Glute Workout for Women: The Best Exercises and a Weekly Plan

Glutes are my specialty. I compete in CPA Wellness, where the lower body is everything, so I've spent years figuring out what actually builds them, on myself and with clients. And I'll save you a lot of wasted time: it isn't 100 band kickbacks or a new burn-out circuit every week.

A real glute workout is built on a handful of heavy compound lifts, progressed over time. Below is exactly which exercises to do, how many, how to structure your week, and a home version if you don't have a full gym. For the why behind it all, I broke down how to grow your glutes in a separate guide. This one is the workout.

A good glute workout uses 3 to 5 exercises, built around 1 to 2 heavy compound lifts (hip thrusts, squats, or Romanian deadlifts), then accessory work, trained 2 to 3 times a week with progressive overload. That's it.

The mistake most women make is treating glute day like a cardio class: tons of reps, light bands, lots of sweat, no progression. Your glutes are a large, strong muscle. They grow when you load them and gradually do more over time, not when you exhaust them with feathers. Every week, try to add a rep or a little weight to your main lifts. That single habit is what separates glutes that change from glutes that stay the same.

These are the movements I program most, roughly in order of how much they build the glutes:

Build every session around the top three. The hip thrust is the single best glute builder there is, so it earns a spot in most of my clients' weeks.

Three to five glute exercises per workout is the sweet spot. Start with one or two heavy compound lifts while you're fresh (hip thrust, squat, or RDL), then add two or three accessories like lunges, cable kickbacks, and hip abduction.

Across the week, aim for 10 to 16 hard sets that target the glutes. That's enough volume to grow without frying your recovery. More isn't better here. If you're doing eight different glute exercises in one session, you're spreading your effort too thin to push any of them hard, and pushing hard on the big lifts is what actually grows muscle.

Here's a simple, effective 2-day structure. Run it twice a week with at least one rest day between sessions, and add weight or reps whenever you hit the top of the range.

Day A (hip-thrust focus) 1. Barbell hip thrust: 4 sets of 8-12 2. Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 10-12 3. Reverse lunge: 3 sets of 10 per leg 4. Cable kickback: 3 sets of 12-15 per leg 5. Hip abduction: 3 sets of 15-20

Day B (squat focus) 1. Squat (back or goblet): 4 sets of 8-12 2. Bulgarian split squat: 3 sets of 8-10 per leg 3. Single-leg or B-stance hip thrust: 3 sets of 10-12 4. Seated hamstring curl: 3 sets of 12-15 5. Hip abduction: 3 sets of 15-20

If you can only train glutes once a week, run Day A and add a squat. If you can do three days, alternate A-B-A. Two to three days is plenty. You can fit this into a 3-day-a-week split easily.

No barbell? You can still build glutes at home as long as you progress the load. Here's a solid home session:

1. Dumbbell or single-leg glute bridge: 3 sets of 12-20
2. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 10-12
3. Dumbbell reverse lunge: 3 sets of 10 per leg
4. Banded or dumbbell B-stance hip thrust: 3 sets of 12-15
5. Banded lateral walks + kickbacks: 2-3 sets of 15-20

The key at home is the same as the gym: it has to get harder over time. Buy a set of heavier resistance bands and adjustable dumbbells, slow your reps down, and add reps or load each week. Bodyweight alone works for a true beginner for a little while, but your glutes adapt fast, so you'll need to add resistance to keep them growing.

The workout is only half of it. To grow your glutes you also need:

• Progressive overload. Add a rep or a little weight to your main lifts almost every week. This is non-negotiable.
• Enough protein. 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight daily. Muscle is built from it. See how much protein women need.
• Enough food overall. You can't build much in an aggressive deficit. Eat at maintenance or a slight surplus to grow fastest.
• Recovery. Glutes grow on your rest days, not in the session. Give a muscle about 48 hours before training it hard again, and read what to do on rest days.

Do the workout, progress it, fuel it, and recover. That's the entire formula, and it's the same one I use in my own Wellness prep.

This plan works. But the fastest results come from a program built around your body, your equipment, and your weak points, then adjusted every week as you progress. That's what I do for coaching clients, the same way I build my own lower-body training.

Grab my free Body Recomp Starter Guide to get going, and when you want a custom plan, apply for coaching here.