I did 50 fire hydrants every day for 30 days and I was shocked at the results

Booty workouts have never been more popular and as a personal trainer I couldn’t be happier because stronger glutes are a great goal and one I share. That’s a reason why I’m always deadlifting barbells.

The fire hydrant exercise is renowned for its ability to increase your glutes, as well as training your core and hip abductors. When my editor suggested trying 50 fire hydrants every day for 30 days I thought it was a good suggestion and was up for the challenge.

How To Do The Fire Hydrant Exercise

• Start on all fours with your shoulders directly above your wrists and your hips directly above your knees.
• Engage your core and lift one leg out to the side, keeping your knee bent at 90° and ensuring your torso doesn’t rotate. Raise it as high as is comfortable.
• Pause, then lower, under control to the start.
• Do all the reps on one side, then switch sides.

For this challenge I split the 50 reps, doing 25 each side. So, was doing the fire hydrants exercise every day worth it? Here's what happened.

1. My butt didn't become rounder

As a bodyweight exercise, the fire hydrant won’t have much impact on the shape and size of your butt; It didn’t do anything for mine. In fact, walking up a hill several times would probably do more for me. 

2. I did feel the burn

Naturally, doing 25 reps works your muscles hard and I felt that in my glutes. It was nice to do when I’d been sitting down all day and my butt muscles felt unused. 

3. I was surprised by how hard my back had to work

The fire hydrant exercise also engages muscles in the back, particularly the lumbar spine in your lower back. It didn’t hurt my back, but it had to work hard to keep my torso and hips straight. If you do this exercise and feel pain in your lower back, then stop and assess your form. It may be that you’re raising your leg too high.

Fire hydrants challenge: my verdict

Don’t bother with this challenge. Seriously, if you want to grow or shape your glutes, get down to the gym, lift some weights, eat plenty of good food and be patient. That is how you achieve glute growth. Or, use ankle weights to make the exercise more resistance-based and perhaps follow it up with another glute exercise. 

You can also incorporate fire hydrants as an activation exercise, to wake up your glutes before a weighted workout. Do the move slowly, while engaging the core and back and keeping your torso still. Activation is important to get the most out of a lower-body workout, so don’t skip it.

There are many other lower-body workouts and exercises that will elicit better results, as I discovered when I performed hip thrusts every day for two weeks.

Fire Hyrdant FAQs