Ultimate Leg Day Workout: Achieve Explosive Muscle Growth Today!

Leg Exercises – The Ultimate Guide to Leg Day

It’s crazy to think that so many weightlifters choose to skip leg day. Building large, powerful legs is the ultimate way to produce a well-rounded, strong physique. However, many regular leg day enthusiasts fail to see the growth they want. The reason for this most likely lies in using an old, stagnated routine that your legs are too used to.

Leg workout order

To build sizeable, muscular legs, you need to follow well-crafted workouts that keep things fresh and keep the muscles guessing. You also need to ensure that your workout is designed in such a way that you give 100% of your effort and leave nothing on the table. Well, here is the template for the ultimate leg day workout.

The 5 step approach to an effective leg day routine

Step 1: Carry out a proper warm-up

This step is pretty straightforward; however, far too many gym-goers fail to warm up correctly, if at all! Failure to do so will lead to an increased chance of injury and the ability to lift less during your workout that follows. A proper warm-up should effectively target your core, glutes and hip flexors. Leaving you flexible and pumped for the session ahead.

As a minimum, we recommend 10 to 15 minutes of light cardio. You could use the treadmill or exercise bike work well for this. Followed by another 10 minutes of slight to moderate stretching. It also helps to stretch your upper body as well, as exercises like squats engage muscles all across your body.

Step 2: Pre-exhaust your quads

Ok, now it’s time to move on to the heavy lifting! And here, we believe in starting the punishment right away. That’s why we recommend starting your session by pre-exhausting your quads. Leg extensions tend to work best here. It’s up to you how many sets you do/need; however, 5 is usually a good amount.

Start the first set off lightly, maybe 60% of your working weight for 10-12 reps. Increase this to 70% for the second set, 80% for the third, 90% for the fourth and 100% for the 5th. Leg extensions are great as they isolate the quads and force you to contract the muscles thoroughly. You’re now ready to move on to step 3 …

Step 3: Destroy your quads!

There are 2 main exercises here that I’m sure you’re familiar with. That’s right, squats and leg press. These 2 exercises are the staple of any good leg day, and we highly recommend starting with squats. This is because they engage so many other muscles and really force you to engage your core. 5 sets of 10 to 12 reps is a good amount.

Afterwards, your 5 sets of leg press are the best way to push your quads to the max and get everything out of them that you can. Again 5 sets is a good amount. For both squats and leg press, we recommend increasing your weight as you progress through the sets. If this means dropping the rep count as you go, that’s fine. Just focus on adding more and more plates and feeling your legs start to shake more and more after each set.

Step 4: Now it’s time for the hamstrings

It’s impossible to build huge, showstopping legs, without giving proper attention to your hamstrings. Lying leg curls are one of the best ways to isolate these and, once again, 5 sets where you gradually increase the weight is a good way to go. Afterwards, try out another 5 sets from any of the following:

Step 5: Don’t forget your calves

Far and away, one of the most challenging muscle groups to tackle and grow are the calves. They are the bane of bodybuilding for many die-hard weightlifters, simply because they don’t grow as quickly as you’d like. Well, it’s time to do away with the whole “no matter what I do, my calves just won’t get bigger” excuse. Instead, it’s time to change how you approach them.

First and foremost, you need to realise that calves are a powerful muscle group, despite their comparative size. They get used almost constantly every day, so achieving growth only comes through hitting them hard. They also have a fast recovery time, so 4 sets once a week won’t cut it.

As a bare minimum, it’s time to go for 8 sets of 15 to 20 reps, twice per week. And, most importantly, you need to stop doing calves alongside other leg day routines. Instead, we recommend incorporating them on your back day routine, as well as one other day. You can do them on leg day as well; be aware that you won’t exhaust them in the same way.

There’s no exact science as to how many reps to do. But, as a rule of thumb, you want to be going for the high rep range. Many bodybuilders do upwards of 30 reps per set. For Arnold Schwarzenegger type calves, aim for …

● 4 sets of Donkey Calf Raises
● 4 sets of Standing Calf Raises
● 4 sets of Seated Calf Raises

Taking your leg days to another level

OK, remember above where we said that you need to keep your leg muscles guessing? Well, if you follow the same routine week after week, then the benefits you’ll see will slowly start to diminish. As such, you must mix things up. And here are 4 extraordinary ways for you to do exactly that. All whilst following a similar, proven strategy as discussed above.

