Best form of exercise for the glutes?

My preference is a combination of bike riding and yoga.

Squats. Lots and lots of squats.

There’s the glute-ham raise. I think it’s a pretty intense lifting exercise. If you disagree, do it while holding a barbell on your shoulders. I didn’t just make that up, some people actually do that.
And it’s a compound exercise for both glutes and hamstrings, which is always a good thing.

The young lady in this vid is doing it in a gym, but if you have anything that can restrain your feet reliably (I use the bottom of a closet on short legs) and a mat to put your knees on, you can easily do it at home too.

Fixed gear bike riding..

Worked for me :)

Bicycling works too, sure. But you’ll get different results.
It’s more of a cardio kind of exercise, with of course huge amounts of “reps” with little resistance. You’ll build a lot of endurance that way, but little strength.
If you’d want strong glutes you would be better off with lifting exercises like squats or glute-ham raises.

Maybe it would be best to alternate.

@jmah: You haven’t mentioned what you want to achieve, by the way.

@Fyrius I want to tone-up the hip and glute area. That’s where I tend to gain weight and right now, “she” needs it.

I think that I’ll go with your suggestion and alternate between squats and fixed gear biking.

Thanks!

Hang on. I had a suspicion that was the idea.

Glute exercises will not counter gaining weight on the bum, or at least no more than any other exercise will. In this case your problem is an increase in body fat. The only way to decrease it again is everywhere at the same time. You can’t reduce the fat in one particular spot. It’s a common misconception that has been debunked a long time ago. So I’m told.

Fortunately, bicycling also makes excellent cardio exercise, as do squats with moderate weight and many reps, so you can probably stick with the plan and still get the results you want. Just know that you’re looking mainly for fat loss, not muscle exercise.

Don’t forget though, that building muscle helps you to burn more calories, even when you are at rest.

Combine cardio (especially those workouts that focus on lower body, like jogging, elliptical, biking, etc.) with lunges and squats for faster and better results. You definitely lose weight from the cardio, but your muscles get tighter and more shapely from the resistance training. When you put both together, it’s awesome.

Don’t forget to stretch! (I love the pigeon pose)

Good luck!