To be effective, glutes should be trained with cardio and strength training.The American Council on Exercise (ACE) research found that the top cardio exercises for shaping your glutes (and legs) are: lunges, walking uphill, stair climbing, jogging and running. No big surprises here and no gimmicks!Just hard work! And research has proven that high intensity interval cardio is superior to longer duration, slow cardio (interpretation: go hard for 20 minutes instead of slow for 40 minutes). Do 3-4 days of cardio exercise.As for strength training? You can’t leave out squats! Do your squats—bodyweight squats, dumbbell squats, barbell squats, split squats, lateral squats, one-legged squats, etc. Mix it up but do them. The benefits of the squat exercise extend beyond your legs.Other top glute exercises are:

1) Step ups (front and lateral)
2) Standing cable or machine hip abductors
3) Standing, prone or floor hip extensions
4) Floor lateral thigh raises
5) Glute bridges and marching glute bridges
6) Pelvic raises and posterior pelvic tilts
7) Glute Ham Raises (pictured right)
8 ) Romanian Deadlift
9) Bulgarian split squats

Do 3 days-a-week of full body strength training. If these exercises become easy for you, then increase resistance or weights.