2-day full body workout plan for women with glute focus
Two full-body gym sessions a week for 8 weeks, for beginners, with the hip thrust in both and the glutes given the most sets.
Two sessions a week are enough to build muscle if each one trains the whole body and every set ends close to failure. This plan does it with the glutes first: day A opens with the leg press and the machine hip thrust, day B with the dumbbell Romanian deadlift and the same hip thrust, so the glutes get two different exercises in every session. The leg curl on day A and the leg extension and abduction machine on day B round off the legs. The glutes get 11.5 sets a week, most of them from the hip thrust and abduction, the quads and hamstrings 6 each. A pull and a press every day keep the back, chest and shoulders growing. Most exercises run on machines, so the plan is easy to start. Strength training works the same for women and men, so the plan suits anyone with two days to train.
| Split | Days a week | Level | Weeks | Minutes | Sets a week | Equipment | In the app |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full body | 2 | Beginner | 8 | ≈45 | 33 | Machines, Dumbbells | Full body · 2 days · Glutes |
Track this plan for free in SmartWorkout
The same exercises, sets, reps and RIR, ready in the app. Logging, rest timer and history are free. Automatic progression suggestions: Premium.
In the app: Plans → Full body · 2 days · Glutes
Good fit if
- You can train twice a week, about 45 minutes each time, and want your glutes to grow most.
- You are new to the gym or coming back after a long break.
- You would rather learn on machines, with dumbbells only for the Romanian deadlift and the shoulder press.
Take another plan if
- You can train three days a week: the 3-day full body plan with glute and leg priority builds more.
- You want the whole body trained evenly on two days: take the 2-day full body plan.
- You train at home: take the 3-day dumbbell glute plan for home.
Weekly schedule
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Body A | Rest | Rest | Full Body B | Rest | Rest | Rest |
Missed a day? Do the next session in order: the app runs the sessions in sequence.
Put two or three rest days between the sessions, for example Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday. Both sessions train the glutes, so avoid consecutive days.
The plan, week 1
Week 1 is calibration: pick a weight for the bottom of each range with one more rep in reserve than later. The RIR column shows week 1 → week 2 onwards; the grid below shows what changes in weeks 2-8.
Tempo 3-0-1-0: 3 s lowering, 0 s pause in the stretch, 1 s lifting, 0 s pause in the squeeze. X: lift as fast as you can while staying in control.
What RIR means →How to read tempo →
| Exercise | Sets × reps | RIR | Tempo | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WUWarm-up sets | 2 × 8 | – | – | 1:00 | |
A Leg Press | 3 × 8–12 | 3 → 2 | 3-0-1-0 | 2:00 | Feet a little higher on the platform for more glute work; go as deep as you can without your lower back lifting off the seat. |
B Machine Hip Thrust | 3 × 8–12 | 3 → 2 | 2-0-1-1 | 2:00 | Upper back against the pad, chin tucked; push through your heels and hold the top of every rep for a second. |
C Seated Leg Curl | 3 × 10–15 | 3 → 2 | 3-0-1-0 | 1:30 | |
D Cable Lat Pulldown | 3 × 8–12 | 3 → 2 | 3-0-1-1 | 2:00 | |
E Machine Chest Press | 3 × 8–12 | 3 → 2 | 3-0-1-0 | 2:00 | |
F Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 2 × 12–20 | 3 → 2 | 2-0-1-1 | 1:00 |
17 working sets · ≈45 min
| Exercise | Sets × reps | RIR | Tempo | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WUWarm-up sets | 2 × 8 | – | – | 1:00 | |
A Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift | 3 × 8–12 | 3 → 2 | 3-1-1-0 | 2:00 | Hips back, knees soft, dumbbells close to your legs; lower until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings and stop before your back rounds. |
| BMachine Hip Thrust | 3 × 8–12 | 3 → 2 | 2-0-1-1 | 2:00 | Upper back against the pad, chin tucked; push through your heels and hold the top of every rep for a second. |
C Seated Leg Extension Machine | 3 × 10–15 | 3 → 2 | 3-0-1-0 | 1:30 | |
D Seated Hip Abduction | 2 × 12–20 | 3 → 2 | 2-0-1-1 | 1:00 | Lean slightly forward. The chart counts it as half a glute set: it trains mostly the side of the glutes. |
E Seated Cable Row | 3 × 8–12 | 3 → 2 | 3-0-1-1 | 2:00 | |
F Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press | 2 × 8–12 | 3 → 2 | 3-0-1-0 | 2:00 |
16 working sets · ≈45 min
Track this plan for free
Week by week
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase | Calibration | Build | Build | Build | Build | Build | Build | Build |
| RIR | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Working sets | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 |
| What to do | Find your weights | Reps, then weight | Reps, then weight | Reps, then weight | Reps, then weight | Reps, then weight | Reps, then weight | Reps, then weight |
| Done: Full Body A | ||||||||
| Done: Full Body B |
No planned deload: beginners recover between sessions at this volume. If two sessions in a row go backwards, take an easy week.
Saved only in this browser. The app keeps your weights and reps.
Worked example: Leg Press
Sample numbers of a simulated lifter, worked through with the manual rule on this page.
| Week | Weight | Reps per set | RIR | Next session |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 95 kg | 8 · 8 · 8 | 3 | Calibration done: add reps |
| 2 | 95 kg | 9 · 9 · 9 | 3 | Add reps |
| 3 | 95 kg | 10 · 10 · 10 | 2 | Add reps |
| 4 | 95 kg | 11 · 11 · 11 | 2 | Add reps |
| 5 | 95 kg | 12 · 12 · 11 | 2 | Last sets catch up |
| 6 | 95 kg | 12 · 12 · 12 | 2 | All sets at the top: 97.5 kg |
| 7 | 97.5 kg | 11 · 11 · 11 | 3 | Add reps |
| 8 | 97.5 kg | 12 · 12 · 12 | 3 | Next run starts at 115 kg |
How to progress on this plan
The simplest method that works on any plan: double progression. Keep the weight and add reps while you finish your sets with the reserve in the RIR column. When every set reaches the top of the range, add one step and build the reps up again.
