{"id":64408,"date":"2018-01-02T07:15:43","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T12:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=64408"},"modified":"2026-07-06T14:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:15:31","slug":"pilates-butt-exercises-workout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/db\/pilates-butt-exercises-workout\/","title":{"rendered":"20-Minute Pilates Butt Workout for Stronger Glutes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"20-Minute
Photo: Daily Burn Pilates<\/a><\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you think of Pilates workouts, it\u2019s all about the core \u2014 from your lower abs to the transverse abdominis<\/a> to your obliques<\/a>. But what you may not realize is that your core also includes your hips and glutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Pilates, we refer to your powerhouse, and that actually includes your hips, glutes and pelvic floor,\u201d says Andrea Speir, lead instructor for the Daily Burn Pilates<\/a> Phase 1 and 2 programs. \u201cSince the core and glutes are a connected part of the powerhouse of your body, by engaging your core, you\u2019re halfway there.\u201d<\/p>\n

All About That Base: Pilates for Your Backside<\/h3>\n

What makes Pilates a great workout for a rock solid booty is it targets not only your glutes, but also the muscles that support your hips, like your hamstrings, quads and outer and inner thighs<\/a>. \u201cThe glute medius, for example, wraps around the hips and connects under the body. This helps support the lower back, which is usually pretty weak in people,\u201d Speir says. \u201cHamstrings are also targeted, and these are the base that the glutes rest on, so having that strong lift will help hold everything up properly,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Even better, the different ranges of motion and subtle postural changes in Pilates<\/a> workouts help engage all muscle groups without adding external weight. \u201cSmall movements in Pilates are challenging because they focus on form and control. They get smaller muscles to work harder than they might if the bigger muscles have the chance to take over,\u201d Speir explains.<\/p>\n

Keep reading for Speir\u2019s five favorite Pilates butt exercises \u2014 and how to put them all together.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>5 Pilates Exercises to Strengthen Your Deep Abs<\/a><\/p>\n

5 Butt Exercises for a Booty-Sculpting Pilates Workout<\/h3>\n

Hate squats? You\u2019re in luck! This Pilates workout from Speir includes variations of leg lifts to deliver booty-boosting benefits to your thighs<\/a>, outer hips and glutes. \u201cBy working with your own bodyweight, you\u2019re able to lengthen and strengthen safely,\u201d Speir says. Watch carefully, then do 12-15 reps of each exercise for two sets.<\/p>\n

\"Pilates
GIFs: Daily Burn Pilates<\/a><\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Lying Butt Kicks<\/h3>\n

This exercise might look easy, but if you imagine you\u2019re moving your foot through something sticky and thick, you\u2019ll be able to activate your glutes and hamstrings<\/a>. \u201cThink about active energy between your inner thighs, like you\u2019re hugging an imaginary ball. Finally, activate your booty. That means go ahead and squeeze those muscles to engage them,\u201d Speir says.<\/p>\n

How to: <\/strong>Lying on your stomach, lift your torso off the floor and press your tailbone down, keeping your butt and abdominals firm. Make sure your shoulder blades are also down and your forearms parallel to each other on the mat (a)<\/strong>. Pointing your toes, kick your right foot towards your butt for two counts, then alternate with your left foot (b)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

TRY IT NOW: <\/strong>Sign Up for Daily Burn Pilates FREE for 30 Days<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Pilates<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Single-Leg Lift and Kick<\/h3>\n

You\u2019ll want to keep your hips<\/a> square throughout this entire exercise, so if your top heel is inching up, engage your core. \u201cThe more your abdominals are engaged, the less those hips will go Beyonc\u00e9 on you,\u201d she says. Speir also likes to imagine that there\u2019s a wall behind her back. \u201cDon\u2019t let your back leave that wall, and that will help keep your body lined up,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n

How to: <\/strong>Lie on your right side and prop yourself up so your head rests on your right hand (a)<\/strong>. Keep your left leg stacked on top of your right in a diagonal line and use your left hand to help stabilize you on the mat. Flex both feet (b)<\/strong>. Pointing your left foot, lift your leg to hip height. Kick it twice towards the front, and then lengthen and kick it once behind you (c)<\/strong>. Switch sides.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>15-Minute Leg Workout to Tone Up Fast<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Pilates<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Hip Abduction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Similar to the single-leg kick, your spine should be aligned with your hips and legs to elongate your waist. Lower your leg slowly down to truly feel the resistance. For a visual, Speir likes to imagine moving her leg through chunky peanut butter. \u201cAny time you do abduction or adduction, it\u2019s targeting your inner thighs. But this will lengthen and strengthen the hip extensors as well,\u201d Speir says.<\/p>\n

How to: <\/strong>Lie on your right side and prop yourself up so your head rests on your right hand (a)<\/strong>. Keep your left leg stacked on top of your right in a diagonal line and use your left hand to help stabilize you on the mat. Flex both feet (b)<\/strong>. Lift your leg to hip height and then lower it back down for three counts, so you feel resistance and engage your glutes and inner thighs (c)<\/strong>. Switch sides.<\/p>\n

\"Pilates<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Leg Circles<\/h3>\n

In addition to strengthening your glutes, these leg circles also work your quads<\/a> and hamstrings. The key is to keep your pelvis stable during the exercise, which means engaging your abs and pelvic floor<\/a>. \u201cThe adduction, abduction and focus on pelvic strength is hugely important because these muscles help to create that true balance between the strong outer hips, glutes and core,\u201d Speir says.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

How to: <\/strong>From the same position as the hip abduction exercise, point on your left foot and lift it to hip height (a)<\/strong>. Circle your leg past your bottom right leg slowly, working with resistance to activate your glutes and abductors (b)<\/strong>. Repeat for six reps before circling in the other direction for six more reps (c)<\/strong>. Switch legs.<\/p>\n

SIGN ME UP: <\/strong>Get a money-back guarantee to Daily Burn Pilates!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Pilates<\/h3>\n

5.\u00a0Swimming<\/h3>\n

The small movements of this butt exercise will help you move with more control and create greater resistance. Slow and steady wins the race! \u201cThis is a very focused exercise, and because of the position of your body, your glutes have to do all the work,\u201d Speir says. \u201cThe bonus is that your hamstrings also get majorly strengthened.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to: <\/strong>Lie on your stomach with your legs straight behind you, and your forehead resting your hands (a)<\/strong>. Keeping your abdominals tight and your shoulders down, lift your feet up off the mat (b)<\/strong>. Pointing your toes, lift your right leg higher, pause, and then switch and lift your left leg higher (c)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Want more butt, abs and total-body workouts? Sign up for the <\/em><\/strong>Daily Burn Pilates program<\/em><\/strong><\/a> today \u2014 and get your first 30 days free!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Note to reader: The content in this article relates to the core service offered by Daily Burn. In the interest of editorial disclosure and integrity, the reader should know that this site is owned and operated by Daily Burn.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Read More
\n<\/strong>50 Butt Exercises to Sculpt Stronger Glutes
\n<\/a>Hate Squats? 7 Glute Exercises for an Instant Butt Lift
\n<\/a>5 Glute Bridges You Can Do in Front of Your TV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re bored of squats, swap in these five butt exercises for a booty-sculpting Pilates workout. You\u2019ll get a kick \u2014 and a lift \u2014 from these leg lifts, kicks and circles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":64425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[298,299,301],"tags":[136,436,430,289,437,213,341,351,100],"class_list":["post-64408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-db","category-programs","category-workouts","tag-abs","tag-butt","tag-daily-burn","tag-exercise","tag-glutes","tag-pilates","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2pilates","tag-workout"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184464,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64408\/revisions\/184464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}