Looking for that perfect routine for leg day?
I know some of the best leg workouts to help you reach your goals! Your legs house the biggest muscles in your body - So training them is important.
But whether you're an athlete or just want to look and feel your best ... Leg workouts can be very helpful in attaining your goals.
Leg day doesn't have to be boring either. It can include a wide variety of exercises like lunges, squats, and much more.
If you do leg workouts at the gym, stick around. I'll run you through the best leg exercises you can try as well as the benefits of leg workouts.
You'll leave here today with the knowledge you need to have some great leg workouts at the gym.
Benefits of Leg Workouts
Leg workouts are about much more than just being strong and looking good. In fact, I bet many of your daily activities require your legs.
I could go on and on about the benefits leg workouts have to offer. For today, I'll stick with three of the biggest benefits of leg workouts.
Stronger Leg Muscles
Shocker - Leg workouts can help strengthen your leg muscles. I don't think anyone is surprised that resistance training can build strength and power (1).
Obviously, having stronger legs can be great for many different reasons. For example, it could help make daily movement easier. Just think about how much walking you do every day.
On top of that, consider everything else we use our legs for. Going upstairs, sitting down, and even picking something up off the ground will all use your legs.
If you have a specific strength or performance goal ... Leg workouts can also help with strength and performance in other areas. Think about how beneficial stronger legs could be for the linemen on a football team. Having big and strong legs can help give them a solid foundation.
More Calories Burned
No matter what kind of exercise you do, you will burn calories. That doesn't mean that you burn the same amount of calories with every kind of exercise that you do.
In fact, you burn as much as two times as many calories with intense leg exercises vs upper body exercises (2). So, simply doing leg workouts at the gym can be a great way to burn calories.
Especially if your goal is to lose weight, I always encourage regular leg workouts.
Improved Performance
To some, performance may be improving their sport performance. To some, performance may be being able to hike more. To some, performance may be how comfortable they are while walking.
Whatever it means for you, leg workouts at the gym have shown to improve performance (3).
Leg Workouts at the Gym: The Best Exercises
When it comes to your leg workouts at the gym, they shouldn't be the same thing every time. I always recommend varying your exercises and finding new ways to challenge yourself.
For that reason, I wanted to give you some of the best leg exercises you can do. We'll run through the exercises, then I'll give you couple full leg day workouts to try.
Squats
Muscles Targeted: Squats are going to target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, hips, and calves.
How It Helps: Squats are known to be a classic when it comes to building strength and muscle in your legs. They can help improve your core stability, balance, and overall performance too.
How To Do Squats
1. Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart.
2. With your toes pointing forward, begin to lower yourself down. It should feel like you're about to sit back into a chair.
3. Keep bending at your ankles, knees, and hips until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
4. Push through your heels from the bottom of the movement and return to starting position.
5. Repeat for as many reps as programmed.
Leg Press
Muscles Targeted: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
How It Helps: This is an exercise that is known to help increase strength. There are a bunch of different variations that you can do too!
How To Do a Leg Press
1. Sit in the leg press machine with your feet on the platform spaced roughly shoulder width apart.
2. Release the platform from the safety bar, making sure not to lock out your knees. This is the starting position.
3. Slowly lower the platform toward your body by bringing your knees in toward your chest. Make sure your lower back remains flat on the seat as you do this. Continue to bend at your knees until they form a 90-degree angle.
4. Pause for a second at the bottom before pushing through your legs to bring the platform back to the starting position.
5. Repeat for as many sets and reps as programmed.
Lunges
Muscles Targeted: Glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.
How It Helps: These can help with unilateral leg strength, balance, coordination, and even core stability!
Lunges can be translated to a lot of real-world activities too ... Walking, running, jumping - You name it.
How To Do Lunges
1. Stand upright with your feet together. You can grab a pair of dumbbells or do them without weight.
2. Take a step forward with your right leg tracking your knees over your toes. Sink into your right leg, bending at each knee. Keep going until each knee is bent at roughly 90 degrees.
3. Push through your front leg as you step your back leg up to meet at center.
4. Repeat the same movement, this time stepping forward with your left leg.
5 Repeat this for an equal number of reps on each leg.
Hip Thrusts
Muscles Targeted: Glutes, hamstrings, quads, and hips.
