Build Monster Legs & Glutes With This Best Workout!
Bulging, carved quads are like flashing neon signs announcing that you are a cyclist, and you’ve come to kick some ass. And those diamond-cut cannons are more than just aesthetically pleasing in your spandex. The four muscles collectively called the “quads” are the primary movers when you push through the pedal stroke, so stronger quads equals more watts.
There is a reason that the squat is considered the king of all exercises.
Achieving a four-plate squat takes hard work, dedication, and an incredible amount of effort. And more than that, a big squat requires a massive amount of lower body strength, a heap of persistence, and a whole lot of mental toughness to boot.
Furthermore, find me someone with a big squat and I will show you a person with a monster pair of wheels.
Squats are actually a family of exercises that combine hip and knee extension, and there are any number of variations, all of which have their own value. Some differ by bar placement, others by type of equipment used, and still others by foot position.
Yes, you could start your leg day with front squats or a single-leg squat variation. But for this mass-building routine, we’re going with the high-bar back squat, in which the barbell sits atop the upper traps. This version is preferred by most bodybuilders because it hits the lower-body musculature fairly evenly, and because you can move more weight with it than most other variations.
The most common recommendation is to squat at least to a point at which your thighs are about parallel to the floor, but honestly, that’s relative to each individual and their flexibility. No matter how deep you go, it’s paramount that your spine remains neutral and never rounds, which can put dangerous forces on the discs.
The solution: Work on your flexibility; tightness in your hip flexors and calves can also affect the depth of your squats. That, along with tightening up your technique will pay off big time—as long as the form is good, a deeper squat is always a better squat.
We’re still looking at knee- and hip-extension movements, and your best choice is probably one that matches up best with your personal weaknesses. Most recreational lifters come up a little short with quad development, so the front squat is the on-deck hitter in this routine.
The simple change of moving the bar from behind your head to the front changes how the load is distributed over the lower-body musculature. It emphasises the quads over the glutes and hams, which means you’ll have to lighten the load. The movement also requires that you maintain a more vertical position, which can be kinder to your back while also enabling you to squat deeper.
Make It Monster
Because you’ve already done serious strength work for sets of 6, consider a lighter weight that can be done for sets of 10-12. You’ll work some different muscles, but also give some of the same ones a slightly different stimulus.
3. Add A Heavy Posterior-Chain Movement
The classic deadlift is weightlifting at its best. A simple, effective move that should have a spot in the workout line-up of anyone who has a weights routine. The exercise strengthens muscles throughout your posterior chain – all the muscles that run down the back of your body from your neck to your heels.
That focus on the back of your body makes the deadlift especially important because, in all aspects of life, people have a natural tendency to ignore what they cannot see. When it comes to your muscles that tendency often results in people spending hours in the gym beefing up their pecs and biceps while ignoring their back muscles and triceps. And when you shift to the lower body, this tendency leads to people forgetting all about their hamstrings – which, as you’ve probably already guessed, is a big mistake. The hamstrings are vital for impressive leaping, and rapid acceleration and deceleration, not to mention the fact that you won’t be able rack up a respectable barbell squat without strong hammies.
Fortunately you can address any such by adding the Romanian deadlift to your workouts. This variation on the standard deadlift places even more focus on the hamstrings than the original exercise, building their flexibility, strength and power.
The Romanian deadlift is also a move you can do anywhere, because you don’t need to use very heavy weights for it to be effective. While using the gym’s barbell is the simplest way to do the Romanian deadlift, you can swap out free weights for anything heavy if working out at home. Not having to lift huge weights is not only convenient, but also means there’s less risk of putting your back under undue pressure, which can be a problem with the standard deadlift.
Make It Monster
Once you master the form, you should be able to push some very good weight with these. After warm-ups, shoot for 2 heavy sets of 8 reps and 2 back-off sets of 12 reps.
Don’t let the fact that you can’t load these up like back squats fool you into thinking this is a weak movement.
