Muscle groups / Glutes
Glutes: exercises and weekly sets
Glutes landmark: 10 working sets a week on the Zyra Workouts dashboard — 4 exercises train it as the primary muscle and 10 credit it at half weight. The full lists, the counting rule and the related groups are below.
Also searched as: gluteals, gluteus maximus.
Landmark and half-weight rule: Zyra Workouts dashboard defaults. Typical rest = the most common default rest among the primary exercises above (the catalog's per-exercise value; the app lets you override it).
Exercises that train glutes
Primary exercises credit glutes with a full set each; secondary exercises credit it with half a set. Open any exercise for its rep targets, progression step and alternatives.
Primary (4)
- Hip ThrustBarbell · ×1
- Glute BridgeBarbell · ×1
- Cable Glute KickbackCable · ×1
- Reverse LungeDumbbell · ×1
Secondary (10)
- Conventional DeadliftBarbell · ×0.5
- Romanian Deadlift (Barbell)Barbell · ×0.5
- Back SquatBarbell · ×0.5
- Front SquatBarbell · ×0.5
- Leg PressMachine · ×0.5
- Hack SquatMachine · ×0.5
- Bulgarian Split SquatDumbbell · ×0.5
- Walking LungeDumbbell · ×0.5
- Romanian Deadlift (Dumbbell)Dumbbell · ×0.5
- Good MorningBarbell · ×0.5
How secondary work is counted
The app credits every working set to the exercise's primary muscle in full and to each secondary muscle at 0.5. So a week's glutes total is primary sets × 1 + secondary sets × 0.5, and its coverage bar is min(total ÷ 10, 1). Warm-up sets are excluded before anything is counted. In the 4-day upper/lower template that comes to 6 + 9 = 15 for glutes, at or above the landmark.
In plain terms: a set of a big compound movement that merely involves glutes is worth half a set of an exercise built around it. This is the app's bookkeeping rule, not a measurement of anything — a way to make one number comparable across muscles. Check a planned week with the weekly sets calculator.
Frequently asked
How many sets a week for glutes?
The Zyra Workouts dashboard uses 10 working sets a week as the glutes landmark — the target its coverage bar for glutes fills toward (coverage = sets ÷ 10, capped at 100%). It is the app's default for reading a week, not a prescription; a coach or your own log can set a different target.
Which exercises train glutes?
4 exercises in the catalog train glutes as the primary muscle — Hip Thrust, Glute Bridge, Cable Glute Kickback, Reverse Lunge. 10 more list it as a secondary muscle (Conventional Deadlift, Romanian Deadlift (Barbell), Back Squat, Front Squat, Leg Press, Hack Squat, Bulgarian Split Squat, Walking Lunge, Romanian Deadlift (Dumbbell), Good Morning); each of their sets counts half toward the glutes total.
Do secondary exercises count toward glutes sets?
Yes, at half weight: every working set of an exercise that lists glutes as a secondary muscle adds 0.5 to the weekly glutes count, against 1 for a primary exercise. Reaching the 10-set landmark from secondary work alone would take 20 such sets. Warm-up sets never count.
Related muscle groups
Other groups in the lower body region:
Compare all 11 muscle groups →
Guides for glutes
Track glutes sets automatically
Zyra Workouts counts every logged working set toward its primary muscle and half toward each secondary one, and shows this week's glutes coverage against the 10-set landmark on its dashboard. It is in development and not yet on the App Store.
Zyra is a training and nutrition tracking tool. Nothing on this page is medical advice, a diagnosis, or an individual prescription. The numbers are estimates from published formulas and the apps' own rules — consult a qualified professional for decisions about your health, and a coach for your training.