The best way to strengthen them? Doing glute-specific moves, like the glute bridge. This involves lying on your back, with your knees bent, and pushing your hips up off the floor.

BENEFITS OF DOING GLUTE BRIDGES

“A glute bridge is great for beginners because they’re a good low load exercise,” explains Alice Miller, Strong Women ambassador. “You can start with bodyweight glute bridges for around 20-30 reps. That’s a great way to train for weighted glute bridges and as a way to work yourself up to hip thrusts.”

Glute bridges offer a smaller range of motion than the more advanced hip thrust (in which your back is on a bench, rather than the floor). But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing: it means that once you’ve trained your spine, glutes and footwork, loading up the barbell for glute bridges is easy. A lot of people will find that they can lift heavier on glute bridges than on hip thrusts for that reason, it will help to build stronger glutes.

Another reason to add them to your workout? They are incredibly versatile.“You can use them in your warmup to activate the glutes, add them into the lifting section of your workout by adding a barbell or throw them in a finisher to burn out your glutes,” adds Alice.

The main benefit, according to Alice, is that the isolation work will transfer into your other lifts. “Glute bridges will strengthen the glutes and reduce the risk of injury, which will equal bigger squats and bigger deadlifts.”

How to do a glute bridge correctly: a step-by-step guide to the lower body burner