What’s more, you can adjust your foot position to change the focus. Higher on the sled hits the glutes and hams more, while lower on the sled shifts more of the focus to the quads. Likewise, the deeper you go, the more the hams and glutes have to work.
Since this portion of the workout is when you’re looking to deliver a serious pump to your muscles, drop sets make far more sense here than, say, with back squats. The pump promotes hypertrophy by driving blood into the tissue, a different growth mechanism than the tension generated by those heavy squat sets early in your routine.
A leg-curl movement, which better emphasises the lower half of the hamstrings above the knee, is also a nice complement to the upper-hams-focused RDL. It’s a pump movement of the first order as well, making it a perfect finisher.
There is a reason that the squat is considered the king of all exercises.
Achieving a four-plate squat takes hard work, dedication, and an incredible amount of effort. And more than that, a big squat requires a massive amount of lower body strength, a heap of persistence, and a whole lot of mental toughness to boot.
Furthermore, find me someone with a big squat and I will show you a person with a monster pair of wheels.
1. Start With A Free-Weight Squat Variation
Squats are the obvious place to begin your leg-day thrashing. Why? Let us count the ways. Squats are the most challenging leg movement, you can move the most weight with them, they recruit all the lower-body musculature (and more core and upper body than you might think), and they’ve been shown to spike muscle-building hormone release better than any other movement.Squats are actually a family of exercises that combine hip and knee extension, and there are any number of variations, all of which have their own value. Some differ by bar placement, others by type of equipment used, and still others by foot position.
Yes, you could start your leg day with front squats or a single-leg squat variation. But for this mass-building routine, we’re going with the high-bar back squat, in which the barbell sits atop the upper traps. This version is preferred by most bodybuilders because it hits the lower-body musculature fairly evenly, and because you can move more weight with it than most other variations.
The most common recommendation is to squat at least to a point at which your thighs are about parallel to the floor, but honestly, that’s relative to each individual and their flexibility. No matter how deep you go, it’s paramount that your spine remains neutral and never rounds, which can put dangerous forces on the discs.
The solution: Work on your flexibility; tightness in your hip flexors and calves can also affect the depth of your squats. That, along with tightening up your technique will pay off big time—as long as the form is good, a deeper squat is always a better squat.
Make It Monster
Do multiple warm-up sets, pyramiding up in weight each time, but never come close to failure in warm-ups. Most workouts designate the 8- to 12-rep range as the proper muscle-building zone, but in the first few working sets of your workout, when your strength levels are highest, opt for the heavier loads. So instead of choosing a weight at which you fail at about 8 reps, go slightly heavier for sets of about 6. This gives you a slightly better strength-building stimulus.2. Do Another Squat Variation, Adjusting The Intensity And Angle
No, it’s not time to start doing machines yet. In this workout, you won’t even go near a machine until the end of your training session.We’re still looking at knee- and hip-extension movements, and your best choice is probably one that matches up best with your personal weaknesses. Most recreational lifters come up a little short with quad development, so the front squat is the on-deck hitter in this routine.
The simple change of moving the bar from behind your head to the front changes how the load is distributed over the lower-body musculature. It emphasises the quads over the glutes and hams, which means you’ll have to lighten the load. The movement also requires that you maintain a more vertical position, which can be kinder to your back while also enabling you to squat deeper.
Make It Monster
Because you’ve already done serious strength work for sets of 6, consider a lighter weight that can be done for sets of 10-12. You’ll work some different muscles, but also give some of the same ones a slightly different stimulus.
3. Add A Heavy Posterior-Chain Movement
The classic deadlift is weightlifting at its best. A simple, effective move that should have a spot in the workout line-up of anyone who has a weights routine. The exercise strengthens muscles throughout your posterior chain – all the muscles that run down the back of your body from your neck to your heels.
