Curves & Confidence: Gym Workout Plan for Women

You train 3 days a week: two lower body days built around the hip thrust, and one upper body day for back, chest, shoulders and core. Each session has 7 exercises of 3 sets in an 8 to 12 rep range and takes about 50 to 60 minutes. The glute workout plan runs 9 weeks by default, and the app also offers 5, 13 or 17 weeks.

Train 3 days a week with a rest day between, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Day A and day C are lower body days for glutes, hamstrings, quads and inner and outer thighs. Day B is the upper body day. Do A, then B, then C, and the plan repeats the same three days every week. Every exercise has 3 sets in an 8 to 12 rep range, a good range for building muscle and learning each move. Most exercises have a swap if your gym is missing a machine.

• Day A: hip thrust, back squat and Romanian deadlift. The heavy lower body day: glutes first, then quads and hamstrings. Hip abduction and adduction machines work the outer and inner thighs, then calf raises and the cable ab crunch.
• Day B: lat pulldown, seated cable row and dumbbell chest press. The upper body day for back, chest and shoulders: seated dumbbell shoulder press, side raises and high face pulls. Cable crunches finish the session.
• Day C: hip thrust, Bulgarian split squat and lying leg curl. The second glute day, one leg at a time. Hip abduction and adduction again, then leg extensions for the quads and side crunches for the core.
• Every exercise links to its own page, where you can watch it from every angle.

Why two lower body days? Glutes and legs respond well to being trained twice a week, with recovery between. The hip thrust appears on both lower days because it loads the glutes hard in the fully squeezed position. Squats, Romanian deadlifts and Bulgarian split squats train them in a deep stretch. One upper body day keeps your back, chest and shoulders strong, which helps your posture and every lift on leg days.

Want to train the whole body every session? Full Body Foundation is a 3 day gym plan for beginners with a press, a pull and legs every day. Training at home? Dumbbell Home Essentials is a 3 day full body plan with a pair of dumbbells.

Weeks 2 to 9 continue in GymDroid. The plan keeps the same three days, and the app reads what you logged and sets your next weights after every session, so you only have to lift. Want a shorter or longer block? Choose 5, 13 or 17 weeks instead. On iPhone and Android.

Yes. Glutes grow from hard hip work done often. This plan has hip thrusts twice a week, plus back squats, Romanian deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats and hip abduction. That trains the glutes in a deep stretch and in a full squeeze, with enough rest to recover.

Two to four days suits most people. Three days, as in this plan, trains glutes and legs twice and the upper body once, with a rest day between sessions.

Not by accident. Building a lot of muscle takes years of hard training and plenty of food. In the first months, most women notice more strength and a firmer shape, not bulk.

Pick a weight you can lift for at least 8 clean reps with 2 or 3 reps left. New to the hip thrust or squat? Start light and learn the position first. If you know a recent set, the one rep max calculator turns it into a starting weight. After that, the app sets each weight from what you log.

Yes. The moves are simple and most have an easier swap: glute bridge for the hip thrust, Smith machine or bodyweight squat for the back squat, reverse lunge for the Bulgarian split squat. Start with lighter weights and focus on form in week 1.

Yes. It uses a barbell, cables and leg machines. To train at home, Dumbbell Home Essentials uses only dumbbells and a bench or chair.