Workouts > Five days a week > Leg
5 days a week, leg days:
Important! pick one exercise from each row
You can exchange exercises after a couple of weeks to add more variety to your workout.
0
1
Barbell or weighted hip thrust
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
This exercise acts like a warm-up before your squats and helps you fire up those glutes to tackle them much better.
2
Squat (back squat)
3 sets, 6 to 8 reps
Front squat
3 sets, 6 to 8 reps
Make sure to check the personal trainer guide at the bottom of the page. Performing squats with heavy weights is much easier while you are doing them with barbells but if you don't have access to squat rack or barbells you can do them with dumbbells
3
Romanian deadlift
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Cable pull through
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Kettle swing
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Standing cable hip extension
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Romanian deadlift or stiff leg deadlift can be done with dumbbells or barbell as shown in videos below
4
Dumbbell Bulgarian split squat
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Leg press
3 sets, 6 to 8 reps
Hack Squat
3 sets, 6 to 8 reps
Step-up
3 sets, 6 to 8 reps
5
Glute ham raise
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Leg curl
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Nordic hamstring curl
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Nordic hamstring curl is like glute ham raise without the machine. Using a medicine ball for this exercise will help you to reach the full range of motion while progressing. The more advanced you get with the exercise you can rely less on the ball and do it on your own. If you don't have access to the ball you can limit your range of motion by putting an object in front of you and lower the height as you progress (fourth vide)
6
Reverse Lunges
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Lateral Lunges
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
You can do reverse lunges both with dumbbells on your side or barbell. Another great option is the walking lunges.
7
Standing calf raise
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
Calf raise on leg press machine
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
8
Cable or band hip abduction
3 sets, 6 to 10 reps
X band / Slingshot walks
3 sets, 15 to 20 reps
Side plank clamshell
3 sets, 12 to 15 reps
Your personal trainer tips:
Squat checklists and how-to videos:
Let's face it, squats are one of the trickiest moves of bodybuilding and so many people avoid them because they are afraid of injuries but ask anybody with enough experience in this field and they tell you that SQUAT is the king of all moves. That's why we went so far with this move and chose 3 videos after watching 100s of them for explaining the best form.
So let's take a couple of minutes of our day and focus on these important videos and learn how to do squat properly and how to avoid injuries:
First video, who is better than Dr. Aaron Horschig of Squat University for a squat checklist:
- Bar at the chest height before getting the bar off the rack
- Create tension in upper and lower body by inhaling in your abs and squeezing your shoulder blades
- Don't shrug under the barbell. You want to squeeze your shoulder blade and pull down the barbell
- Turn your feet slightly out to the side, 10 to 15 degree based on your anatomy and what feels more comfortable
- IMPORTANT! Squeeze your glutes to get a straight hip
- Breath in and then do the squat
- Turn your knees out toward your feet while going down
- Bar path should be a straight line on middle of your feet
If you want more tips about hip strength and mobility, check our YouTube playlist from best Squat University videos.
Second video, avoid knee pain:
- Apply pressure into the ground with your entire foot and do not shift the load toward your toes resulting in raising your heels
- You need good ankle mobility (watch videos for ways to improve it)
- You might feel more comfortable with a slightly more wider stance and pointing your toes out more
- Knees should be aligned with toes
- Don't lift with your ego! don't lift too much too soon
Third video, avoid back pain:
- Watch for but wink, try to film yourself from the side to see if you have that problem while squatting
- Increase your ankle mobility or don't go too deep if you are experiencing but wink
- Raising your heels by putting them on a swt of weight plates or wearing proper lifting shoes will help you to reduce this problem
- Don't let your hip rise faster than your chest, keep your chest upright while going up
- Breathe in before going down and brace your core, hold your breath while going down and coming up then exhale at top and repeat
How to do leg press:
In this video you will learn perfect form for the leg press from Moji Oluwa of MiamiMuscleUSA:
- Don't use too much weight
- Don't point your toes inward
- Never lock your kness and always go slow
- Feet shoulder-width apart
- Don't put your feet too low or too high
- Knees pointing to your shoulders
Hack squat tips:
Join Fouad Abiad for a couple of useful tips on how to do perfect hack squats:
- Don't put your feet too low or too high
- You can use resistance band to increase resistance in the way up
- Push with your heels and don't let your heels come off the stance
