4 Glute Stretches That Help Ease Tightness and Prevent Pain Laura Williams Bustos, MS, ACSM EP-C 5 Plank Variations for a Full-Body Workout Replay Video How to stretch your glutes You may spend a lot of time in the gym (or at home) working on your glutes. These large muscles, which make up your butt, are the powerhouse of your lower body, helping you perform practically every major movement you can think of. Without your glutes, you'd be hard-pressed to walk, squat, dance, do a dead lift or side-slide, or pivot. But while you may spend a lot of time strengthening your glutes, you may not spend as much time stretching them out.