This 15-Minute Barre-Inspired Workout Will Fire Up Your Glutes

Strengthen your glutes and feel the burn throughout your entire lower body with this fiery 15-minute workout. Presented by BODYARMOR Zero Sugar, this quick class draws inspiration from barre to lengthen your muscles and help you build strength using only your bodyweight. Although the individual exercises might look simple, they pack a serious punch as M/Body founder, Marnie Alton, leads you through each one for a workout you’ll feel the next day. Low-impact modifications are also available, making this class accessible to all different levels of fitness.

You’ll start by jumping from side to side, shaking off any built-up tension and allowing the energy to flow. Then, you’ll use tiny runs get your heart rate up even further — swinging your arms and rolling out your head, hips, and feet before diving into the rest of the programming. To activate your hips and calves, you’ll stretch out to alternating sides and squat, with an option to relevé in between (aka rise up onto your tip-toes). You’ll then go straight into a series of high relevés, holding at the top before transitioning into full-range bodyweight squats. You can choose to add a few high-knee lifts before switching to knee taps and high-energy side steps. Finish this fast-paced series with a round of jumping jacks, then get ready to slow it back down.

The next segment is heavily barre-inspired, with lots of isolation and pulsating movements. You’ll come into a wide second position, lowering down, holding, and pulsing at the bottom of the plié to build awareness of the lower body. Try dropping even lower into the position and lift one heel up up at a time for a more intense burn, staying low to the mat as you move into a high lunge
. From here, you’ll tuck and release the hips while you hold the lunge. Drop the back knee and focus on range, possibly adding a jump. “The bigger the range, the bigger the burst of power,” Alton explains.

Throughout the rest of the workout, you’ll move from second position to curtsy lunges, adding a pas de chat leap as a transition. You’ll continue to hold positions and pulse to build heat in the lower body, but Alton also includes a healthy dose of cardio to ensure you break a sweat. “Exhale judgment, inhale curiosity,” Alton says. “Maybe a little joy, because we don’t have to do this, we get to do this.” Follow along for stronger legs and glutes, and check out new workouts every week on the POPSUGAR Fitness YouTube channel.

Chandler Plante is an assistant editor for POPSUGAR Health & Fitness. Previously, she worked as an editorial assistant for People magazine and contributed to Ladygunn, Millie, and Bustle Digital Group. In her free time, she overshares on the internet, creating content about chronic illness, beauty, and disability.