Use different equipment wherever possible

Compared to gyms 20, 10 or even just 5 years ago, you can now find an incredible range of equipment to train with. That is, as long as you choose to be a member of a high-quality gym. Either way, make use of the varied equipment available to you in order to mix up your sessions. Even just swapping between a free bar and a smith machine for squats is an excellent way to keep things different.

If you’re a member at Ultimate Fitness Birmingham, then you’ll find we recently invested in a new Hip Belt Squat Machine from Atlantis. This incredible piece of kit no longer requires you to carry the weight on your shoulders. Instead, you load up the machine itself and then strap the weight on through the hip belt. Offering a number of unique benefits and is already proving incredibly popular.

Access the power of pyramid routines

We mentioned these above, but here’s a little more detail. The idea behind a pyramid routine is to increase the weight lifted each set, whilst simultaneously decreasing the number of reps performed. These work well on any of the leg day exercises mentioned above. And to really mix things up, try reverse pyramids as well. Here’s a quick example of standard pyramid sets:

● Set 1 – 120 kg for 12 reps
● Set 2 – 140 kg for 10 reps
● Set 3 – 160 kg for 8 reps

And now for a reverse pyramid:

● Set 1 – 160 kg for 8 reps
● Set 2 – 140 kg for 10 reps
● Set 3 – 120 kg for 12 reps

Drop Sets and supersets for the win!

To really ensure you get the most out of each exercise, we recommend incorporating drop sets perhaps once or twice per session. Even drop setting your final set will enable you to push your muscles beyond their normal limits and to achieve real growth. The same goes for supersets. These allow you to couple up any exercises you wish. A good one to try would be super setting your barbell squats with Bulgarian Split Squats.

How much exercise for leg day?

As experts in monster leg growth, Si Fan recommends starting any leg session with 3 or 4 leg extensions! As a warm-up, squeeze at the top and ensure each rep has full range. In total, you should be aiming for 3 to 4 quad exercises, including leg extensions as a warm and two hamstring exercises. Leave your hamstrings for another day, focus on the quads more as they are the bigger muscle group. 

Perform variations on your squats

Squats really are one of the greatest exercises out there. They allow you to quickly build up tremendous amounts of strength, not just in your quads, but also in your core. Another reason why bodybuilders love them so much is that there are so many variations to perform. Making simple changes like increasing the width of your stance can work your quads in new ways. But to really mix things up, here are 3 squat variations for you to try:

1. Zercher Squats – These require you to hold the barbell in front of you, clamped between your forearms and your biceps. Be sure to drop the weight down when starting with these as it is far more demanding and requires you to engage your core in a whole new way.
2. Barbell Front Squat – Once again, this requires you to hold the weight in front of you. Except for this time on the front of your shoulders.
3. Goblet Squats – Hold a dumbbell in front of you and sink your butt right down towards your heels.

Some FAQ’s asked by our members about leg day 

Answered by Si Fan @ Ultimate Fitness Birmingham

How many quad exercises per workout?

This all depends on your current level and how many years of training you have under your belt.

For a beginner to novice, I recommend performing only two exercises for quads—a leg extension and some form of leg press, rep-wise, somewhere in the region of 12-15 reps per set, 3 sets of each.

Someone new to the gym does not need a lot of stimulus to make gains as their bodies will be very responsive to any form of new stress. They will achieve decent results just by doing 2 exercises, anymore will be overkill.

For someone who’s been training a little longer you can add another exercise like a hack squat or barbell squat after the leg press. Usually 3 to 4 sets of 10 will do the job. 3 exercises with enough intensity will be plenty.

Should you squat first on leg day?

Can you do squats and leg press on the same day? 

Yes absolutely! They are both the meat and potatoes of leg exercises which really build the quads unlike another exercises! Just look at all the best physiques in the world who had the best legs like Tom Platz, Jay Cutler, Paul Demayo they all did heavy squats and leg presses.

Do hamstrings and quads on different days

If you find that doing quads and hamstrings on the same day is a bit too much, then feel free do them on different days. As long as you have a few days rest between each one. That way, you should be able to work each muscle group far better individually than what you would be doing them on the same day. Just ensure you warm up properly on both sessions.

Rounding off

So there you have it, our 5 step guide to supercharging your leg workouts and increasing strength and size faster than ever before. To maximise gains, ensure that you are eating plenty in between sessions and taking necessary supplements to help keep your body fuelled as and when necessary. Here is a useful guide we compiled on gym supplements and using them to increase overall gains.

IF you are looking to develop your legs and want some professional help, please speak to us!!

First Published: 19th November 2019

Updated: 21th August 2023

Update: 15th December 2023

Latest Update: 12th July 2024