Being on the exercise grind can be challenging, especially for those of us who have to find variations of every single workout routine and movement out there. Individuals with pre-existing injuries, current injuries, joint issues, disabilities, and more often struggle to find exercises that do not add pain on top of the pain they currently experience.

In particular, it can be difficult to find exercises that remove stress and pressure off the knees especially if the area you are working on is connected to the legs. When targeting glutes, this population of individuals is highly susceptible to increased knee pain without properly considering low impact variations first. If you are someone who often experiences knee pain, in almost any exercise you try related to glutes and butt, try some of the exercises below – almost all of which are easy on the knees and low impact for all populations. In fact, building up glute strength over time, and the strength in the entire leg, can add increased support to the lower body region, preventing things like knee pain from afflicting you later!

Hip Bridge

This is one of the most efficient low impact glute workouts. Lie on the floor with your arms on your side, knees bent, and heels flat. Begin lifting your hips under you’re able to create a straight line with your shoulders to your hips and to your knees. Squeeze your glutes on the rise, and release, lowering your hips back to the floor.

Romanian Deadlift

Take a set of dumbbells, a bar, or a bar with weights in both hands against the front of your hips with palms facing the hips. Stand with your feet in line with your hips and bend the knees slightly. Press hips backwards with your hands slowly descending toward your shins. Squeeze your glutes on the return back upward. Focus all your weight in the back of your feet and the glutes to avoid straining the back.

Lateral Band Walks

Resistance bands are one of the great tools to use in low impact exercise training. Take a resistance band and have it sat at your ankles or right below your knees. With a slight bend in the knees and tightened core, step outward to the side in one direction and follow with the other foot. Take several more steps in one direction before turning to the other side. Maintain a squeeze in the glutes when side stepping. If you’re able to slightly squat without any pressure from the knees, you can get even more out of the butt workout.

Superman

This exercise additionally works the core simultaneously! Lie down on the ground with your stomach against the floor and arms outstretched above your head. Breathe in and raise your arms in front of you above the ground a few inches while ALSO raising your legs behind you, leaving only your lower core and hips against the floor. Squeeze your glutes tightly when lifting your legs. Rest and repeat.

Clamshells

Lie down on the ground on your side with hips stacked and knees bent. Have your elbow supporting your head and a hand in front of you for support. While having your feet still together, lift your knee up, essentially opening the legs in a clamshell motion. Squeeze the glutes as you raise the one knee and leg up, before resting by lowering the knee again and essentially closing the clamshell again. Repeat on the other side as well.

Single Leg Bridges

Remember those bridges from earlier? Well, here’s her evil twin sister! In this variation, instead of having both feet on the ground and raising the hips, you are lifting one leg entirely straight up toward the sky. Raise your hips using the strength of only one of your legs, keeping the other straight up in the air. Squeeze your glutes and repeat on both legs.

Single Leg Deadlifts

As you can see, we have a pattern here of advancing on those previous movements mentioned. Similar to the Romanian Deadlift, we are pushing the hips back and descending the weights in front of us downward, but with only one leg. The other leg, on the way down, will instead push straight out, forming a line with the back. Squeeze your glutes on the rise. Repeat on both legs.

Donkey Kicks

Get on all fours facing down. Take one leg and slightly hover it above its current position, and kick your heel up into the air behind you, keeping the leg in a 90-degree angle while squeezing your glutes tightly. Lower it down without touching the ground and repeat. Perform on both legs. If the knees hurt against the floor’s surface, use a towel or pillow underneath the knee resting as support.

Fire Hydrants

From the same all fours position above, we are instead going to lift the legs to the side rather than up. Lift one of the knees off the floor, keeping a 90-degree angle, and raise it toward the side of your body. Squeeze your glutes tightly and then rest. Repeat on both legs. Again, if the knees hurt against the floor’s surface, use a towel or pillow underneath the knee resting as support.

Try a few of these exercises out in your next glute routine to give those knees a rest, but also add some necessary support and strength in the rest of your body. Working out shouldn’t be sharp and painful to get the results you desire!

References:

https://blog.paleohacks.com/butt-exercises-can-do-with-bad-knees/#

https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Low-Impact-Glute-Bum-Exercises-Knee-Pain-44365884

https://aaptiv.com/magazine/best-glute-exercises-bad-knees

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a19994649/butt-workout-for-knee-pain/