Glute Machines at Planet Fitness: How to Actually Feel It

Quick Answer

The glute kickback machine at a Planet Fitness club

What Is the Glute Machine?

The machine most members mean when they ask about “the glute machine” is a kickback-style unit: you kneel or lean into a padded support, place one foot against a footplate or bar, and press your leg backward and up against resistance, one leg at a time. Mechanically, it’s closer to a single-leg press at a different angle than to a dedicated glute isolation machine, which is exactly why it also loads the quads.

Newer clubs have started adding these machines to their floor over the past couple of years, and member reaction has been genuinely split — some people find it one of the more effective glute-focused machines Planet Fitness offers, while others prefer sticking to the Smith machine or free-weight movements instead.

Does It Actually Build Your Glutes?

Short answer: yes, if you use it correctly. Members who’ve used it consistently for a few months report real soreness and visible changes, and the general consensus among people who’ve actually put in the reps is that slow, controlled tempo without swinging or using momentum is what makes it effective. The complaints tend to come from two different groups: people who feel it more in their quads than their glutes because of form issues, and people who simply prefer other glute exercises like hip thrusts or Smith machine work and don’t rate this particular machine as highly.

A member working through a set on the glute machine

Neither reaction is wrong — it comes down to whether your form is dialed in and whether this particular movement pattern suits your body the way, say, hip thrusts or deadlifts might.

Why You Feel It in Your Quads Instead

This is the single most common question members ask about this machine, and a Planet Fitness employee gave one of the clearest explanations: the movement genuinely works both your quads and your glutes. The initial push that straightens your leg is largely a quad-driven motion, while the final extension at the hip is where your glutes take over. Because your glutes are bigger and stronger than your quads, they can typically handle more weight — but if the weight is set too high, your smaller, weaker quads fatigue first and end up doing more of the visible work, which is exactly why you feel the burn in the front of your thigh instead.

How to Fix Your Form, Step by Step

1. Drop the weight lower than you think you need. The goal on this machine is contraction, not load — a lighter weight done correctly beats a heavy weight done wrong.
2. Position your heel, not the ball of your foot, against the pad or bar. Several members specifically report feeling far more glute engagement once they switched to pushing through the heel.
3. Hinge slightly forward at the hips before you press back, rather than keeping your torso fully upright — this shifts more of the work onto your glutes instead of your quads.
4. Keep your standing leg straight and planted throughout the set so the working leg is doing all the moving.
5. Squeeze at the top of the movement and pause briefly, thinking about contracting the glute rather than just reaching full leg extension.
6. Control the return instead of letting the weight stack drop — a slow negative keeps tension on the muscle through the whole rep.

A quick stretch beforehand — a runner’s lunge, pigeon pose, or a basic quad stretch — can also help open up your hip range of motion so the movement feels less restricted once you start.

Glute Machine vs Smith Machine Hip Thrusts

A lot of members end up comparing this machine directly to doing hip thrusts on the Smith machine instead, and opinions are genuinely divided:

There’s no universally “correct” answer here. If your club’s glute machine feels limiting once you’re stronger, or if it’s frequently out of service, rotating in Smith machine hip thrusts is a completely reasonable substitute rather than a downgrade.

Video: Effective Glute Workouts at Planet Fitness

Seeing the movement helps more than reading about it. This short video walks through an effective glute-focused routine using Planet Fitness equipment, including proper setup and tempo:

Other Glute Exercises to Try Alongside It

If the kickback machine isn’t clicking for you even after adjusting your form, or your club’s is out of order, it’s worth building your glute day around a few reliable alternatives:

• Smith machine hip thrusts — the most commonly recommended substitute among Planet Fitness members, and arguably the most popular glute exercise in the gym overall.
• Cable pull-throughs — recommended directly by a Planet Fitness employee as a more direct glute isolation option, since the cable pulls against the glutes through a hip-hinge pattern.
• Leg press, using a wider stance and pushing through your heels, which recruits the glutes more than a narrow, toes-forward stance.
• Bodyweight glute bridges or single-leg glute bridges as a warm-up to “activate” the muscle before your working sets, which several members use specifically to feel the glute kickback machine better afterward.
• Step-ups and Romanian deadlifts (RDLs) using dumbbells, both of which several members mentioned as effective additions to a glute-focused day.

For the rest of the leg-focused machines at Planet Fitness, including leg press and leg curl, see the full guide to leg machines at Planet Fitness, or check the complete Planet Fitness machines overview for every muscle group.

Common Complaints: Broken Machines & Weight Limits

Two practical issues come up often enough to be worth flagging honestly:

• Uptime varies by club. Some members report their local glute machine being out of service for extended stretches, which is more a reflection of that specific club’s maintenance schedule than a universal issue with the equipment.
• Weight stacks can feel low for stronger lifters. A few members note the machine’s max weight lands somewhere around 150–160 lbs, which more experienced lifters can already exceed doing hip thrusts elsewhere. If you outgrow the stack, that’s a good signal to rotate toward Smith machine hip thrusts or free-weight variations instead.

Frequently Asked Questions