Glute Pain: Common Causes and What Helps

Glute pain is an ache in the buttock that usually comes from overworked or weak muscles, a tight piriformis, an irritated SI joint, or tendons on the side of the hip. Less often it comes from a nerve in the low back. Where it hurts, and what makes it worse, gives you the best first clue.

I’m a certified personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist with more than 20 years of coaching, and a sore backside is one of the most common complaints women bring to me. It is also one of the most confusing, because so many structures sit close together back there.

This guide walks through the usual causes by location, what one-sided and two-sided glute pain tend to mean, the gentle exercises and stretches that often help, and the signs that mean it is time to see a doctor.

What Your Glutes Do

Your glutes are three muscles. The gluteus maximus is the big one that shapes your backside and drives you up stairs and out of a chair. The gluteus medius and minimus sit on the side of your hip and keep your pelvis level when you walk.

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Under them lie smaller hip rotators like the piriformis, plus the sciatic nerve, the SI joint and the tendons of your hamstrings where they attach to your sit bone. Pain from any of these can feel like it is simply in your glute, which is why the location matters so much.

Common Glute Pain Causes

Here are the causes I see come up most often, roughly from most to least common.

1. Muscle strain or overuse. A sudden jump in walking, hills, squats or lunges can leave the glutes sore and tender, especially if they are not used to the work.
2. Weak, underused glutes. Long hours sitting can leave the glutes switched off, so smaller muscles take over and get achy.
3. Tight or irritated piriformis. This small muscle deep in the buttock can cause a deep ache that sometimes runs down the back of the thigh.
4. SI joint irritation. Pain sits high and toward the middle, near the dimples above your buttocks, and often flares with stairs or rolling over in bed.
5. Outer hip tendon pain. Irritated gluteal tendons or bursitis cause pain on the side of the hip that is worse lying on that side.
6. Hamstring tendon irritation. Pain right at the sit bone that is worse sitting on hard chairs or bending forward.
7. Nerve pain from the low back. A pinched nerve root can send pain, tingling or numbness through the buttock and down the leg.

Glute Pain Location Chart

Use this as a rough guide, not a diagnosis. Many people have more than one source at once.

Glute Pain on One Side

Glute pain on one side is the most common pattern. It usually points to something mechanical: how you sit, stand, sleep or train. Always crossing the same leg, standing with your weight on one hip, carrying a bag on one shoulder, or a stronger side doing more of the work can all load one buttock more.

One-sided pain can also come from the SI joint, the piriformis or a nerve in the low back. If it travels below the knee, tingles or comes with numbness, the low back is a more likely source. My guide on what causes sciatica pain explains those nerve causes in more detail.

Glute Pain on Both Sides

When both buttocks ache, the cause is more often general: lots of sitting, a new workout, or tight, tired muscles from a busy week. Gentle movement and a few days of easier activity usually help.

Pain on both sides that comes with morning stiffness lasting more than 30 minutes, or that spreads to other joints, is worth mentioning to your doctor. So is pain on both sides with any change in leg strength or bladder control, which needs care right away.

Glute Pain and Tight Hamstrings

Your hamstrings attach to your sit bone, right under the lower glute. When they are tight, or the tendon at the top is irritated, you may feel pain low in the buttock, especially when sitting or bending forward.

The fix is usually gentle, not aggressive. Ease up on long, deep forward folds for now and add easy hamstring work like bridges. My guide to tight hamstrings has gentle stretches and strength moves that suit this pattern.

Gentle Glute Pain Exercises

Strength is what gives the area lasting support. Do these 3 days a week, 2 sets of 8 to 12 reps, keeping pain at 3 out of 10 or less.

1. Glute Bridge

Lie on your back with knees bent and feet hip width apart. Press through your heels and lift your hips until your body makes a line from shoulders to knees. Pause 2 seconds and lower slowly.

2. Clamshells

Lie on your side with knees bent and stacked. Keep your feet together and lift your top knee a few inches without rolling your hips back. Lower slowly. If lying on one side hurts your outer hip, skip this one for now.

