The New Rules of Leg Day Ultimate Workout to Grow Lower Body Muscle

20 min read

BIG BICEPS ARE cool, but jacked leg muscles may just be the true hallmark of a dedicated lifter. After all, it takes a tremendous amount of time and muscle stimulation to grow the largest singular muscles on your body. From glutes like the Heated Rivalry guys to more powerful legs for sprinting and jumping, you’ve got solid reasons to train your legs hard.

But leg day is never easy, which is why every post-leg-day meme involves a guy barely walking out of the gym. The challenge for everyday guys is finding a leg training program that’s hard enough to induce hypertrophy without making every waking moment outside of the gym feel like a crippling slog for days.

That’s exactly what you’ll get in this plan—which is the centerpiece of MH’s New Rules of Leg Day program. “I won’t lie to you,” says Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. “At times, you’ll be sore. But you’ll still be in and out of the gym in about an hour, four days per week. You’ll put in real work, but you’ll still be able to live your life.”

Your Leg Growth Prerequisites

“IN ORDER TO get the most out of your leg workout, there are a couple of key things you need to hit,” says Samuel. Think of these prerequisites as non-negotiable pieces of the program. Some are lifestyle habits you can follow outside the gym, and others are training rules. All of them are important for optimizing your results.

Eat in a Slight Calorie Surplus

“When training legs, we are working very large muscle groups, and we're going to try to take a lot of these sets very close to fatigue,” explains Samuel. “In order to do that, you cannot go into the gym and not have your nutrition on point. You need some extra calories to play with.”

Watch our nutrition explainer for the full plan, but aim for a slight surplus of 250 additional calories per day to promote muscle growth while minimizing fat gain. There’s one small study that suggests even a small bump in calories can yield results similar to the traditional bulk-cut cycle, with fewer fat pounds.

Aim for (At Least) 7,000 Steps Per Day

The workouts in this program only take up four to five hours of your week. The point is to stimulate muscle growth, which they do well, but increasing your step count is the best way to promote recovery and joint movement, stay on top of your conditioning, and burn additional calories to keep fat at bay.

“If you really want to recover from these workouts, the best way you can recover, in addition to the foam rolling and compression boots and all the other things people do…is going to be to walk around,” says Samuel.

Take Your Full Rest Between Sets

Without enough rest between your sets, your muscles won’t have the juice they need to push intensely enough for meaningful growth. You’ll be tempted to fly through your sets with a minute of rest, but Samuel urges you to resist that temptation and choose training quality over getting it done quickly.

“The best way to do that is to take the full two minutes and 30 seconds between each set, and then come back to the set and really hit it hard,” he says.

Do a Warmup Set Before Each Major Movement

“With legs, you should be training heavy enough that you need those warmup sets to get there,” says Samuel. “You don't need to hit these hard. I'm talking about, you know, maybe three to five reps, and just getting a little bit of work under your belt before you go into your heavy set.”

Before each major lift, perform two to three warmup sets (depending on your working weight) to groove the movement pattern and prepare your body for the harder sets ahead. This is especially important for hinges, deadlifts, split squats, lunges, and leg presses—any movement where you can move a relatively appreciable amount of weight.

Get Close to True Failure

“Most people do not train hard enough, and that’s why they don’t see results,” says Samuel. “So, you have to make sure to push yourself, and you have to make sure to get close to failure.”

Muscle and strength gains only come if you train hard, and that’s measured by the intensity with which you lift your working weights. For most of the listed exercises, you should aim to finish with just one or two reps left in the tank (also known as reps in reserve). After four weeks, you’ll take every set to technical failure—meaning you can’t do another rep with good form—and reset for the next four weeks.

Use the Weekends to Move Like an Athlete

“A zero day is something that happens when we think we have trained really, really hard throughout the week, and then Saturday or Sunday comes, and you’re like, 'Okay, because I trained really hard, I need to recover by not moving at all,’” says Samuel.

Samuel suggests completely eliminating or severely limiting the number of “zero days” you have during the week. This doesn’t mean you need to put the pedal to the floor each day, but you’ve got to stay moving. For example, keep your rest days semi-active by going for an extra walk, playing a sport, or doing mobility work—move like an athlete in a way that doesn’t impede your next day’s workout.

