Your glutes and hamstrings are not individual muscles; they are muscle groups. The glutes, which perform hip extension and hip abduction, consist of the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius and gluteus maximus. Your hamstrings, which primarily perform knee flexion and hip extension, are made up of the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris.
Leg Curl
The leg curl machine is designed specifically to isolate your hamstring muscles, which are primarily responsible for knee flexion, although they assist with hip extension, too. You'll encounter two common types of leg curl machines--prone and seated.
To do seated leg curls, sit in the chair portion of the machine. Position your knees beneath the knee pad and your ankles in front of the padded ankle bar. Bend your knees against the machine's resistance, and then slowly return to the starting position.
To do prone leg curls, lie down on the machine's padded surface. Slip your ankles beneath the padded ankle bar and bend your knees against the machine's resistance and then slowly release back to the starting position.
Butt Blaster
The butt blaster is designed to target your glutes, thus the name, but it often involves your hamstrings and quads, too.
To use the butt blaster, lean over the machine's padded hip rest and grasp the handles to stabilize your upper body. Place one foot on the foot platform behind you and extend your leg at the hip, pushing the platform up and away from you. For some butt blaster machines you'll extend your knee, too, as if you were kicking straight out behind you. For others, you will flex only at the hip; with these machines, take care to keep the motion smooth and controlled so that you don't arch your lower back.
Lunges
Lunges are a compound exercise that not only works your glutes and hamstrings but your quads, calves and hip adductors, too. Lunges also challenge you to develop greater stability, and lunging with your body weight alone is usually enough of a workout when you first start out. As you get stronger, you can hold dumbbells or a barbell to increase the difficulty.
To do lunges, stand square with your feet hip-width apart. Take a sizable step forward with your right foot. Let your left heel come off the floor as you drop your hips straight down until both knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. Straighten your legs and push back with your right foot to return to the starting position. Do an equal number of repetitions with your left foot leading as with your right.
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