Nobody enjoys it, but everyone should do it: leg day. While most people consider this a “skip day,” there are numerous benefits to leg day that your future self will thank you for.
According to Harvard Health, working out your leg muscles improves circulation, reduces fall risk as you age, and regulates your blood pressure. There are four main muscle groups that you want to train in your legs: quadriceps, gluteals, hamstrings, and calves. Consider following this routine to make an effective gym day that you actually look forward to.
Warm up
I can’t stress enough the importance of stretching before your workouts! Be sure to warm up with dynamic stretches like lateral and forward leg swings. These will lower your chances of injuring yourself and reduce soreness the next day.
First movements
Begin with compound movements that target multiple muscle groups. Examples of these are leg presses and hip thrusts. Doing two sets of eight and then finishing with one set until failure will have your legs already feeling it.
Pro tip: Having your feet positioned at the top of the leg press with your toes pointed outward will target your glutes. Moving your feet to the bottom of the platform with a narrow stance will focus on your quads and calves instead. I like to do two sets with my feet in each position.
Second movements
Your second movements should be “activation” exercises. For these, I typically perform three sets of eight on both the abductor and adductor machines, along with cable kickbacks. Combined, these will target your three gluteal muscles and adductors, which make up a massive part of your legs.
Pro tip: Leaning forward during your adductor and abductor sets will work your upper glutes more, whereas having your back against the seat will lead to outer hip gains.
Third movements
The third and final set of movements will be “isolation” workouts. These target muscles individually and will leave you feeling like your legs are growing after the first day. For these, I suggest Romanian deadlifts, hamstring curls, and leg extensions. Like the past exercises, two sets of eight repetitions followed by one set until failure will be effective. These specific exercises are more difficult to attain “perfect form” on, so it’s better to prioritize your form over the amount of weight that you are lifting.
Pro tip: On your Romanian deadlifts, shift your weight slightly more onto your heels to feel a better stretch in your hamstrings. When you’re performing each repetition, imagine that you’re closing a door with your glutes and always keep your head down!
Cool down
As I stated earlier when warming up, the same level of effort should be given to your cool-down routine. During cool downs, it’s essential that you perform static stretches. Some of my favorites are the runner’s lunge, seated forward fold, and butterfly. Additionally, if you feel that you should use it, I like to use a foam roller on my outer glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps. I find that it helps with my recovery and leads me to feel less sore the day after.
While this was a very basic overview of working through a leg day, including at least two exercises from each set of movements will do numbers for your lower body gains. Always remember that your warm-up and recovery are just as important as the workout itself.
I encourage each of you to try this out for yourselves and keep an eye out for my upcoming upper body routines!
Want to keep up with HCBU? Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, check out our Pinterest board, watch us on TikTok, and read our latest Tweets!