The best legs and glutes workout routine for women at the gym!

Working out for your legs and glutes is very important beyond looking attractive. They are what keep you moving, walking all day and night, so building strength in the lower half (legs, glute, butt, etc.) is essential.

Unfortunately, many people skip and neglect leg days because they think they are working their legs and glutes already all day, mainly doing workouts such as running or biking.

Since the leg muscles are significant to begin with, it takes a long time to see some better results. Therefore, it would be best to do exercises that will target your legs a minimum of once a week.

Begin working in a workout or gym routine, and switch things up in weeks. Of course, you will not see the difference immediately, but you will absolutely feel it, and if you continue this, you will undoubtedly notice more definition in your legs.

Why is it essential to choose a good workout routine for your glutes and legs?

The glutes and legs are two of the most important muscle groups in the body. So it's essential to make sure you're working them out correctly and consistently!

A good workout routine for your glutes and legs should include a variety of exercises that target these muscles groups. That will help you achieve the best results possible.

The best exercises to target the glutes and legs include squats, leg presses, and hip thrusts. These exercises are all great for building muscle and strength.

So make sure you include them in your workout routine! They'll help you achieve the toned, sculpted look you're after.

Legs and glutes Gym Routine for Women

You don't know squats. If you think leg workouts for women involving strength moves will bulk you up.

Not only have EMG studies revealed that basics such as squats, lunges, and calf raise work the leg muscles better, but women do not tend to build big muscles (trusted sources, 1*, 2*, 3*.)

This mentioned workout is better than the sum of its parts because every move targets different fibers in your legs that you are possibly overlooking. 

How it works: Do 2 to 3 sets of this leg workout for women two times a week on nonconsecutive days, resting for about 30 seconds between sets. You will require a chair or bench, a 5-pound dumbbell, and a towel for this.

• If you want to increase muscle mass you have to do two sets of each exercise by increasing the weight. In addition to feeding yourself for hypertrophy.
• If your goal is to tone, you must do 3 sets of each exercise with a lighter weight. In addition, you have to feed yourself to lose fat.

ROUTINE 1 (MONDAY)

Split Squat	2x15
Pistol Squat	2x15
Good Morning	2x15
Three-way lunges	2x15
Calf raises	3x15
Hip Thrusts	2x15
Step-up with kickback	2x15
Cable Hip Thrusts	2x15

ROUTINE 2 (THURSDAY)

Goblet squat	2x15
Smith Machine Box Squat	2x15
Single-leg deadlift	2x15
Sideband walking	2x15
Hamstring curl	2x15
Medicine ball hip thrust	2x15
Wide-stance leg press	2x15
Leg press kickback	2x15

The best leg and glute exercises

Split Squat

For butt & quads

• Stand with the back while facing a chair (around 2 feet away), hands-on-hips otherwise clasped in front of the chest, and bend right leg getting behind to place foot top on chair seat or bench.
• Squat and then bend right leg 90 degrees with your knee over ankle. Press via mid-foot to stand. 

Make this move hard: Do a half squat, bending 45 degrees. Do 15 to 20 reps per leg. Switch sides and repeat.

Pistol Squat

For butt & quads

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, hands ahead of the chest. Lift left foot forward some inches off the floor, foot flexed.
• Squat, bending left knee 90 degrees, withholding the left leg to hip level in front of you.

Make this move easy: allow the right heel to hover close to the floor or hold on to a chair. (Cue up this workout playlist to power you via this complete routine.) Do 5 to 10 reps. Switch sides and repeat.

Goblet Squat

For butt, inner thighs, quads, & hamstrings

• Stand with feet wide than shoulder-width apart, toes turned out, hold a single dumbbell handle vertically with your hands in front of the chest, elbows bent out to sides.
• Squat, bending knees 90 degrees. Press via mid-foot to stand.

Make this move hard: Hold the weight in place, jump up a little as you rise out of squat, land with knees soft. Do 15 to 20 reps.

Three-Way Lunge

For butt, inner thighs, quads, & hamstrings

• Stand with feet hip-width apart, and hands grasped in front of the chest. Lunge forward with your left leg (knees bent 90 degrees); go back to start.
• Lunge left leg out to the left, with toes facing forward, and bend left knee 90 degrees. Go back to start.
• Lunge backward with left leg to finish one rep. 

Do 15 to 20 reps. Switch sides and repeat.

Good Morning

For butt, abs, and hamstrings

• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, hold ends of a single dumbbell in each hand; bend elbows by sides for bringing weight under the chin.
• Keeping legs straight and maintaining arm position, press butt backward to hinge forward at hips until back is near parallel to the floor.
• Without rounding back, squeeze glutes to go back to standing.

Do 15 to 20 reps.

Single-Leg Deadlift

For butt & hamstrings

• Stand up, with your spine straight and your feet about hip-width apart, hold a dumbbell in hands, palms facing the front of thighs.
• Move your torso forward at 90 degrees while lifting one leg back so that the body is parallel to the ground from your head to your heel with arms hanging down.

Do 15 to 20 reps. Switch sides and repeat.

Calf Raise Three Ways

For calves

• Stand with feet balls on the bottom step of a staircase, step, or bench, heels hanging over the edge, hands-on-hips.
• Turn toes inward. Lift heels high, lower them below the level of the step. Do 15 to 20 reps.
• Turn toes out 45 degrees and repeat.
• With toes forward, just stand on the left leg, bending right leg behind you and repeat lifts. Do 15 to 20 reps. Switch legs and repeat.

