Today is good old leg day over here. Leg day used to be my favorite..now I have a love/hate relationship with it. I always switch up which workout day is my favorite, depending on which body part I want to work the most on and lately it’s been my shoulders. Legs are so important to train though because they contain some of the biggest muscle groups and will burn the most amount of calories!
Pictured above (Pants – Fabletics Lima Capris, Shoes – Puma Mobium XT, Top – Nike Pro Core)
I thought I’d share my workout with you guys. I’ll be heading to the gym soon to do it. Do it with me!
I am focusing on compound movements today so I can work multiple muscle groups at a time. Instead of isolated exercises like leg extensions, which target one specific muscle, I want to hit them all by using a bunch of compound exercises.
It’s not a super long workout but I will be able to get a great workout in by just doing the below exercises.
Squats – 4 sets of 8-10 reps
Stiff Legged Deadlifts – 4 sets of 10 reps
Barbell Lunges – 4 sets of 15-20 lunges
Inverted Leg Press super-set with calf press on same machine – 10-12 reps for leg press then 20 reps immediately after for the calf raises (just lower your feet to be hanging off the bottom of the leg press). Rest after superset. Repeat super-set 3 times.
For all exercises, rest about 60-90 seconds between.
Note: I guess this isn’t completely a compound workout because I added in calf presses at the end. That’s the only somewhat isolated movement but I wanted to make sure they got worked just as much as the rest of my legs.
Anyway…a little bit more about compound exercises…
Compound exercises allow you to work SO many muscles at once. Check out all the muscles that your squats and dead-lifts will work. BOOM!
Squats:
- Major Muscle Group: Quads, calves, hamstrings, glutes, lower back
- Minor Muscle Groups: Lower legs, upper back, core stabilizing muscles, hip complex
Deadlifts:
- Major Muscle Groups: Grip, lower back, hamstrings, traps, back of shoulders
- Minor Muscle Groups: Lower legs, core, upper legs, glutes
I always try to do squats and deadlifts first on leg day so while I’m full of energy so I’ll have less risk of getting hurt.
After lifting, I’ll do 10-15 minutes of sprints on the treadmill.
30 second sprint, 30 second recovery.
Some people believe you shouldn’t do cardio after leg day, but I think it helps completely fatigue the legs. Just BE CAREFUL, BE CAREFUL, BE CAREFUL!
After that, I’ll call it a day and be able to start my weekend off on the right (and totally fatigued) foot!
Do my compound leg day workout with me! Try it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.
It’s really good to see you doing compounds! So many people go to the gym, run on the treadmill for 20 minutes, do some leg curls and calf raises, and leave. Squats are so much better. Good stuff!