- Leg Press 3 × 8–12 at RIR 2: when all 3 sets reach 12 reps at RIR 2 or easier, add 2.5 kg next session.
- Machine Hip Thrust 3 × 8–12 at RIR 2: when all 3 sets reach 12 reps at RIR 2 or easier, add 2.5 kg next session.
- Cable Lat Pulldown 3 × 8–12 at RIR 2: when all 3 sets reach 12 reps at RIR 2 or easier, add 2.5 kg next session.
- Machine Chest Press 3 × 8–12 at RIR 2: when all 3 sets reach 12 reps at RIR 2 or easier, add 2.5 kg next session.
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift 3 × 8–12 at RIR 2: when all 3 sets reach 12 reps at RIR 2 or easier, add 2 kg next session.
- Seated Cable Row 3 × 8–12 at RIR 2: when all 3 sets reach 12 reps at RIR 2 or easier, add 2.5 kg next session.
- Isolation exercises (10–20 reps) follow the same rule. With light dumbbells, the next pair can be too big a jump: use the in-between weight, or stay and go 1-2 reps above the range for a week or two.
- The machine hip thrust is the main lift and comes in both sessions with the same 3 × 8-12, so each session builds on the last one: two chances a week to add a rep.
- Everything else comes once a week and is compared with the same day a week earlier. On two days a week that means slower steps on those exercises, which is normal.
- After week 8, run the plan again with week 1 as calibration: enter a week-8 set in the starting-weights calculator below.
What to do next session
| You logged | Next session |
|---|---|
| All sets at the top of the range with the planned reserve | One weight step up |
| Below the top, with the planned reserve | Same weight, +1 rep on the sets that allow it |
| One rep less in reserve than planned | Same weight and reps: repeat the session |
| Sets below the range, or RIR 0 when the target was 2 | Keep the weight; if sets fell below the range, one step down |
| No progress for 2 sessions | Check rest and honest RIR; after a 3rd session, about −10% and build back up |
Your starting weights
Enter a recent set of the exercise: weight, reps and how many reps you had left. You get the week-1 weight for the bottom of the range with one rep more in reserve, from the widely used RPE chart (RTS).
Weekly volume per muscle
Working sets per muscle in a regular week, counted the way the app counts them: a set is 1 for a muscle the exercise trains directly and 0.5 for one it trains indirectly. Warm-ups don't count.
- Chest3 · 1×/wk
- Back6 · 2×/wk
- Quadriceps6 · 2×/wk
- Hamstrings6 · 2×/wk
- Gluteus12.5 · 2×/wk
- Side delts4 · 2×/wk
- Rear delts1.5 · 0×/wk
- Biceps–
- Triceps3 · 1×/wk
- Front delts4.5 · 1×/wk
- Calves–
- Abs–
- Trapezius4.5 · 1×/wk
- Lower Back3 · 1×/wk
Abs and calves are optional. From 10 sets a week the app labels a muscle "High volume": above its default target and still productive.
Substitutions
Choose your substitute in week 1 and keep it for all 8 weeks: the app tracks progress per exercise. Each substitute trains the same muscles directly, so the volume above stays the same.
Adapt the plan
- Short on time
- Skip the lateral raise on day A or the abduction machine on day B: each saves about 4 minutes. Keep the hip thrust and the first exercise of each day.
- Bulking or cutting
- Keep the plan as it is in both. On a cut, aim to hold your weights: reps that drop by one or two are normal, and you can skip the last set of the isolation exercises if recovery suffers.
- Bringing up one muscle
- With two sessions, every muscle gets direct work at most twice a week. To bring up one upper-body muscle, add 2 sets for it on the day without it, for example reverse flyes on day A for the rear delts (about 4 minutes).
- Over 40
- Warm up a little longer, keep one more rep in reserve on the heavy barbell lifts and take the full rest. Joints decide the pace, not the calendar.
- Training at home
- This plan uses gym machines. At home with dumbbells and a bench, take the 3-day dumbbell glute plan for home.
The same plan in the app
The app opens exactly this plan: all 8 weeks, the same targets, week 1 calibration included. Its description in the app:
Two full body (FBW) workouts a week with glute priority for beginners, e.g. Mon and Thu, mostly on machines, with dumbbells for the Romanian deadlift and the shoulder exercises. Both workouts have the machine hip thrust, plus the leg press on one day and the Romanian deadlift on the other. Glutes get about 12 sets a week, quads and hamstrings 6 each, the upper body fewer. 8 weeks: week 1 is calibration (pick weights that leave 3 reps in reserve, RIR 3), weeks 2-8 at RIR 2. Progression: add reps first, then weight once every set reaches the top of its range at the target RIR.
Free: the plan, logging weight, reps and RIR, the rest timer, history, previous results and the calculators.
This page teaches the manual method. With Premium, the app suggests the weight and reps for every set after each workout, from the weights, reps and RIR you logged, including week-1 calibration and the deload. Its suggestions can differ from this simple rule because it uses more of your data.
Track this plan for free in SmartWorkout
The same exercises, sets, reps and RIR, ready in the app. Logging, rest timer and history are free. Automatic progression suggestions: Premium.
In the app: Plans → Full body · 2 days · Glutes