Do 2 to 3 sets of series.

Hamstring Curl

For butt and hamstrings

• Lie on the floor with face-up, arms by sides, legs with heels pressing into a folded towel on the floor.
• Pull heels toward butt while lifting hips off the floor unless knees are bent 90 degrees, and the body makes a straight line from shoulders to knees.
• Slide legs forward to go back to start.

Perform 2 or 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

Perform the following moves in a traditional 3-set format: 15 reps every set and resting 60-90 sec between every set. Complete all sets for specific exercises before you move to the next exercise.

Step-up with kickback

Butt exercise: Step up with kickback.

This exercise works both the abductors and adductors, but the kickback targets the glutes to add difficulty, usage of a dumbbell, or ankle weights.

• Stand next to an aerobic box or a step.
• Put your foot closest to the top of the aerobic box and then contract your leg by squeezing and opening your buttock while bringing your other leg behind you in a backward motion. Hold for one count, now release the glute and step off the box with left leg, followed by the right. Repeat for reps; after that, switch sides.

Tip: 

Be careful not to spring up. You do not want to get a bounce motion in there. You are isolating the squeeze hold and the step up to ensure you aren't using your calves.

Side Band Walking

Butt exercise: Sideband walking

This exercise efficiently targets the glute-ham tie-in, where most women tend to carry body fat.

• Place a resistance fitness band just below your knees, slightly above your calves and descend to a quarter-squatting position, feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart to place tension on the band.
• To Keep abs tight and stay in the quarter-squat, step to the right with right leg first, then left, keeping tension on the band. Do reps; after that, switch sides to lead with left leg.

Barbell Hip Thrusts

We will use a bench and a barbell with a weight that we can handle well and complete the stipulated repetitions.

• Sit on the floor with your shoulders on a bench and the barbell on your thighs.
• Place the barbell on your pelvis and lift the weight by contracting your buttocks at the top of the exercise.
• Slowly return to the starting position.

If you are interested in learning all about this excellent exercise, you have to read our article "HIP THRUST, The Best Exercise for Perfect Butt."

Cable Hip Thrusts

It is a butt exercise, but you also workout your pelvis.

• Put a rope on the pulley.
• Stand with your back to the pulley while holding the rope with your hands between your legs.
• Move away from the pulley until the plates are raised by 6 to 8 inches.
• Tilt your trunk forward without arching your spine until your body is parallel to the ground.
• Return to the starting position by pushing on your buttocks and contracting them at the end of the movement.
• Perform 15 reps.

Medicine Ball Hip Thrusts

Butt exercise: Medicine ball hip thrusts

Moving the medicine ball closer or further away from your buttocks, you'll feel this exercise in different places of your glutes. Find the one that lets you feel it most in the lower middle portion of your glutes. For extra resistance, put a dumbbell or weight plate on the pelvis.

• Lie down on the ground, and you have to bend your knees and also put your heels on top of a small medicine ball.
• Contract your abs, then squeeze your hamstrings and glutes to thrust your hips upward. Hold for a count, then low yourself 3-quarters of the way back to the floor, keeping your abs contracted, and repeat.

Tip: 

Place your head on the floor. Doing this with your head up is the best way to pinch a nerve in your neck.

Wide-Stance Leg Press

Butt exercise: Wide-stance leg press

The wide stance transmits the action of the quadriceps to the femoral and the buttocks.

• Lie back in a 45-degree leg press machine, put feet high on the platform, so heels are resting on it at the top of the base of the press machine, your toes pointed out at 45-degree.
• Unhinge the weight, after that bend knees for bringing the platform toward the chest. Pause for one count, and squeeze glutes and hamstrings for pressing the weight back up.

Tip: 

Be sure the little of your back stays flush against the pad. It is straightforward for your glutes to come up, but that can create lower-back injuries.

Leg Press Kickback

Butt exercise: Leg press kickback

If your gym does not possess a dedicated butt blaster machine, use it; instead, it uses the same range of motion that works very well on the middle and upper parts of the buttocks.

• Turn yourself around in a 45-degree leg press machine, so your elbows and stomach are resting in the back, and the knees are in the seat. Now put one foot in the center of the platform. 
• Unhinge the weight, and after that, press your foot back at a 45-degree by straightening the leg, squeezing the glutes at the top. Go back halfway to the start position, then do reps.

Tip: 

Do not arch your back. Ensure your foot is square, so your toes are pointing straight down, and do not use a weight that is too heavy.

Smith Machine Box Squat

Butt exercise: Single-leg Smith machine box squat

Do this near the starting of your workout when your legs are new, and you can focus on the glutes.

• Set an aerobic step in a Smith machine and rest the bar across upper traps.
• Perform the squat movement until your glutes get to the box.
• Squeeze glutes to return to standing.

Tip 

Be sure you do not go too far down past parallel; anything more will stress the patella. Also, ensure not to bounce the motion.

Conclusion

The benefits of the firm and well-trained legs and glutes are evident, i.e., They look perfect in a pair of jeans. That is just one of many benefits.

But there are various reasons you need to have legs and glute exercises feature in your workouts.

The legs and glutes play an essential role in keeping your body aligned correctly, avoiding injuries, and giving the power for various movements, mainly walking or running up hills or stairs.

You should follow the legs and glutes gym routine mentioned above. You will get not only solid legs and glutes but also better shape.

Medically reviewed and approved by Nataniel Josue M.D.