Best Workout Plans for Women

Finding the best workout plan for women can feel overwhelming. With so many full body and glute-focused workout programs online, it’s tough to know which ones actually deliver results. That’s why we’ve created a clear guide to the most effective women’s workout plans — from full body routines to glute-focused programs — so you can pick the one that fits your goals and lifestyle.

The reality is that there is no standard plan that is ideal for all women. Every woman is unique and everyone has their own training goals. In this article, our aim is to provide some guidance so that you can find the best workout plan to meet your training style, goals, and situation.

The first step in identifying the best workout plan for you is to ask yourself some questions about what you want to achieve and what your situation allows. Consider your answers to the following:

1. What is your number one workout goal; fat loss, muscle gain, strength improvement, cardiovascular endurance, or something else?
2. How many days do you work out right now; how many days will work for you going forward?
3. How much time can you realistically devote to each training session?
4. Are you wanting to train at home or at the gym?
5. What type of workout do you prefer and most enjoy? Ultimately, that is what you are most likely to stick to.

Once you have answers to these questions, you will have narrowed down your options considerably. Let’s now take a look at the best workout plans for women to achieve different goals.

Many women build their workouts around certain parts of the body that they want to prioritize, such as their butt or abs. This is often because they don’t understand that you cannot spot reduce body fat. So doing endless reps of crunches or leg raises is not going to give you a six-pack. A far better idea is to train the whole body in one workout. [1]

The healthiest, and most productive way to exercise is to work all of the main muscles of your body. Doing so promotes equal muscle and strength development and helps you burn more calories for fat loss.

A full-body workout involves doing compound exercises that work more than one muscle group. In total, you perform 7 or 8 exercises for 3 or 4 sets per exercise. This is typically done 3 times per week on alternate days.

Example full body workout:

• Squat — 3 sets of 15/12/10 reps
• Lunge — 3 sets of 12 reps
• Dumbbell Bench Press — 3 × 12 reps
• Romanian Deadlift (RDL) — 3 × 12 reps
• Overhead Press (Military Press) — 3 × 10
• Cable Tricep Pushdown — 3 × 12
• Alternate Dumbbell Curl — 3 × 12

Weekly schedule:

• Mon: Full Body Workout
• Tue: Rest
• Wed: Full Body Workout
• Thu: Rest
• Fri: Full Body Workout
• Sat: Rest
• Sun: Rest

Here’s a full body workout plan you should try:

For many women, the glutes and thighs are the areas that they want to focus on in their training. These are the areas that fat naturally accumulates on the female body. The following workout allows you to target these trouble spots while also maintaining balance with the rest of the body.

• Barbell Bulgarian Split Squat — 3 × 15
• Dumbbell Reverse Lunge — 2 × 12
• Glute Bridge — 3 × 15
• Single-Leg Cable Kickback — 2 × 12
• Dumbbell Bench Press — 3 × 12
• Lat Pulldown — 3 × 15
• Cable Tricep Pushdown — 2 × 15

Weekly schedule:

• Mon: Workout
• Tue: 20 minutes treadmill — moderate intensity
• Wed: Workout
• Thu: 20 minutes rowing machine — moderate intensity
• Fri: Workout
• Sat: Rest
• Sun: 45-minute power walk

Here’s a glute-focused plan you should try:

A full body circuit routine combines resistance exercises to work your muscles with cardio exercises to get your heart beating faster and burn calories. You order the exercises so as to alternate back and forth between a strength and a cardio movement. You move through the whole circuit with no rest and then take a two-minute break before repeating it. This has proven to be a very effective way to shred calories while also stimulating your muscles.

Sample circuit:

• Dumbbell Squat — 15 reps
• Jumping Jack — 30 seconds
• Lunge — 12 reps (each leg)
• High Knee — 30 seconds
• Dumbbell Bench Press — 15 reps
• Burpee — 30 seconds
• Kettlebell Swing — 12 reps
• Butt Kick — 30 seconds

Here’s a full body workout plan that includes a lot of circuits:

HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. A HIIT workout is hard and fast, ramping up the intensity with short bursts of max-effort work followed by even shorter rest periods. This is a very effective way to train for fat loss because it brings on the enhanced post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) effect for several hours after the workout. This is due to a greater demand for oxygen, which boosts your metabolism.

You need a base level of fitness to be able to handle HIIT training. You can use a wide range of exercises as the basis of the workout, with the most common being running on a treadmill (or on a field), using an exercise cycle, or a rowing machine, but it can also be done with bodyweight exercises such as burpees.

Sample HIIT (treadmill):

• 2-minute warm-up at slowly building speed
• 20 seconds sprint (~Level 10)
• 10 seconds rest (feet off belt)
• Repeat 8 rounds
• 2-minute cool down

Do this workout no more than three times per week, with at least a day between workouts.

Here’s a full body workout plan that includes a lot of HIIT:

If your goal is to bodybuild or develop a lean, muscular physique, split routine training is the way to go. This involves dividing the body up so that certain body parts are worked together on different days. One of the most popular for many female lifters is Push/Pull/Legs.

With a Push/Pull/Legs program you train your upper body push muscles the first day, the pulling muscles the next day and legs on the third day. You can train each group once or twice per week depending on experience and schedule.

• Bench Press — 4 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8
• Dumbbell Incline Fly — 3 × 12
• Lying Tricep Extension (Skull Crusher) — 3 × 12
• Cable Tricep Pushdown — 3 × 12
• Overhead Press — 3 × 12
• Single-Arm Cable Lateral Raise — 3 × 12

• Lat Pulldown — 4 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8
• Seated Row — 3 × 12
• Cable Shrug — 3 × 12
• Incline Prone Reverse Dumbbell Scapula Retraction — 3 × 12
• Alternate Dumbbell Curl — 3 × 15/12/10
• Cable Curl — 3 × 12

• Squat — 4 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8
• Lunge — 3 × 12
• Straight-Leg Deadlift 3 × 12
• Leg Curl (Seated/Prone Machine) — 3 × 12
• Leg Press Calf Raise - 3 × 20

Weekly split:

• Mon: Push
• Tue: Pull
• Wed: Legs
• Thu: Rest
• Fri: Push
• Sat: Pull
• Sun: Legs

Here’s a split workout routine plan you should try:

You now have access to the four best workout plans for women based on specific training goals. If you’re still not sure which one is the best fit for you, try each workout for a month to discover which provides the best results and feels right for your training personality and situation. That’s the one to stick with long term.