The muscles in your legs are some of the biggest in the body, which means you need more resistance and effort to train them. This is one of the reasons why your leg day workout can feel so tiring.
I remember when I went through months of physical therapy learning how to walk again after a major surgery, my quads and hamstrings had become so weak on one side that they would shake when I first started to workout. I would often walk back to my car with jelly legs. By the end of physical therapy and plenty of leg days, I developed serious muscle strength in my quads and hamstrings on both sides, so it’s worth it.
There are ways to make your leg day workout routine less tiring and more bearable, such as by choosing exercises you like and reducing volume (number of sets). You’ll also get stronger over time as you stick with it. Let’s delve into what you need to make substantial leg gains and ensure your gym efforts produce results, including your leg muscle anatomy, FAQs, and the best leg day workout routine.
What is a leg day workout?
A leg day workout focuses on exercises that specifically work the muscles in your legs. Leg day workouts usually include compound leg exercises like leg presses and squats that work multiple muscle groups simultaneously. You’ll also see isolation exercises like leg curls. Some fitness buffs also include dynamic exercises and moves like hill sprints.
You can use your body weight with squats and lunges, or you can add weights and try exercises like Bulgarian split squats and goblet squats.
Why is it important to train your legs?
Training your legs is physically demanding but especially important. Your legs carry you around all day, every day. When you’re jumping, sprinting, quickly changing directions, or lifting something heavy up off the ground, your leg muscles are putting in a lot of work.
People often focus on the upper body, but leg day and lower body training is a key part of developing a strong and balanced physique. Boosting the power in your leg muscles can also make you a better runner, which should perk up the ears of those training for a marathon. Researchers have found that lower body strength training can improve running economy through neuromuscular adaptations.
Research reveals training strengthens your leg muscles and boosts testosterone levels. You’ll also improve your metabolism and burn calories, which can promote weight loss. Leg exercises also improve your balance, flexibility, and coordination, so it’s true what they say: Don’t skip leg day.
What major muscles make up the legs?
On leg day, you’ll be working the following major muscle groups in your legs:
- Quadriceps – Front of your thighs
- Hamstrings – Back of your thighs
- Calves – Lower legs
You’ll also be working your glutes, or, shall we say, the derrière, along with smaller muscle groups like your hip flexors and your adductors and abductors in your inner and outer thighs.
Your muscles don’t work in isolation during resistance training, and even though you can perform exercises that target specific leg muscles, they have overlapping functions. For example, both the hamstrings and glutes aid in hip extension, while both the hamstrings and quads aid in knee flexion.
How often should you train your legs?
How often you should train any body part depends on various factors, including exercise intensity, volume (number of sets in a workout), recovery time, and personal preference.
Regardless of all these factors, most people will be fine training their legs two to three times per week. A study compared two groups of individuals — one group trained twice weekly, and the other trained four times. At the end of the study, researchers found that training a muscle group twice weekly was more beneficial for muscle and strength gain. Try to avoid back-to-back leg days to give your muscles sufficient time to rest and recover.
You should also consider the fact that your legs have many muscle groups, so you can divide your training days to focus on specific muscle groups in your legs. For example, you can have a glute-focused, quad-focused, or hamstring-focused leg day. Training like this allows you to pay extra attention to leg muscles that might be lacking.
How to warm up
It’s a good idea to warm up before jumping into leg day with some dynamic stretches and moves like lunges, high knees, and a hamstring stretch. Stretching and warming up helps increase blood circulation and heart rate and gets your muscles ready to work. You could try throwing in a little low-intensity cardio at the start of the workout, such as a treadmill or indoor exercise bike.
Incorporating progressive overload
Progressive overload involves gradually increasing the weight and intensity of your workouts over time as you develop strength and fine-tune your fitness. Researchers have found that incorporating progressive overload promotes gains in strength and muscle hypertrophy, which refers to an increase in muscle size.
Optimal number of exercises, sets, and reps
The optimal number of exercises, sets, and reps for a leg workout also depends on multiple factors, including your fitness level and goals.
How many reps should you do per set?
