The Kneeling Glute Kickback Workout I Teach On Repeat

★★★★★ 4.4 · 50

Tasha Boyd07.08.2026JUMP TO TUTORIAL

Every glute-floor class I've ever taught ends up circling back to these six moves, because they work on stiff knees, on strong knees, and on the knee that gave out on someone in 2019 and still gets a little cranky. This is the exact series I hand my beta testers when they ask what to do on the days they don't feel like standing up. No equipment required — just a mat, a little floor space, and about twenty minutes.

Why This Kneeling Series Belongs in Your Week

I like kneeling glute work for the same reason I like a good rec-center class: it doesn't ask permission from your balance or your cardio to get your glutes working hard. Every move here starts in the same quadruped position, so once you learn the setup, you're not relearning it six times.

Our unofficial house rule during floor work: Biscuit, our rescue dog, treats any human on all fours as a personal greeting card, so I've learned to do this series with the door closed. Small tip, real tip.

You'll do all six moves for three sets each — roughly twenty minutes total once you count the transitions between positions. That's the honest number, not the number with the warm-up hidden in the fine print.

Fire Hydrant

Start on all fours with hands under shoulders and knees under hips, spine neutral — not sagging, not rounded. Lift your right knee out to the side until the thigh is near hip height, keeping the knee bent around 90 degrees the whole time.

Standard: exactly what's pictured — hands flat, core braced, pelvis level.
Supported: do this against a wall or with your forearms down for less wrist load.
Harder: loop a light resistance band above your knees.

Fifteen reps per side, three sets, exhaling on the lift. The failure point I see most in class is the hip tipping open as the leg rises — if your low back is doing the work instead of your glute, shrink the range until pelvis stays level.

Donkey Kick

Same wrists-under-shoulders, knees-under-hips setup, but now the movement travels straight back instead of out to the side. Drive your right heel up and back until the thigh lines up with your torso, keeping the knee bent and hips square to the floor.

The glute doesn't know the difference between a good rep and a fast rep — it only responds to control. Squeeze for one full second at the top before you lower.

Fifteen reps per side, three sets. Watch for the lower back arching to gain height on the kick; that's the hips borrowing range they haven't earned. Keep the lift low enough that your spine stays quiet.

Diagonal Kickback

This one shifts the leg path to a 30-degree diagonal instead of straight back, which lights up a slightly different slice of the glute and challenges your balance a bit more than the first two moves.

Set up on all fours, hands under shoulders, knees under hips.
Extend the right leg back on the diagonal, toes facing down.
Return with control on a slow 2-1-2 tempo — two seconds out, one-second pause, two seconds back.

Twelve to fifteen reps per side, three sets. The core has to work harder here to keep the pelvis from rotating toward the moving leg, so if you feel your torso twisting, that's your cue to slow down and brace before the next rep.

Kickback Pulses

Here's where the burn shows up. Shoulders stacked over your hands, knees under hips, lift the bent right leg behind you to the top position and hold it there — you're not lowering all the way down between reps, just pulsing two to three centimeters at the top.

Keep the rib cage down and the neck long so you're not straining upward to gain fake range. The glute should be squeezing the whole time, not swinging to build momentum.

Twenty pulses per side, three sets. Small range, real burn — if your hip flexor is screaming louder than your glute, you've likely let your low back sag; reset the plank-like line through your torso before continuing.

Straight-Leg Back Lift

The final move, and the quietest one in the whole series. Lie face down with legs long, forehead resting on your folded arms. Lift the right leg just a few inches from the hip, then lower with control — toes facing down, hips pressed firmly into the rug the entire time.

The whole point is smallness — this isn't about height, it's about isolating the glute without the low back sneaking in to help.
Pause for one full second at the top of every rep before lowering.
If your hip is lifting off the mat, that's the range you've outgrown for today.

Fifteen reps per side, three sets, and you're done. This is a nice one to end on because it's the easiest to feel exactly where the effort should live.

This series has outlasted a dozen trendier workouts on my site simply because it's finishable — six moves, one mat, twenty honest minutes. Do it twice a week and give your glutes the rest of the days off; they build strength in the recovery, not just the reps.

DIY-Tutorial Pin

The Kneeling Glute Kickback Workout I Teach On Repeat

4.4 · 50 ratings

Try my kneeling glute kickback workout: six floor moves with exact reps, sets, tempo, and form cues you can do at home with nothing but a mat and floor space.

Glute Floor Workoutkneeling glute kickback workout

PREP TIME5 min

Work Time20 min

TOTAL TIME25 min

Yield1 full glute floor session

DifficultyModerate

Cost≈$0 (bodyweight, mat only)

Materials

Equipment: exercise mat or thick rug
Equipment: optional light resistance band for progression
Equipment: optional folded towel for knee cushioning
Space: enough floor room to extend one leg fully behind you

Steps

Fire Hydrant

From hands-under-shoulders, knees-under-hips, lift the right knee out to the side to hip height with the knee bent at 90 degrees. Do 15 reps per side, 3 sets, exhaling on the lift.

Donkey Kick

From the same quadruped position, drive the right heel up and back until the thigh aligns with the torso, keeping hips square. Do 15 reps per side, 3 sets, squeezing 1 second at the top.

Diagonal Kickback

Extend the right leg back on a 30-degree diagonal with toes facing down, then return on a slow 2-1-2 tempo. Do 12 to 15 reps per side, 3 sets.

Kickback Pulses

Lift the bent right leg behind you and pulse 2 to 3 centimeters at the top, keeping the rib cage down and neck long. Do 20 pulses per side, 3 sets.

Prone Frog Lift

Lying face down with soles of the feet together, lift the knees and thighs slightly by squeezing the glutes, then lower slowly. Do 20 reps, 3 sets, keeping the pelvis heavy against the mat.

Straight-Leg Back Lift

Lying face down with legs long, lift the right leg a few inches from the hip and lower with control, pausing 1 second at the top. Do 15 reps per side, 3 sets.

Hi! I'm Tasha

Hi, I'm Tasha! Certified personal trainer and twelve-year community rec center instructor — the room where a 68-year-old and a college athlete…

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Common Questions

Do I need to do all six moves every time, or can I split them up?

You can absolutely split them — do three moves one day and three another if twenty minutes doesn't fit your schedule. The order in the series isn't sacred; consistency across the week matters more than doing it in one sitting.

My knees hurt kneeling on the mat. What should I do?

Fold your mat double or kneel on a folded towel for cushioning. If the pain persists even with padding, that's worth a conversation with a physician or physical therapist rather than pushing through it.

How do I know when to add resistance?

When you finish all three sets of a move and feel like you could easily do five more reps with good form, that's your signal — a light resistance band above the knees is the natural next step for most of these.