3. Sit to Stand

Sit near the front of a firm chair. Lean slightly forward and stand up, squeezing your glutes at the top, then sit down slowly. This trains the big glute muscle in a move you use all day.

4. Standing Hip Extension

Hold a counter. Move one straight leg back a few inches and squeeze the glute without arching your back. Do 10 per side.

If the ache sits on the side of the hip, my hip bursitis exercises start with gentler isometrics. If it sits high near the spine, try my SI joint pain exercises instead.

Gentle Glute Stretches

Stretches can ease muscle tightness, but go for a mild pull only. Hold each 30 seconds, 2 or 3 times per side.

1. Lying figure four. Cross one ankle over the other knee and gently pull the bottom thigh toward you.
2. Knee to opposite shoulder. Lying down, guide one knee gently toward the opposite shoulder.
3. Seated figure four. Sit tall in a chair, cross one ankle over the other knee and hinge forward slightly.

For more options and how to hold them, see my piriformis stretches. One caution: if your pain is on the outer hip, skip deep cross-body stretches for now, because they often press the sore tendons.

Glute Pain After Workouts

Some soreness a day or two after a new squat, lunge or hill session is normal. That is muscle soreness, and it usually feels dull, spreads across both buttocks and fades within two to three days.

Pain that feels sharp, sits in one small spot, or gets worse each time you train is different. It often means the load jumped too fast. Drop the weight, shorten the range or swap lunges for bridges for a week or two, then build back up slowly.

Form matters too. If your knees cave in or your back arches during squats and lunges, smaller muscles pick up work the glutes should be doing. Slow the move down and use a range you can control.

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How Long Glute Pain Takes to Settle

A simple muscle strain often eases within one to two weeks with lighter activity. A tight piriformis or an irritated SI joint usually improves over two to six weeks of steady, gentle work.

Tendon pain on the outer hip or at the sit bone tends to be slower, often taking two to three months of patient strength training. That can feel frustrating, but it is normal for tendons, and steady progress beats rushing back.

Daily Habits That Help

Small changes add up. Get up from sitting at least once an hour and walk for a minute or two. Sit with both feet flat instead of crossing your legs. Stand evenly on both feet rather than hanging on one hip.

Sleep on your back or on your side with a pillow between your knees. Build up new activity slowly, adding no more than about 10 percent more walking or training each week.

When to See a Doctor or Physical Therapist

Most glute pain improves with gentle care. But some symptoms point to something more. See a doctor or physical therapist if you notice:

• Numbness, tingling or weakness in your leg or foot
• Numbness in the groin or inner thighs, or loss of bladder or bowel control, which needs emergency care
• Pain that started after a fall or an accident
• Fever with buttock or joint pain, or a hot, swollen area
• Pain that wakes you at night, no matter how you lie
• Pain that is no better after 2 to 3 weeks of gentle care

A physical therapist can test where the pain is really coming from and build a plan that fits.

Your This-Week Plan

1. Days 1 to 2: Note where your pain sits using the chart, and track what makes it better or worse.
2. Days 1 to 7: Get up from sitting once an hour and stop crossing your legs.
3. Days 3 to 7: Do bridges and sit to stands every other day, 2 sets of 8 to 10.
4. Days 3 to 7: Add one gentle stretch that suits your pain location, once a day.
5. Day 7: If nothing has changed, plan a visit with a physical therapist.

Quick Questions

This guide is part of my hip and lower body pain guide, where you’ll find help for piriformis tightness, SI joint pain, hip bursitis and outer hip pain, plus honest advice on when to see a doctor.

The Bottom Line

Glute pain usually comes from muscles, tendons or joints that are overloaded or under-trained, and where it hurts is your best clue. Start with the location chart, change the daily habits that load one side, and add simple strength work.

Stretch gently, give it two to three weeks, and get help sooner if the pain travels down your leg with numbness or weakness. Those signs deserve a proper check.

This article is for general education and isn’t medical advice. Talk to your doctor or a physical therapist before starting if you have ongoing buttock, hip or back pain, a recent injury or surgery. Get medical help promptly for numbness, leg weakness, pain after a fall, fever with joint pain, pain that wakes you at night, or any loss of bladder or bowel control.