High-rep (15 and above) and low-rep (six and fewer) work for muscle growth as long as they’re taken close to muscular failure. However, you can also use weights that you can perform eight to 12 reps with (moderate load), especially if you’re a beginner.
On the other hand, if you’re training for strength, it is advisable to do even fewer reps. Research supports that lower rep ranges (three to five) of a moderate to heavy weight are beneficial for strength gain in the long run.
How many exercises and sets should you perform?
Again, this can depend on preferences. However, doing three to four sets of four different exercises is ideal for one workout. If you take all your sets to failure, you can try only performing two sets because the sets are more intense. It also depends on how much time and energy you have available for your leg day workout. Try to rest between 60-90 seconds between sets.
To make things easier, we’ve detailed three sample leg day workouts to get a sculpted lower body below.
The best leg day workout routine
Each leg day workout focuses on the glutes, quads, and hamstrings, respectively. But don’t worry; the exercises hit all the muscles in the legs and can help you achieve well-rounded growth.
You can also mix and match exercises based on your preferences and how you feel on particular days.
Day 1 – Glute-focused leg day
- Glute kickbacks: 3 sets x 12 reps
- Romanian deadlifts (RDLs): 3 sets x 8 to 15 reps
- Hip abductors: 4 sets x 8 reps
- Standing calf raises: 3 sets x 10 to 12 reps
Day 2 – Quad-focused leg day
- Leg extensions: 3 sets x 12 to 15 reps
- Heel-supported barbell squats: 3 sets x 10 reps
- Leg presses: 2 sets x 10 to 15 reps
- Walking lunges: 3 sets x 10 reps (per leg)
Day 3 – Hamstring-focused leg day
- Seated hamstring curls: 3 sets x 8 to 15 reps
- Stiff-legged deadlifts (SLDLs): 2 sets x 10 to 15 reps
- Lying hamstring curls: 3 sets x 8 to 15 reps
- Standing or seated calf raises: 4 sets x 12 reps
Top leg day exercises
Experienced fitness buffs like Jeff Nippard prioritize effective moves like weighted walking lunges, Romanian deadlifts, and seated leg curls. You can choose from a range of effective leg day exercises. Here’s a list of some of the best below:
- Squat
- Romanian deadlift
- Bulgarian split squat
- Seated leg curl
- Leg extension
- Goblet squat
- Hamstring curl
- Barbell hip thrust
- Glute bridge
- Explosive vertical jump
- Kettlebell swing
- Walking lunges
- Leg press
- Step-ups
- Jump squats
Tips for getting the best results
- Warm up properly: Try several minutes of dynamic stretching, light cardio, and warm-up sets before you get started.
- Stay hydrated and breathe: Training legs can feel tiring, leaving you out of breath after almost every set. Try drinking a lot of water prior to training and sip some while exercising. Remember to get some air, too! Take deep, slow breaths, as these help you to recover faster between sets.
- Don’t eat a meal just before you train: Many people report feeling nauseous if they eat right before training. This nauseous feeling can be even worse on leg day because it requires more effort and strength. So, if you’re hungry, it’s best to eat a light-carb snack so that you still feel light while you train. Intra-workout carbs could also help if you’re training for a while.
- Eat to fuel muscle growth: Consume plenty of protein, which helps you build muscle, and try to eat a healthy, balanced diet for optimal results.
- Always prioritize proper form: Your lower back comes into play when you train your legs. Exercises that involve the deep core, like barbell squats and Romanian deadlifts, can cause lower back pain when not performed correctly. So, ensure that you use just enough weight so that you can lift with proper form. Don’t sacrifice form on the altar of ego.
- Track your progress: Try tracking your progress with a fitness tracker.
FAQs
How many exercises should you do on leg day?
It’s up to you how many exercises you do on leg day, but 3 to 5 is a good place to start with about 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps.
Can leg workouts make you faster?
Yes, leg workouts can make you a faster runner. Research shows that training your leg muscles improves running economy.
Can leg workouts make you jump higher?
Strengthening those major leg muscles could also improve your jumping power so you can jump higher. It’s a good idea to throw in moves like jump squats and box jumps on your leg day to work on your jumping power.
