10 Minute Beginner Yoga Routine to Lift and Tone Your Butt

Yoga’s benefits are endless- a calm mind, a bendy body, and not to mention it is extremely effective at helping you lose weight and tone your entire body, including your booty!

All yoga poses have multiple benefits, and there are multiple poses that can be used to tone your butt. This quick 10 minute yoga routine was created for beginners who want to use yoga to tone and lift their butt, without having to do all those super fancy asanas.

Even though these are basic yoga poses, I have included a few ways you can use yoga blocks to help you maintain balance and alignment in the poses so you can focus on your booty!

Hold each pose for about 4 to 6 slow breaths (I prefer counting breaths instead of seconds to get into a better flow). Complete the sequence a total of 2-4 times, switching sides each time. Rest up to 30 seconds to 1 minute between sets if needed.

The poses for the yoga sequence for glutes and legs are as follows:

1. Fire Hydrant Kick
2. Kneeling Half Moon
3. Bird Dog
4. Three Legged Dog
5. High Lunge
6. Warrior II
7. Half Moon
8. Warrior III
9. Chair
10. Diver
11. Standing Forward Fold
12. Locust
13. Bridge
14. One Legged Bridge
15. Savasana

1. Fire Hydrant Kick

The following three poses are apart of a mini-flow to wake up your body, specifically the glutes. 

1. To come into Fire Hydrant Kick, start in Tabletop, making sure you have a strong base of your wrists under you shoulders and your knees hip distance apart.
2. On your inhale, lift your right leg out to the side, keeping it bent. Lift as high as you can.
3. You will feel this directly in your glutes. Keep your back neutral and use your glutes to lift the leg higher.

2. Kneeling Half Moon

Kneeling Half Moon is a balancing pose that also works the glutes. You’re using your glute strength in this pose to lift your leg to be level with your hip.

1. Right from your Fire Hydrant Kick, pivot your left leg to form a kickstand to help you balance.
2. Lift your right arm up towards the sky as you open up your body towards the side of the room.
3. Straighten your right leg and lift it as much as you can to bring it to be level with your hip. Flex through the toes.

3. Bird Dog

Bird Dog is the final pose in this mini-flow. By now you should definitely be feeling it in your glutes and legs!

1. From Kneeling Half Moon, bring your body back to neutral so your hips are level with each other, but keep your back leg lifted.
2. Plant your right hand back onto the ground, then lift your left hand off the ground, bringing it straight out in front of you.
3. Straighten your right leg back behind you, bringing your toes to point towards the floor. Engage your core to create a straight line of energy here and use your glutes to keep your leg level.

Repeat this 3-pose flow 3 times before moving to the next pose.

4. Three Legged Dog

You get the best of both worlds with Three Legged Dog, a toned tummy and a toned butt. Who doesn’t want that?

1. Start on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees inner hip distance apart.
2. On your next exhale, push up and back into Downward Facing Dog.
3. Lift your right leg high into the air, pointing through your toes and engaging your glutes.
4. Make sure you are engaging the rest of your body as well to balance your weight out so the weight isn’t falling towards your upper body.
5. Keeping your leg straight, keep lifting your leg higher throughout the pose, engaging your glutes and core to hold it up. You will feel the burn!

 

5. High Lunge

This pose focuses a lot on your glutes, especially as you sink deeper. You will want to come out of it, but keep pushing through! Use your breath to get through the discomfort.

1. From Three Legged Dog, crunch your right leg into your core, and then step it through between your hands.
2. First make sure your right foot is completely grounded and actively engage your left leg all the way through your left heel, which is lifted. Then, once you feel your legs are strong, lift up your top body.
3. Bring your arms up into the and lift through your chest, extend through your back heel.
4. Sink deeper into your front leg so that it is at a 90 degree angle. With each exhale, sink even deeper.

 

6. Warrior II

Warrior II is a great hip opening pose, and builds strong legs and glutes. Just like in High Lunge, you will feel your glute muscles activating A LOT here, so just push through. The results are so worth it!

1. From High Lunge, begin to open your body up to the left side of the room as you rotate your back foot on an angle and ground it.
2. Float your arms from above your head to come straight on on either side, level with your shoulders.
3. Just like in High Lunge, make sure you are sinking into your front leg more with every breath to really activate your glutes.

 

7. Half Moon

This is a great pose to improve your balance, and increase your leg and ankle strength, and is also great for getting a nice butt!

1. From Warrior II, slowly begin to hinge forward to place your right hand at about 2 o’clock to your right foot, as you lift your left leg off the ground and left arm up towards the ceiling.
2. This may be a bit more challenging for new yogis that aren’t as flexible, and that is where blocks become your best friend.
3. Use a block underneath your right hand at whichever height is more comfortable for you. This will ease the stress on your hamstrings as well as help with your balance in this pose.
4. Keep your left foot flexed and pointing to the left side of the room, and keep expanding and opening up your body, lifting your left leg higher.

