Most lists of glute machines include anything that touches the glutes at all, which is nearly every lower-body machine in the gym. That is not useful when you are deciding which station to walk to. The nine below are grouped by where they load the glutes: at the top of the movement where the muscle is short and squeezed, at the bottom where it is stretched, from the side for the outer glutes, or as a supporting exercise. A complete glute program takes one machine from each of the first three groups; each entry says how to recognize the machine on the floor, what else is working, and what usually goes wrong.
| # | Machine | Loads the glutes… | Glutes are the… | Also working |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hip thrust machine | Shortened (top squeeze) | Main mover | Hamstrings, adductors |
| 2 | Glute kickback machine | Shortened | Main mover | Hamstrings |
| 3 | 45° back extension (set up for glutes) | Lengthened (bottom stretch) | Main mover | Hamstrings, erectors |
| 4 | Reverse hack squat | Lengthened | Main mover with quads | Quads, adductors |
| 5 | Leg press (high feet) | Lengthened | Assistant | Quads lead |
| 6 | Hip abduction machine | Side (outer glutes) | Main mover | TFL |
| 7 | Cable machine | Varies by exercise | Main mover | Varies |
| 8 | Smith machine | Depends on exercise | Varies | Varies |
| 9 | Stair climber | Low load, repeated | Main mover | Quads, calves |
Machines vs Free Weights for Glutes
Both work. Machines fix the movement path, so you can load the glutes hard without spending effort on balance, and they are safer to take to failure alone — which matters more for glutes than for most muscles, because they respond well to high-effort sets. Free weights (barbell hip thrusts, squats, deadlifts) train more muscle at once and carry over better to sport. On muscle growth specifically, the two are a wash: a 2023 meta-analysis of 13 studies comparing free-weight and machine training found no difference in hypertrophy — each method mainly made people stronger at the thing they trained on. The practical answer for most people: build the session around two or three machines below, and add a barbell movement if you already know how to do it well.
The 9 Best Gym Machines for Glutes
1. Hip Thrust Machine
What it looks like: a low seat or back pad, a padded belt or lever that goes across your hips, and a foot platform in front. Also called a glute drive, hip thruster, or glute bridge machine; “Booty Builder” is a brand name that gets used for all of them. If it has a belt over your lap and you push your hips up rather than your feet away, this is it.
The only machine on the floor where the gluteus maximus is the primary mover and nothing else is competing for the load. It is not a lesser version of the squat for glutes: in a 9-week training study, hip thrusts and back squats grew the gluteus maximus by the same amount; the squat grew the quads and adductors considerably more. If your goal is glutes, this machine gets you the same growth with less leg fatigue and no bar on your back.
What works: gluteus maximus, with hamstrings and adductor magnus assisting. Quads mainly stabilize the knee. If you feel it in your inner thigh as well as your glutes, that is normal.
How to do it
- Set the belt or pad so it sits across the crease of your hips, not on your stomach.
- Feet flat on the platform, hip-width apart, positioned so that at the top your shins are vertical. Knees past your toes at the top means move your feet forward.
- Push through your heels and drive the hips up until they are fully extended. Stop there.
- Pause one second, squeeze, lower under control.
What goes wrong: arching the lower back to get “higher” — the rep ends when the hips are straight, and anything past that is your spine, not your glutes. Chin poking up at the top does the same thing; keep it tucked. Feet too close to the seat turns it into a quad exercise.
Sets and reps: 3–4 sets of 10–15. Higher reps and hard squeezes at the top suit this muscle.
Starting weight: on a selectorized machine, about a third of your bodyweight. On a plate-loaded glute drive, the empty lever plus one plate per side.
Two designs. A selectorized version with a weight stack (like our GT-5092) gives fast weight changes and a fixed, consistent resistance curve — better for a busy floor where people rotate through quickly. A plate-loaded glute drive (like the TZ-8133) allows heavier loads, has band pegs for adding accommodating resistance, and usually a rounded back pad that lets the hips travel further. Stronger lifters generally prefer the plate-loaded version.
2. Glute Kickback Machine
What it looks like: a standing or kneeling frame with a chest pad, handles, and one foot platform or knee pad on a lever arm behind you. Called a glute kickback, standing glute machine, or glute blaster. A specialty piece that many gyms skip; if yours does not have one, the cable kickback under entry 7 does the same job.