That focus on the back of your body makes the deadlift especially important because, in all aspects of life, people have a natural tendency to ignore what they cannot see. When it comes to your muscles that tendency often results in people spending hours in the gym beefing up their pecs and biceps while ignoring their back muscles and triceps. And when you shift to the lower body, this tendency leads to people forgetting all about their hamstrings – which, as you’ve probably already guessed, is a big mistake. The hamstrings are vital for impressive leaping, and rapid acceleration and deceleration, not to mention the fact that you won’t be able rack up a respectable barbell squat without strong hammies.
Fortunately you can address any such by adding the Romanian deadlift to your workouts. This variation on the standard deadlift places even more focus on the hamstrings than the original exercise, building their flexibility, strength and power.
The Romanian deadlift is also a move you can do anywhere, because you don’t need to use very heavy weights for it to be effective. While using the gym’s barbell is the simplest way to do the Romanian deadlift, you can swap out free weights for anything heavy if working out at home. Not having to lift huge weights is not only convenient, but also means there’s less risk of putting your back under undue pressure, which can be a problem with the standard deadlift.
Make It Monster
Once you master the form, you should be able to push some very good weight with these. After warm-ups, shoot for 2 heavy sets of 8 reps and 2 back-off sets of 12 reps.
4. Include A Unilateral Movement To Work Each Leg Individually
Now that you’ve got the heavy bilateral work out of the way, it’s time to work each of your legs individually. The Bulgarian split squat, where you stabilise your rear leg on a bench behind you, is an ideal choice. Elevating your rear leg forces the front thigh, especially the quad, to pick up more of the workload, while also torching the glute of that leg. If the balance component is too difficult at first, you can substitute split squats or lunges. In a pinch, you can do these on the Smith machine.Make It Monster
You can’t use much weight on this movement, even if you didn’t precede it with the other squats. Shoot for 3 sets of 10 reps, alternating sides.5. Add Volume As You Train For The Pump
You won’t build great legs with machines alone, which is why the leg press isn’t very high on the list. But machines are ideal at increasing your training volume later in your workout, when your thighs are fried and you have trouble maintaining balance and good form.Since this portion of the workout is when you’re looking to deliver a serious pump to your muscles, drop sets make far more sense here than, say, with back squats. The pump promotes hypertrophy by driving blood into the tissue, a different growth mechanism than the tension generated by those heavy squat sets early in your routine.
Make It Monster
Ready your mind and embrace the assault on your thighs. Do 3 sets of 10-12 reps, doing a double drop on your last set to magnify the burn.6. Finish The Hamstrings With A Single-Joint Movement
The hamstrings are antagonists to the quads, so you want to ensure they’re getting plenty of work to match what you’ve been doing for the front side of your body.
A leg-curl movement, which better emphasises the lower half of the hamstrings above the knee, is also a nice complement to the upper-hams-focused RDL. It’s a pump movement of the first order as well, making it a perfect finisher.
Make It Monster
Finish off this monster leg workout with 3 sets of hamstring curls, doing a double drop on the last set like you did with the leg press.The Monster Leg Workout
- Warm-up sets are not included; do as many as you need, but never take warm-ups to muscle failure.
- Choose a weight that allows you to approach muscle failure by the target rep listed. Rest as needed, but try to decrease the amount of rest you need over time.
- On exercises 5 and 6, do a double drop-set on your final set. That is, once you reach initial muscle failure, quickly reduce the load by about 25 percent and continue the set.
- Once you reach failure again, do another 25 percent drop and do as many reps as you can.
- On the first week of this program, do just 2 sets of the first two exercises to control the degree of muscle soreness, and stop all sets of all movements about a rep short of muscle failure. As you progress, adjust the volume and exercise selection as necessary to ensure you remain within your abilities.
Monster Leg Workout
1.Barbell Full Squat- 3 sets, 6 Reps
- 3 sets, 10-12 Reps
- 4 sets, 8 Reps
- 2 sets, 12 Reps
- 3 sets, 8-10 Reps
- 3 sets, 10-12 Reps (Double Dropset on Last Set)
- 3 sets, 8-10 Reps (Double Dropset on Last Set)
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