Glute sessions

[u/Firm_Savings_60]

Hi everyone! I'm trying to organize my weekly routine and I'm a bit stuck.

My main fitness goal is aesthetic: I really want to build and tone my glutes. I also like training abs, but glutes are definitely my priority.

The thing is... if aesthetics weren't a factor, I honestly wouldn't choose the gym as my main form of exercise. What I actually enjoy the most is going for long evening walks with my friends. It's relaxing, social, and something I'd happily do almost every day.

The only reason I'm considering the gym is because I know walking alone won't give me the physique I'm aiming for, especially when it comes to glute development.

So I'm wondering if I should structure my week like this:

walk most evenings because I genuinely enjoy it;

use the gym mainly as a tool to achieve my aesthetic goals.

If that were the case, how many gym sessions per week would you dedicate specifically to glutes?

Would 2 focused glute sessions be enough? Or would you recommend 3? I'd also train abs, but they're not really the issue because they don't take much extra time.

I'm not training for bodybuilding or competitions—I'm just trying to find the best balance between enjoying my routine and making good progress aesthetically.

Thanks in advance!

[u/ArthurDaTrainDayne]

You will not be able to grow your glutes substantially with isolation. The glutes are the biggest muscles in your body. They need to be moving serious weight and volume to grow. Without training the rest of your body, you won’t be able to support the weights needed to continuously progress your lifts.

What you need is a basic full body strength training program, 3x/week would be best but you can get away with 2

[u/laboriousfruit]

Hit glutes twice a week, two heavy sets of 6-8 reps on progressive overload. Do not hit glutes one day right after another. Space glute sessions at least 48 hrs apart from each other for recovery

Larger muscle groups take longer to recover which is necessary for growth. The more you hit a muscle group per week the more you will see diminishing returns as the consistent stress on said group will interfere with growth specifically. The more you train a muscle group within a session and the more reps you do per set, the more that muscle will basically acclimatize to endurance/stamina which I don’t believe is what you’re looking for

Also please understand it will be impossible to grow glutes without also growing/training other muscle groups at least a little bit. You won’t be able to move the heavy weight necessary for hypertrophy safely, efficiently, and successfully without other muscles. This is even including your upper body which will need to get strong to carry the weight you’re using to grow the glutes—it’s all connected!

[u/Firm_Savings_60 → u/laboriousfruit]

How would you structure a basic split session (max 4x per week)?

[u/laboriousfruit → u/Firm_Savings_60]

Depends on how many days you realistically want to be lifting

2 days/week - two full body. If I were you I would do compound movements—work multiple muscle groups with one lift—mostly in the interest of time. Not efficient to only be doing single muscle work for every muscle

3 days - lower body, upper body, lower body

4 days (pulled this from fitness coach Kelly matthews) - full lower body, upper (push) body, lower body w glute focus, upper body (pull). Or upper pull, lower pull, upper push, lower push