Because you are braced against the machine, the hamstrings and lower back contribute less than in a free kickback, and the gluteus maximus works alone on one side at a time, squeezed hardest at the top.
What works: gluteus maximus. Hamstrings assist at the top.
How to do it
- Brace your forearms or chest on the pad and hold the handles. Hips square, spine neutral.
- Place the working foot on the platform (or knee against the pad) with the knee bent about 90 degrees.
- Drive the foot back and up until the hip is fully extended.
- Squeeze one second, return slowly, and finish the set before switching legs.
What goes wrong: pushing past hip extension by arching the back or twisting the hips open — the working hip should stay square to the pad. Swinging the leg with momentum instead of pausing at the top.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 12–15 per side. Start with a weight you can pause at the top on every rep.
On a selectorized version like our GC-5070, the foot platform is raised so the free leg swings without hitting the floor, and the stack is light (65 kg) because the exercise is single-leg — do not judge it by the top plate.
3. Back Extension Machine
What it looks like: an angled bench with a hip pad and foot rollers or a footplate, no weight stack; you lie face down over it. Both the 45-degree version (what most gyms have, and what this entry is about) and the horizontal version (body parallel to the floor) get called a hyperextension bench or Roman chair. The horizontal one is hardest at the top rather than the middle and is less useful for glutes. Selectorized seated back extensions are a different machine and do not train the glutes.
Usually thought of as a lower back machine, but with a small adjustment it becomes one of the better glute exercises in the gym, and one of the few that loads the glutes in the stretched position.
What works: gluteus maximus and hamstrings when set up for glutes; erector spinae when set up for the lower back.
How to do it for glutes
- Set the hip pad below your hip crease, so your hips can fold freely over it.
- Round your upper back slightly and keep it rounded through the whole rep — this takes the lower back out of the movement.
- Lower until you feel the hamstrings stretch, then drive up by squeezing the glutes. Stop when your body is a straight line.
- Turn the toes out slightly to increase glute involvement.
Holding a plate against your chest adds load; a resistance band around your neck and under the platform adds more at the top.
What goes wrong: pad set too high, so the hips cannot bend and the lower back does the movement instead. Hyperextending at the top. Coming up fast — the stretch at the bottom is the point, so lower slowly.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 12–20.
If you are setting up a floor, this one machine covers both lower back and glutes depending on how members are taught to use it. Our back extension machines come in 45-degree and horizontal versions; the 45-degree is the more versatile of the two for this reason.
4. Reverse Hack Squat
What it looks like: an ordinary hack squat machine — angled sled, shoulder pads, foot platform — used the other way around. You face into the machine with your chest against the back pad and the shoulder pads behind you, instead of your back against the pad. Same machine, no adjustment needed.
Turning around changes the exercise. With the chest supported, you can sit the hips back and down much deeper than a normal hack squat allows, so the glutes and adductors take the load at the bottom of the squat, where they are stretched. It has become the standard machine squat for glute training for that reason.
What works: gluteus maximus and adductors at the bottom, quads through the middle.
How to do it
- Face the pad, chest and stomach against it, shoulders under the pads.
- Feet low and about hip-width on the platform, toes slightly out. Lower feet mean deeper hip flexion.
- Sit the hips back and down until they are below the knees, keeping the whole foot on the platform.
- Drive through the heels to stand. Do not lock the knees at the top.
What goes wrong: heels lifting as you go deep — raise your feet slightly on the platform until they stay down. Knees caving in on the way up. Cutting depth short, which turns it back into a quad exercise.
Sets and reps: 3–4 sets of 8–12.
Any commercial hack squat works this way; if you are choosing between this and a leg press for a floor, our leg press vs hack squat comparison covers it. Our TZ-5206 has an elliptical footplate that keeps the ankles in a working range at full depth, which matters more in the reverse position than the standard one.
5. Leg Press Machine
What it looks like: a reclined seat and a large angled footplate or sled you push away from you; 45-degree plate-loaded and seated selectorized versions are both common.
