Gluteal Muscles (Glutes)

Your gluteal muscles (glutes) are your butt muscles. They’re at the bottom of your muscular core. They’re some of the biggest, heaviest muscles in your body.

You have three glute muscles:

• Gluteus maximus, the biggest
• Gluteus medius, the medium
• Gluteus minimus, the smallest

What do your glute muscles do?

Your glute muscles work together to help you move safely. When you’re moving, they:

• Support your body weight
• Stabilize your pelvis and keep it from tilting too much when you shift weight from one leg to the other
• Stabilize your hip joints and hold their bones together when your thighs move

You use your glutes for lots of common movements, including:

• Sitting down and standing up
• Walking
• Lifting your legs, like when you climb stairs
• Running
• Jumping

They usually work as a team, but your glutes have some individual jobs, too:

• Your gluteus maximus is the biggest and strongest muscle in your body. You use it when you need force to move forward, like to stand up, walk, run or climb. It helps you extend your thigh bone out, away from your body. Your gluteus maximus helps keep your hips balanced and your trunk upright when you’re sitting down.
• Your gluteus medius and minimus help move your thighs. They help you open your legs away from the center of your body. They also help you rotate your thighs.

Where are your glutes located?

Your glutes aren’t the only muscles in your butt. But they’re the biggest and closest to the surface. They make up the shape of your butt. They’re behind your pelvis, where your spine meets your legs. They attach to your pelvis and run over and around it.

Your gluteus maximus muscle is the big muscle inside each of your butt cheeks. It’s closest to the surface. It starts from several points on your pelvis and wraps around your backside. It’s attached to your thigh bone. Your gluteus maximus covers part of your gluteus medius, your deep lateral hip rotators and the start of your hamstrings. If you put your hand on your butt while stepping up, you’ll feel it contract.

Your gluteus medius and gluteus minimus are both fan-shaped. Your gluteus medius muscle is deeper than your gluteus maximus. It covers the surface of your ilium, the broad bone that wraps around the sides of your hips in your pelvis. It spans your hip and attaches to the top of your thigh bone. Its back part lies under your gluteus maximus. Your gluteus minimus muscle is smaller and is under the gluteus medius. It’s the deepest of the three glutes.

What health conditions or disorders can affect your gluteal muscles?

Common conditions involving your glutes include:

• Gluteal nerve injury: An injury to the nerves that activate your gluteus muscles can weaken or paralyze them. This can make it hard to move like you usually do. Dislocated or broken hips and nerve entrapment syndrome can cause these injuries. So can complications after hip surgery or an injection near your hip.
• Glute muscle weakness: Your glutes can become too weak if you don’t use them enough. Sitting all day for work or not getting enough physical activity can weaken your gluteus muscles, especially the gluteus maximus. Dead butt syndrome, hamstring injuries and lower back pain can all lead to weakened glutes.
• Glute inhibition: This is when something prevents your glute muscles from working like they should. Pain or tightness in other tissues near your glutes can affect them. Your glutes might weaken while you overuse other muscles to make up for it. Gluteal tendinopathy and trochanteric bursitis are two causes.

What can I do to take care of my glutes?

Staying active is the best way to keep your glutes (and the rest of your musculoskeletal system) healthy.

If your daily routine includes a lot of sitting, there are a few steps (literally!) you can take to keep your glutes working like they should. Standing up, moving around during frequent breaks and a more ergonomic workstation can all help.

Specific exercises may also prevent and treat some glute issues. For example, exercises that build a strong core can help. Working with a physical therapist can be a great way to strengthen your glutes. They can prescribe specific exercises customized for your needs. You can also talk to an athletic trainer about glute exercises.