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We live in a modern world, which means spending a significant amount of time sitting at desks, traveling in cars, and binging Netflix series. Because of how much we sit, it’s important that your sitting muscles (aka your glutes) are both strong and flexible to allow for full range of motion during physical activity and keep chronic pain at bay.
I’m a certified personal trainer and plan to walk you through a step-by-step guide to the best glute stretches. I also think it’s important to note that only participating in regular stretching may not be enough for long-term pain relief. While stretching a muscle often feels good, you may need to focus more on reaping the benefits of strength training for relief beyond stretching.
Research shows there is a strong correlation between underdeveloped glutes and chronic knee pain1 and lower back2 and hip pain. That said, after I list out the best glute stretches, I’m going to offer a few physical therapy approved glute-strengthening exercises to help you develop a stronger backside.
Medical disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. For health advice, contact a licensed healthcare professional or physical therapist.
What Are the Glute Muscles?
Your buttock is made up of three main muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Together these muscles function to extend and externally rotate your legs.
Additionally, the glutes help support your torso and stabilize your pelvis3. This means your butt muscles are responsible for helping with climbing stairs, walking uphill, running, sprinting, kicking, and rising from a seated position.
7 Best Glute Stretches and Mobility Exercises
- Lying figure four stretch
- Seated figure four stretch
- Pigeon pose
- Downward-facing dog pose
- Seated twist
- Half-kneeling hip flexor stretch
- World’s greatest stretch
Lying Figure Four Stretch
Why do it: The lying figure four stretch is an excellent static stretch for the glutes and tight hips. It’s gentle on your joints because your body weight won’t impact your joints.
How to do it:
- Lie face up on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Lift your left foot and cross your right ankle over your right knee, forming the shape of the number 4 with your legs.
- Thread your left hand through your legs and your right hand around the outside of your right thigh.
- Clasp your hands together behind your legs (or grab the back of your legs depending on your mobility) and gently pull your right leg toward your chest until you feel a gentle stretch in your left hip.
- Hold this position and take deep breaths for 20 to 30 seconds.
- Release your grip and repeat the same steps on the opposite side.
RELATED: Best Resistance Bands for Glutes
Seated Figure Four Stretch
Why do it: The seated figure four stretch is ideal for performing at your desk or between sets during a workout. It’s quick and easy to do and can offer relief to your low back and glutes from prolonged sitting.
How to do it:
- Sit straight up in a chair or one of the best plyo boxes with both feet flat on the floor.
- With your right foot firm on the floor, pick up your left leg, bend at the knee, until you can reach your left ankle over your right thigh.
- Keep your torso upright and gently pull your left knee toward your chest until you feel a stretch.
- For a deeper stretch, hinge from the hips to bend forward slightly until you get a stretch through your outer thigh and glutes.
- Hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds while taking deep breaths.
- Release your grip and repeat on the other side.
RELATED: Best At-Work Stretches
Pigeon Pose
Why do it: The pigeon pose is an excellent way to stretch gluteal muscles, piriformis, and hip flexor muscles like the iliacus and psoas muscles. It’s an advanced technique of the figure four stretch, requires fairly good mobility, and puts more strain on the joints than the lying figure four.
How to do it:
- Start by getting into a plank position, quadruped position, or downward facing dog.
- Slide your left foot behind your left wrist and lower your left knee down to the floor at a 45-degree angle.
- Once your shin and pelvis is on the floor, fully extend your right leg straight behind you and allow the top of your right foot to rest on the floor.
- Square your hips and keep your left glute slightly lifted off the floor.
- Walk your hands back to get your back straight and in an upright posture.
- In your bent leg, you will feel a stretch around the hips and glutes. In your back leg, you will feel a stretch through the hip flexor.
- Hold the pose for 20 to 30 seconds, breathing deeply.
- To release the pose, unfold your left leg and return to your starting position.
- Repeat the same steps on the opposite side.
Downward-Facing Dog Pose
Why do it: Downward facing dog offers a position that can help lengthen tight glutes and hamstrings and offer relief from sitting.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and hinge forward, reaching your hands to the floor.
- When you begin to feel a stretch through the back of your legs, gently bend your knees enough that you can place both palms on the floor.
- With your hips high in the air, walk your hands out in front of you until your body makes a triangular shape at a 45-degree angle.
- You can hold the down dog in a static position or gently bend one knee at a time.
- Take deep breaths and remain in the position for about 30 seconds.
RELATED: Down Dog App Review
Seated Twist
Why do it: The seated twist offers an excellent static stretch for the outside of your glutes and hips. If you feel comfortable sitting on the floor with your legs extended, this is a great stretch with an added bonus of a spinal twist for extra mobility through your thoracic spine.
How to do it:
- Start by sitting on the floor with both legs extended out in front of you.
- Bend your right knee and place your right foot over your left leg so it’s on the outside of your left thigh.
- With your right hand on the floor for support, place your left elbow on the outside of your right knee as you twist your torso to the right.
- Take deep breaths as you hold the twisted position for 20 to 30 seconds.
- Return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.
Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
Why do it: While the half kneel hip flexor stretch is not a direct glute stretch, releasing your hip flexors may be a missing piece of the puzzle when you’re trying to find relief for tight hamstrings. Tight or shortened hip flexors—usually caused by sitting or overuse—can lead to muscle tightness or pain in the glutes.
How to do it:
- Start in a half-kneeling position with your left leg in front of you, knee bent, and right leg in a kneeling position behind you.
- With your torso upright and upper body relaxed, tilt your pelvis upward toward your belly button, scooping your glutes under your tailbone.
- Flex the glute muscle of the left leg and hold the hip flexor stretch position. You may feel a stretch in the quad as well.
- Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and repeat on the opposite side.
RELATED: How To Do The Pelvic Tilt Exercise
World’s Greatest Stretch
Why do it: Our experts think the world’s greatest stretch is just that—pretty great. It’s an ideal dynamic stretch to start your workouts and create blood flow and muscle activation through the entire lower body. The thoracic spine rotation makes it even more beneficial.
How to do it:
- Start in a plank position with your hands and toes on the floor.
- Step your right foot forward toward the outside of your right wrist. You can keep your back knee off the ground or gently rest it on the floor.
- Stabilize your weight on your left hand and rotate your torso and reach your right hand toward the ceiling.
- Rotate your head with your torso and hold the stretch at the top when you can’t rotate any further.
- Place your right hand back on the floor and go back to plank position to repeat on the opposite side.
RELATED: Best Mobility Exercises
Strengthening Exercises for Glutes
As I mentioned earlier, chronic tightness may indicate you need stronger glute and hip muscles. Luckily for you, I’ve compiled the best glute exercises at home that don’t require a ton of equipment. This list includes more than a dozen exercises, but here are a few of my favorites:
- Glute bridge: Whether you’re performing glute bridges as a bodyweight warm up or loading with bands and dumbbells, it’s a low-impact and simple exercise that isolates the glute muscles for strength and size.
- Kettlebell deadlift: This deadlift variation is an excellent choice for beginners because there are a wide range of starting weights and the kettlebell can offer a more ergonomic lift than the barbell. Pretty much all deadlift variations build both hamstring and glute strength, so you can’t go wrong with deadlifts of any kind.
- Goblet squat: The goblet squat is a great all-around leg exercise. This squat variation is typically done with a deeper range of motion than a barbell squat, allowing you to work both glutes and quads when rising up from the bottom of the squat.
- Lunges: Single-leg exercises are ideal for building general leg strength and addressing left-to-right imbalances. For greater focus on the glutes, drive your body weight through your heel for more hamstring and glute activation.
- Single-leg deadlift: Practicing hip hinging with one leg can help strengthen and lengthen the hamstring and glute muscles. Plus, this is another single-leg exercise ideal for correcting strength imbalances.
Sample Glute-Focused Strength and Flexibility Workout
As a CPT, I put together a glute-focused lower body workout that includes flexibility in both the warm up and cool down. I’d suggest starting with 1 to 2 minutes of foam rolling for a gentle massage and soft tissue work on the lower body muscle groups.
RELATED: Cool Down Exercises
After foam rolling, you’ll transition into a few dynamic stretches and glute bridges. This workout sample is followed by squats, deadlifts, and single-leg deadlifts. You’ll wrap it all up with static stretching—for this example I choose the pigeon pose and the half-kneeling hip flexor stretch.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Foam roll: glutes, hamstrings, quads | 1 | 60 sec |
| World’s greatest stretch | 2 | 10 reps, each side |
| Downward facing dog | 2 | 30 sec |
| Glute bridge | 3 | 30 reps |
| Goblet squat | 3 | 8 reps |
| Deadlift variation (kettlebell, dumbbell, barbell, etc.) | 3 | 6 reps |
| Single-leg deadlift | 3 | 8 reps, each side |
| Half kneel hip flexor stretch | 1 | 30 sec, each side |
| Pigeon pose | 1 | 30 sec, each side |
Best Glute Stretches: Final Thoughts
For sore glutes after exercise, the best glute stretches highlighted above are an ideal place to start. However, if you experience chronically tight glutes and leg muscles, it may be time to consider consulting your doctor or finding a physical therapist.
Glute stretches alone may not offer long-term benefits. Stretching can offer relief to sore muscles, but if the problem is ongoing your glutes (and surrounding hip muscles) may benefit from more strength versus more stretching.
Best Glute Stretches: FAQs
How do you loosen tight glutes?
To loosen tight glutes after exercise, you may choose to start with soft tissue work using a foam roller, lacrosse ball, or massage gun. Stretching and mobility exercises like downward dog, pigeon pose, and the figure four stretch are all great ways to get relief from tight glutes.
What causes extremely tight glutes?
Chronically tight glutes can be caused from sitting for long periods of time. In a seated position the hip flexors and hamstrings are in a shortened position, which can put strain on the muscles around the hips including the glutes, piriformis, iliacus, and psoas muscles.
Overuse during strength training can also cause extremely tight glutes, but will likely resolve on its own with rest time and gentle stretching.
Should I stretch sore glutes?
If you have tight glutes from exercise, foam rolling and gentle stretching can offer temporary relief as you recover. However, if you are chronically sore, your body may benefit more from glute, hip flexor, and general lower body strength exercises versus stretching.
References
- Barton CJ, Lack S, Malliaras P, Morrissey D. Gluteal muscle activity and patellofemoral pain syndrome: a systematic review. Br J Sports Med. 2013;47(4):207-214. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2012-090953
- Jeong UC, Sim JH, Kim CY, Hwang-Bo G, Nam CW. The effects of gluteus muscle strengthening exercise and lumbar stabilization exercise on lumbar muscle strength and balance in chronic low back pain patients. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015;27(12):3813-3816. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.3813
- Elzanie A, Borger J. Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Gluteus Maximus Muscle. [Updated 2023 Apr 1]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538193/
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We live in a modern world, which means spending a significant amount of time sitting at desks, traveling in cars, and binging Netflix series. Because of how much we sit, it’s important that your sitting muscles (aka your glutes) are both strong and flexible to allow for full range of motion during physical activity and keep chronic pain at bay. I’m a certified personal trainer and plan to walk you through a step-by-step guide to the best glute stretches. » Read more about: Give Your Backside Some Attention With the 7 Best Glute Stretches » Read more