---
title: "Glute exercises with a resistance band"
description: "Glute bridges, clamshells, kickbacks and abductions with a loop band. Technique on video, plus how to set the resistance without any weight."
locale: en
url: "https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/glutes/resistance-band"
count: 29
type: combo
muscle: GLUTES
equipment: RESISTANCE_BAND
---

# Glute exercises with a resistance band

The glute does more than extend the hip. It also abducts the leg and holds the pelvis level, and a
band is the only implement in this atlas that can push back sideways. A barbell cannot pull your
knee inward, a loop worn above the knees can - and that is why the band list for glutes runs as
long as it does.

The second difference is when it gets hard. Band resistance climbs as the band stretches, so the
toughest point is where the leg has traveled furthest: full hip extension and full abduction. That
is the exact opposite of a squat, where the tension all but disappears at the top.

## What does a band do for glutes that weight cannot?

It resists across the body. A loop above the knees or around the ankles pulls your legs together, and
driving them apart takes the gluteus medius and the back of the gluteus maximus. The whole abduction
family on this list rests on that: clamshells, lying and seated abductions, knee abductions in a half
squat, standing side leg raises. None of those can be loaded sensibly with a barbell.

The second thing is the resistance profile. In a banded glute bridge the hardest point is right at
the top, with the hips extended and the glute at its shortest. Weight behaves the other way around,
which is why a band set burns more often than it feels heavy. That does not make it easier - it means
the fatigue arrives from a different part of the range and is harder to compare against kilograms.

The third reason is mundane. A set of bands weighs a few hundred grams, fits in a backpack, and needs
neither a bench nor somewhere to rack a bar.

## Loop band or anchored band?

This list holds two different tools under one name. The first is a closed loop worn above the knees
or around the ankles, which works sideways and rides along with a movement you are doing for another
reason: a bridge, a squat, a walk in a half squat. The second is a longer band hooked to something
fixed, or pinned under a foot and a hand, which resists along its own line: the pull-through between
the legs, kickbacks, kneeling hip thrusts.

They get adjusted differently, too. With a loop, the variables are where you wear it and how thick it
is. With the anchored version, it is your distance from the mounting point and how much band is left
on your side. Write both down, because otherwise there is no way to compare today's set with the last
one; a band has no number stamped on a plate.

If a band keeps sliding or rolling up, it is usually too short for the position or too stiff for the
angle you are working at. Dropping to a lighter band and keeping the full range gives you more than
fighting to hold a stiffer one in place.

## Common mistakes

- **The band slipping out from under your foot** - On kickbacks one end of the band is held by your foot and the other by your hand on the floor. If it shifts halfway through the set, the tension is gone and the rest of the reps do nothing.
- **The pull-through turned into a squat** - Pulling the band between your legs is a hinge at the hips, not a trip down and back up. If your knees bend more than your hips travel back, the quads take the work.
- **A loop instead of load in a squat** - A band above the knees does not make a squat heavier. Its job is to stop the knees caving in, so if what you are after is load, you need weight, not a stiffer band.

## Progress the movement

1. **Move the loop lower** - The same band above the knee, below the knee and around the ankles gives you three different levels. The further it sits from the hip joint, the longer the lever and the harder the loop fights the abduction.
2. **Step away from the anchor** - On pull-throughs and kickbacks, your distance from the anchor decides how much tension is already there at the start. One step back and the first half of the rep stops being free.
3. **Hold the top** - The band is strongest exactly where the glute is shortest. A brief hold at full hip extension or full abduction is difficulty this implement hands you for free.

## All Glute exercises with a resistance band

- [Resistance Band Glute Bridge](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-glute-bridge) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Squat](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-squat) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Clam](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-clam) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Leg Kickback](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-leg-kickback) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Band Pullthrough](https://hi.fitness/exercises/band-pullthrough) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Standing Hip Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-standing-hip-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Hip Thrust (Version 2)](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-hip-thrust-version-2) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band One Leg Glute Bridge](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-one-leg-glute-bridge) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Glute Bridge_version2](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-glute-bridge-version2) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Glute Bridge Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-glute-bridge-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Curtsy Lunges Resistance Band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/curtsy-lunges-resistance-band) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Lying Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-lying-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Seated Hip Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-seated-hip-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Seated Bent Knee Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-seated-bent-knee-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Lying Bent Knee Hip Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-lying-bent-knee-hip-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Band Cross Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/band-cross-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Band Kneeling Rear Kick](https://hi.fitness/exercises/band-kneeling-rear-kick) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Bent Leg Kickback (Kneeling)](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-bent-leg-kickback-kneeling) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band One Leg Kickback (Bent Position)](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-one-leg-kickback-bent-position) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Standing Balance Glute Kickback](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-standing-balance-glute-kickback) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Standing Balance Glute Kickback (Version 2)](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-standing-balance-glute-kickback-version-2) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Standing Balance Hip Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-standing-balance-hip-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Lying Hyperextension Abduction](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-lying-hyperextension-abduction) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Hip Thrusts on Knees](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-hip-thrusts-on-knees) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Squat Jump](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-squat-jump) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Reverse Hyper with Stability Ball on Flat Bench](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-reverse-hyper-with-stability-ball-on-flat-bench) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Side Plank Glute Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-side-plank-glute-raise) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Kneeling Leg Half Circle](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-kneeling-leg-half-circle) - Glutes · Resistance band
- [Resistance Band Kneeling Leg Half Circle on Bench](https://hi.fitness/exercises/resistance-band-kneeling-leg-half-circle-on-bench) - Glutes · Resistance band