Workout of the week: 30-min lower body workout

ALL LEVELS / lower body workout / 30 minutes

Equipment: Barbell, dumbbells, hack squat machine & leg extensions machine

Some dread leg day, others love it, but no one is indifferent to it. Lower body workouts offer numerous benefits, such as increased strength, improved stability, and enhanced athletic performance. However, one advantage is often overlooked: they burn more calories than other workouts. This is largely because most leg exercises require you to engage your entire body, resulting in a higher calorie expenditure.

You can enjoy all these benefits with this 30-minute lower body workout. It features 5 exercises, each consisting of 12 reps. You’ll complete 3 rounds, resting 1-minute between each round and exercise. Altogether, this workout should take you around 30 minutes to complete.

Deadlift
Dumbbell lunges
Hack Squat
Leg extensions
Squat to calve raises

Let’s crush this leg day!

WORKOUT SETUP

3 rounds
5 exercises
12 reps
1-minute rest between exercises and rounds
30 minutes

WORKOUT EXERCISE LIST

3 rounds

1 – DEADLIFT

12 reps

Stand with your feet under the barbell, hip-width apart. When you look down, the barbell should run halfway over your feet.
Bend down and grasp the barbell with a shoulder-width grip.
Keeping your torso upright and your back and arms straight, stand and pull the bar up the front of your legs, driving with your legs.
At the top of the movement, squeeze your glutes, pull your shoulders back, and exhale.
To return the bar to the floor, push your butt backwards and lower the bar down the front of your legs, keeping your back straight.
Once the bar passes your knees, bend your knees and lower the bar to the floor.
Keep your arms and back straight, your torso upright, and your feet and knees pointing in the same direction.
At the top of the lift, do not hyperextend your back.
Keep the barbell close to your body to improve mechanical leverage.

2 – DUMBBELL LUNGES

12 reps

Stand tall and hold the dumbbells by your shoulders.
Step your right leg forward keeping the heel down.
Raise the heel of the left leg.
Then, lower the torso until the back knee touches the ground, with a full hip and knee extension.
Repeat.

3 – HACK SQUAT

12 reps

Stand on the machine with the cushions over your shoulders.
Adopt a foot stance similar to the one you use for regular squats.
Engage your core so that you feel the cushion pushing against your body.
This machine is perfect for helping you squat to great depth.
Slowly descend until you feel like losing either core stability or the contact of your pelvis with the cushion.
Repeat.

4 – LEG EXTENSIONS

12 reps

Sit up straight on the leg extension machine.
Adjust the pad so it sits on your lower leg and just above your feet.
Extend your legs straight out in front of you, making sure you’re using your quads to power the movement.
Then slowly lower them back to the starting position.
Repeat.

5 – SQUATS TO CALVE RAISES

12 reps

Standing up straight, place your feet slightly further than shoulder-width apart with your toes pointing outwards.
Extend your arms in front of your body.
Now squat down until your upper leg is about parallel to the floor.
Explosively lift yourself and finish the exercise by standing on your toes when returning to the top.
To further enhance explosiveness, you can use your arms for momentum.
Repeat.