Here is where honesty matters. The leg press is a quad machine. Moving your feet high on the platform brings the glutes in more — an EMG study by Da Silva and colleagues in 2008 confirmed that high placement increases gluteus maximus activation — but the quads are still doing most of the work, the same pattern the squat showed in the study above: real glute growth, but the thighs get the larger share.
What works: quads first, then glutes and hamstrings when the feet are high.
How to do it for glutes
- Feet toward the top edge of the platform, slightly wider than hip-width, toes turned out a little.
- Lower until your hips are as folded as they can be while still flat on the pad.
- Drive through your heels.
What goes wrong: going so deep the hips and lower back peel off the pad — that is the pelvis tucking under, and it loads the spine, not the glutes. Stop one inch above the point where the lower back starts to lift. Locking the knees at the top.
Sets and reps: 3–4 sets of 10–12.
Use it as a supplementary glute exercise on a leg day, not as the main one. Our guide to leg press foot placement covers each position in detail.
6. Hip Abduction Machine
What it looks like: a seat with two padded arms against the outside of your knees; you push your knees apart against them. Called the hip abductor or outer thigh machine, and — because most commercial versions flip to work the inner thigh as well — the “good girl / bad girl machine.” Abduction (knees out) is the glute side.
Where the machines above train the big muscle at the back of the hip, this one trains the smaller muscles on the outside of it: gluteus medius and minimus. These give the glutes width from the side and keep the pelvis level when you stand on one leg. Squats and deadlifts barely train them.
What works: gluteus medius and minimus, tensor fasciae latae. Gluteus maximus a little.
How to do it
- Sit with your back against the pad, knees against the outer pads, feet on the footrests.
- Push your knees apart against the resistance until you feel the outer hip fully contract.
- Pause, then return slowly without letting the weight stack touch down between reps.
- Sitting upright emphasizes the medius; leaning forward from the hips with a flat back shifts more work to the upper glute. Do both.
What goes wrong: too much weight and short, bouncing reps — the most abused machine in the gym, and that version trains nothing. Leaning forward by rounding the back instead of hinging at the hips.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 15–25. Light weight, long sets, full range.
Most commercial versions are a combined abductor/adductor unit (like our TZ-8201). The adductor side does not train the glutes but is worth doing for hip balance.
7. Cable Machine
What it looks like: a tall column with a pulley you can set at any height and a stack behind it; a functional trainer or cable crossover is two of them facing each other. You need an ankle strap and a rope attachment. Any gym that has one has a glute station, whether or not it is labeled that way.
Not one exercise but several. The cable provides tension through the whole range of motion, including the top where a dumbbell or band goes slack, and each exercise loads a different position.
Cable kickback (shortened): ankle strap on the low pulley, face the machine, hold the frame, and kick the strapped leg straight back with a slight bend in the knee. Squeeze at the end. 3 sets of 12–15 per side. Standing on one leg makes the gluteus medius of the standing leg work too. Goes wrong when: you lean forward and swing the leg up — keep the torso still and the movement small.
Cable pull-through (lengthened): rope on the low pulley, face away from the machine, take the rope between your legs, walk out until there is tension, hinge at the hips and let the rope pull your hips back, then drive the hips forward to stand tall. 3 sets of 12–15. Good for learning the hip hinge before deadlifting. Goes wrong when: you bend the knees and squat it instead of hinging.
Standing cable abduction (side): ankle strap, stand sideways to the machine, lift the outer leg out to the side. 3 sets of 15–20 per side. Some gyms have a dedicated standing abductor machine (like our GC-5063) that does the same movement with a pad instead of a strap. Goes wrong when: you lean away from the leg to lift it higher.
8. Smith Machine
What it looks like: a barbell fixed in vertical rails with hooks you rotate to rack it at any height. Not a glute machine on its own, but a fixed bar path makes several free-weight glute exercises easier to load and safer to do alone. This is also the answer to the most common question about glute machines: what to do when the gym has no hip thrust machine.
Smith machine hip thrust: bench perpendicular to the bar, bar padded across the hips, feet flat. Same movement as the hip thrust machine; the fixed path removes the need to balance the bar. Set the safety stops just below the bottom position so you can slide out if you fail a rep.