How It Helps: This is an exercise that will target your glutes more than most others. That's great because a lot of strength is generated through your glutes in other exercises as well as daily movement. For this exercise, you'll need a loaded barbell and a bench.
How To Do a Hip Thrust
1. Before you get started, place a loaded barbell on the ground to the side of a bench. Sit between the barbell and the bench, resting your upper back on the bench.
2. Extend your legs out in front of you and roll the barbell over your legs into your hip crease. From here, you may wrap the bar with a towel or use some padding to protect your hips.
3. Point your knees toward the ceiling and plant your feet on the ground. Grab the bar with an overhand grip slightly outside of your hips. This is the starting position.
4. Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes to push your hips and the barbell toward the ceiling. Keep going until your knees, hips, and back are all in a straight line.
5. Squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement and pause for a second.
6. Now, slowly lower your hips back to the ground to complete one rep. You can repeat this for as many reps as you like or have programmed.
Lateral Lunges
Muscles Targeted: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, adductors, and abductors.
How It Helps: Lateral lunges help with the strengthening of all of the muscles above. They can also help promote better balance and coordination. It's not an easy exercise, but is definitely one to throw in your leg workouts at the gym.
How To Do Lateral Lunges
1. Stand up straight with your feet together.
2. Take a big step out to your right and shift your weight over your right hip. Bend your right knee as you sink into a single leg squat. Make sure to keep your left leg straight and on the ground for support.
3. When you're as low as you can comfortably go, pause, then push through your right leg to stand upright and bring your right leg back to center.
4. Repeat this with your left leg, alternating between legs for reps.
Example Leg Workouts At The Gym
Looking for a good workout you can try out today? I put together a beginner, intermediate, and advanced leg workout. That way, no matter your fitness level, there's a workout here for you to try.
Beginner Leg Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Walking Lunges | 3 | 10 Each Leg |
| Romanian Deadlift | 3 | 12-15 |
| Squats | 3 | 12-15 |
| Hip Thrusts | 3 | 10 (2 Second Hold at Top) |
| Lateral Lunges | 3 | 10 Each Leg |
Intermediate Leg Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Squats | 3 | 8-12 |
| Reverse Lunges | 3 | 10 Each Leg |
| Hip Thrusts | 3 | 8-12 |
| Lying Leg Curl | 3 | 10-12 |
| Leg Extensions | 3 | 10-12 |
| Standing Calf Raise | 3 | 10-12 |
Advanced Leg Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Squats | 4 | 8-12 |
| Romanian Deadlift | 4 | 10 |
| Walking Lunges | 4 | 10 Each Leg |
| Leg Press | 3 | 8-12 |
| Lateral Lunges | 3 | 10 Each Leg |
| Seated Leg Curls | 2 | 12-15 |
| Leg Extensions | 2 | 12-15 |
How To Get The Most Out Of Your Leg Workouts At The Gym
If you're anything like me, you're always looking to get the most out of your workouts. Well, following a good program is certainly a good start. You'll want to find something that is continually challenging you and pushing you to that next level.
Beyond that, your nutrition will also be important for earning the best results. Just consider how much better your workouts could be with the proper fuel in your tank too.
With that being said, knowing what to eat to reach your goals can be a challenge. Even finding a good workout program can be a challenge.
If you're not sure where to start or exactly what to do to see results, that's what we're here for! In fact, we designed the 1st Phorm App to give you all the resources you need to be successful.
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References:
(1) Torres-Banduc, Maximiliano et al. “Effects of different lower limb strengthening protocols on muscle activity, strength and power in sedentary and physically inactive subjects: a systematic review.” “Efectos de diferentes protocolos de fortalecimiento de miembro inferior sobre la fuerza, potencia y actividad muscular en sujetos sedentarios y físicamente inactivos: una revisión sistemática.” Nutricion hospitalaria vol. 41,1 (2024): 202-211. doi:10.20960/nh.04551.
(2) Reis, Victor Machado et al. “Energy cost of isolated resistance exercises across low- to high-intensities.” PloS one vol. 12,7 e0181311. 24 Jul. 2017, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181311.
(3) Chelly, Mohamed Souhaiel et al. “Effects of a back squat training program on leg power, jump, and sprint performances in junior soccer players.” Journal of strength and conditioning research vol. 23,8 (2009): 2241-9. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181b86c40.
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