping the 90-degree bend in the right leg, slowly lift and open
that bent leg outward.
 4. Keep your neck long and jaw away from either side of your
shoulders, avoiding hunching your shoulders.

Reps: 10 to 30 on each leg

17. Donkey Kick

Here's the proper form for donkey kicks.
Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.COM

The donkey kick is an excellent booty and hamstring activator and a great finishing
exercise.

1. Start on all fours with your toes curled under and feet flexed.

2. Line up your knees directly under your hips and your shoulders
directly over your wrists.

3. Keeping the 90-degree bend in the right leg, slowly kick the
right heel back and up toward the ceiling, foot flexed.

4. Lift the leg as high as you can go without arching your lower
back or hunching your shoulders.

Reps: 10 to 30 on each side