Smith machine sumo squat: wide stance, toes out, bar on the upper back. The wide stance and vertical bar path load the glutes and adductors more than a standard squat.
Smith machine Romanian deadlift: feet under the bar, hinge at the hips with a slight knee bend, lower until the hamstrings stretch, drive the hips forward. The fixed path lets you focus entirely on the hinge.
What goes wrong: placing the bench or feet in the wrong spot for the fixed path, so the bar drags you forward or back — walk it through with the empty bar first, then load.
Sets and reps: 3–4 sets of 8–12 for any of these.
9. Stair Climber
What it looks like: a revolving staircase (a stepmill; StairMaster is the brand name most people use) or a pedal stepper. The revolving-stair version is the one that trains glutes.
The one cardio machine that counts. Climbing stairs is repeated single-leg hip extension against gravity, which is exactly what the gluteus maximus does.
How to do it for glutes: skip steps (take every second stair) and push through the heel of the top foot rather than the toes. Keep the pace moderate enough that you can push through each step deliberately.
What goes wrong: leaning on the handrails — that takes the load off your legs.
Duration: 10–15 minutes at the end of a leg session, or 20–30 minutes on a cardio day.
Machines Not on This List
You will see these on other lists. They are left off here on purpose.
- Leg curl machine — a hamstring machine. The glutes contribute almost nothing.
- Glute-ham developer (GHD) — despite the name, mostly hamstrings and lower back. Useful, but not a glute machine.
- Elliptical and rowing machine — the glutes are involved, as they are in walking. That is not the same as training them.
- Power rack — not a machine. Squats and deadlifts belong in a glute program, but that is a different article.
Glute Machine Workout
Beginner — three machines, twice a week. One from each position: hip thrust machine 4 × 12, 45-degree back extension set up for glutes 3 × 15, hip abduction machine 3 × 20. Rest 60–90 seconds between sets. Add the stair climber for 10 minutes if you have time. Two sessions a week with at least two days between. This covers the gluteus maximus from both ends and the medius directly, in about 35 minutes. When you complete every set at the top of the rep range with a one-second pause at the top, two sessions in a row, add one plate or one pin.
Advanced — two different sessions a week. Once the beginner session stops being hard, split it by position.
- Session A (shortened): hip thrust machine 4 × 8–10, glute kickback machine or cable kickback 3 × 12 per side, hip abduction machine upright 3 × 20, stair climber 10 minutes. Rest 90 seconds.
- Session B (lengthened): reverse hack squat 4 × 8–10, back extension with a plate held to the chest 3 × 12–15, cable pull-through 3 × 12–15, hip abduction machine leaning forward 3 × 20. Rest 90 seconds.
Session A squeezes the glutes at the top; Session B loads them at the stretch. Keep three days between the two. Add weight on both when you hit the top of every rep range with clean form.
Before you load anything. Warm up with five minutes on the stair climber or bike and one set of the first machine at half your working weight. Set pads, seat height, and safety stops before you select the weight, not after. On every hip-extension machine here, the rep ends when the hips are straight — arching the lower back to go further is the one habit that turns a glute exercise into a back injury.
Glute Machines for Commercial Gyms
Glute training is the most-requested strength category among female members and increasingly among male members, and gyms without a dedicated hip thrust machine get a specific complaint about it in reviews. If floor space allows only two stations for this category, buy a hip thrust machine and a combined abductor/adductor. Those two cover the gluteus maximus and medius directly; the back extension, hack squat, leg press, and cable machine you likely already have cover the rest, and the hack squat in particular does double duty once members know the reverse position.
Between selectorized and plate-loaded hip thrust designs, choose selectorized for a general-membership floor where fast weight changes and easy entry matter, and plate-loaded for a strength-focused gym where members will load heavy. Many gyms end up with both. A plate-loaded glute drive takes roughly 5.5 × 5 ft (our GC-5069 is 1665 × 1460 mm); selectorized hip thrust and abductor/adductor units are smaller. Add entry clearance on the open side of each.
TZFIT manufactures the hip thrust, glute kickback, abductor/adductor, back extension, hack squat, leg press, and cable stations in this article for commercial gyms, hotels, and distributors, factory-direct with up to a 10-year frame warranty. The catalog includes dimensions and weight-stack specifications for each.