 

8. Warrior III

Warrior III, like Birddog pose you did earlier, uses the glute strength to lift your back leg to hip level. 

1. From Half Moon, slowly bring your left hand down to the floor parallel to your right as you adjust your hips to become even with each other.
2. Adjust your left foot, still keeping it flexed, to face down towards the floor.
3. You can use blocks here as well underneath both hands to help you balance, or you can bring your arms up even with your ears for more of a challenge.
4. Make sure to keep your leg level with your hip. This is where the challenge comes in that helps tone those glutes!

 

9. Chair

Chair is probably one of the first poses you thought of when you thought about toning your butt, because of how similar it looks to a traditional squat. Chair Pose can actually feel more more challenging than squats because your legs are together instead of farther apart.

1. From Warrior III, bring your lifted foot down to meet your grounded foot. 
2. On your inhale, sink your seat as low as you can (as if you are sitting down on a chair) and bring your arms up towards the ceiling by your ears. Make sure to keep your back straight and lift through your chest.
3. Keep sinking your seat deeper with each exhale. Try to balance the weight mainly on your heels to the point where you can easily lift all ten toes off the ground.

 

10. Diver

Diver is a great pose to practice to tone the legs, and when paired with Chair Pose, makes a powerful mini flow to target the glutes and challenge your endurance.

1. From Chair Pose, sweep your arms back with your arms facing up towards the ceiling, keeping them super engaged.
2. As you do this, come up onto your toes, straighten your legs and hinge forward, keeping a straight back and engaging your core to stay lifted.
3. To cycle through this min-flow, come into Chair on your inhale, and Diver on your exhale, repeating a total of 3 cycles.

 

11. Standing Forward Fold

In order to both tone and lift your butt, you need to loosen and elongate the muscles, which Standing Forward Fold does best.

1. From Chair, place your hands on the ground by your feet, then straighten both legs.
2. You can use blocks here if your hamstrings are too tight for your hands to touch the ground.
3. Keep folding in deeper with each exhale and breathe into the discomfort, feeling your hamstrings and glutes loosen with each exhale.

 

12. Locust

Locust pose has so many benefits. It improves posture, opens your chest, can help relieve back pain, and tones your butt and hamstrings. It is an all around great pose that is great for yogis of all levels.

1. First, slowly come to the ground. From Standing Forward Fold, a good transition is to go into plank pose then slowly lower yourself onto your stomach.
2. When you’re on your stomach, place your arms straight by your sides, and place either your left or your right cheek on the ground. Make sure your legs are together as well.
3. On your next inhale, lift everything you can off of the ground, keeping your legs tightly together.
4. Let your head become neutral and face forward, your arms hover by your sides, and your legs lift as one into the air.
5. Breathe in this pose for about four seconds to start (or less) and then gradually build up as you go through each round.

 

13. Bridge

Bridge Pose is a mild backbend that also does a great job at increasing glute strength and definition. The key here is to make sure you are practicing proper alignment so you are engaging the correct muscles.

1. From Locust, slowly flip over to you are now lying on your back. Bend your knees so the soles are flat on the mat.
2. Place your hands by your sides and then gently lift yourself up enough to shimmy your shoulder blades underneath you.
3. On your next inhale, lift your pelvis up off the ground using your core and glutes. To make sure you are engaging the proper muscles, place a block between your thighs and squeeze, or simply picture your thighs squeezing together.

 

14. One Legged Bridge

One Legged Bridge is a great way to challenge your strength! If you aren’t feeling up to it, no worries! Just come back into Bridge again. This requires balance and a lot of engagement in both your glutes and your core. You don’t need to do it unsupported (although you can if you feel up for it). You can lightly support yourself by placing your hips on your lower back.

1. Come back onto your back with your legs inner hip distance apart, knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place your hands flat on the floor by your sides.
2. Lift up just enough to shimmy your shoulder blades underneath you to where your fingertips can touch your heels.
3. On your next exhale, lift up through your pelvis, engaging your glutes to lift.
4. You can either stay here, or if you’re up for it, you can come into one legged bridge by lifting one leg off of the ground.

15. Savasana

You’ve earned the right to rest! Come down to the mat and just let everything go. Notice how you’re body feels after this practice and try to focus on your breath for even just a few moments.

 

 

Remember to repeat this sequence a total of 2-4 times, switching sides each time.

Go through the movements slowly. Lean muscle is not built with quick, short movements. It is built with strong, controlled movements.

Stay in the poses the full duration and make your breaths slow. If setting a timer helps you, try doing that!

I have created an infographic to help you remember the poses or to pin for later!