Plus, balancing the strength of your abs and glutes is essential for preventing issues like hip and lower back pain. When one of these muscle groups is stronger than the other, it can pull your pelvis out of alignment, leading to poor posture and added stress on the spine.
“It is crucial to balance glute work with training all your other muscle groups, including your abs,” says Kelsey Wells, personal trainer for the Sweat app. This helps you avoid muscle imbalances and reduces your risk of injury, while maximizing the benefits of your strength training.
Experts In This Article
- Kelsey Wells, NASM-certified trainer and the creator of the PWR programs on the SWEAT app
Ready to find your balance and power up your workout? This 25-minute workout—designed by Wells—targets your glutes and abs, proving they’re the perfect pairing for building total-body strength.
Join the movement
If you’re following along with our October 2024 Movement of the Month Club, these are the moves for week 3. You’ll do one exercise each day, Monday through Sunday, for 60 seconds (or 30 seconds on each side). Repeat for 3 total rounds.
As a bonus, you can follow along with Wells and the full-length workout below! This express workout follows Wells’s signature style of training and consists of seven exercises made up of an activation, two supersets, and a 60-second burnout to finish.
Here’s your glutes and abs workout
1. Glutes bridge
This foundational glutes exercise activates and strengthens the glutes while improving hip stability and reducing lower back strain.
- Lie on your back, bend your knees, and position your feet hip-width apart. Let your arms rest by your sides, palms down.
- Engage your core and press your heels into the mat, activate your glutes, and lift your pelvis off the floor until your body forms a straight line from your chin to your knees, resting on your shoulders.
- Inhale as you lower your pelvis back down to the starting position with control.
- Repeat for 30 seconds.
2. Dead bug
This core-strengthening move enhances stability, coordination, and protects the lower back by reinforcing proper movement patterns. And yes, you might feel like a dead (or dying) bug.
- Lie on your back with your arms extended directly in front of your chest, palms facing each other. Bend your knees and bring your legs into a tabletop position, with your knees stacked over your hips and your shins parallel to the floor.
- Engage your core as you lower your left arm back toward the floor alongside your head and extend your right leg, lowering it toward the floor.
- Inhale and return your left arm and right leg to the starting position.
- Exhale and lower your right arm toward the floor alongside your head while extending your left leg toward the floor.
- Inhale and return your right arm and left leg to the starting position.
- Continue alternating between your left and right sides for 30 seconds.
3. Dumbbell deadlift
This full-body movement targets the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back, building strength and improving posture through proper hinge mechanics.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip (palms facing your body) in front of your legs, and position your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Draw your shoulder blades down and back, lifting your chest slightly.
- Inhale and hinge forward at the hips, allowing the dumbbells to slide down the front of your thighs and halfway down your shins.
- When the dumbbells reach halfway down your shins, exhale, and push through your heels. Engage your glutes and hamstrings as you extend your knees and hips to return to standing.
- Repeat for 12 reps.
4. Weighted scissor kick
This dynamic exercise homes in on the lower abs and strengthens the hip flexors while challenging core stability. Plus, holding a dumbbell above your chest while scissor kicking engages your upper-body muscles as well.
- Lie on your back with your legs and arms extended, holding one dumbbell above your chest with both hands, palms facing each other. Engage your core by drawing your belly button toward your spine.
- Slightly raise your right leg and lower your left leg simultaneously, making sure neither leg touches the floor.
- Switch sides by slightly raising your left leg and lowering your right leg, maintaining control and ensuring that neither leg touches the floor.
- Continue alternating between your right and left legs in a “scissor-like” motion for 12 reps.
5. Squat and pulse
This squat variation relies on a principle called time under tension, increasing the time you’re in the hardest part of the exercise. By keeping tension on the quads, glutes, and hamstrings, you’ll build even more lower-body strength and endurance.
- Plant your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Look straight ahead and bend at your hips and knees, keeping your knees aligned with your toes.
- Lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor, ensuring your back remains at a 45- to 90-degree angle to your hips.
- Push through your heels to extend your legs slightly, lifting yourself just a few inches out of the squat.
- Bend your knees again to return to the full squat.
- Continue this pulsing motion, alternating between slightly extending your legs and returning to the full squat position, for 12 reps.
6. Heel tap
Don’t be fooled! This simple-but-effective ab exercise engages your lower abs and improves core stability, particularly in the hip flexors.
- Lie on your back with your arms by your sides, knees bent, and feet hip-width apart.
- Slowly lift your head, shoulder blades, and arms off the floor while gently drawing your ribs toward your hips to engage your core.
- Bend your torso to the right, reaching your right hand toward your right ankle.
- Return to the starting position, then bend your torso to the left, reaching your left hand toward your left ankle.
- Continue alternating between right and left for 12 reps.
7. Oblique crunch
Though most of your ab workouts should be spent on exercises that target your entire core, a little bit of isolation work goes a long way. This crunch variation specifically targets your obliques (the muscles at the side of your torso) for core stability and powerful side-to-side movement.
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in your left hand, and place your right hand behind your ear.
- Inhale, and exhale as you engage your right obliques to crunch your right side body. Lift and straighten your torso, returning to standing.
- Repeat for 30 seconds on each side.