How the Program Is Set Up

YOU’RE GOING TO train four days per week, with two upper-body days and two lower-body days. But—and please remain calm as you read this—you’re going to train your legs during all four workouts. “You can actually train your legs a lot more than people think,” says Samuel.

The two designated lower-body days are where you’ll tackle your heavy compound movements, such as deadlifts, lunges, and squat variations. On your upper-body days, Samuel programs just one “smaller and easier” isolation lift to sneak more growth-promoting lower-body volume into the plan without crushing your recovery.

Mobility work is also a staple in this program. Heavy leg exercises can leave your hips and lower back feeling tight fast, so don’t skip the two mobility movements at the beginning of each workout. They’re there to help you move better, train harder, and keep showing up for the next session.

A Word on Progression

You’ll run this program in four-week blocks, with the goal of improving your performance each week. For every lift, aim to add a little weight—even just a few pounds—or complete one more rep than you did the week before. Once you can complete all of your sets at the top end of the prescribed rep range, increase the weight and start the progression over.

At the end of each four-week block, Samuel suggests taking one set of your key leg exercises to failure. This gives you a better sense of where your strength stands and how hard you’re actually capable of pushing.

SESSION 1:

Lower Body

Spiderman Lunge

EB SAYS: “This is one that has always been my favorite, really great way to open up the hips, also gets this twisting a little bit, winds up attacking our upper body a little bit.”

SETS AND REPS: 60 seconds

HOW TO DO THE SPIDERMAN LUNGE:

Start in the pushup position, hands directly below your shoulders, abs and glutes tight.
Step your left leg forward so it’s alongside your left hand and your knee forms a 90-degree angle. Squeeze your right glute as you do this, and hold for a second.
Keeping your left hand on the ground, reach your right hand toward the ceiling, continuing to keep your hips square. Your eyes should follow your right hand.
Reverse the movements back to pushup position, then repeat on the other side.

Hip 90-90

EB SAYS: “I want you to think about reaching forward, that's going to help you open up your lower back, and you're also going to reach back, that's going to help you open up your psoas and your hip flexor.”

SETS AND REPS: 60 seconds

HOW TO DO THE HIP 90-90:

Sit on the ground with your legs extended in front of you, keeping them bent at 90 degrees and your weight on your heels.
Keeping your legs bent at 90 degrees, rotate your legs to the left until the outside of your thighs are pressed against the ground. Reach in the direction you rotated to emphasize the stretch.
Peel your legs off the floor, pivoting on your heels and rotating your thighs up and over to the other side until your legs are again pressed into the floor.

Barbell Romanian Deadlift

EB SAYS: “The key on the Romanian deadlift is keeping the bar—or dumbbells—very close to your shins and pushing your butt back. We’re trying to attack the hamstrings and glutes, and start the week with an exercise you can really go heavy on.”

SETS AND REPS: 1 warmup set + 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps

HOW TO DO THE BARBELL ROMANIAN DEADLIFT:

Load the bar onto a rack just below hip-level, grab the weight using an pronated (overhand) grip, then stand holding the bar. Or, use standard deadlift form to lift the bar—stand with your feet at about shoulder-width close to the bar, push your butt back and hinge forward to grab the bar with an overhand grip, then push your feet through the floor to stand straight up.
Squeeze your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes. Turn on your lats by "breaking the bar"—turn your armpits forward while gripping the barbell hard.
Push your butt back, then hinge at the hips to lower your torso and "glide" the bar down your thighs. Keep your spine and neck in a neutral position by looking at the ground.
Lower down until you feel tension in your hamstrings.
Pause for a count, then squeeze your glutes to stand back up to the starting position. Continue squeezing the glutes to bring your hips into extension to finish the rep.

Front-Foot Deficit Split Squat

EB SAYS: “This is a very, very safe exercise for you to take to complete fatigue on that final set, because when you can't do any more reps, you just drop the dumbbells two inches, and then you're done. Focus on getting a lot of knee flexion, so that we can really attack our quads.”

Elevating the front foot increases your range of motion, which places more demand on your quads and glutes. Stay upright, control the descent, and drive through the front foot to stand tall.

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 8 to10 reps

HOW TO DO THE FRONT-FOOT DEFICIT SPLIT SQUAT

Start standing in front of a raised platform (a weight plate or two stacked will do), with a pair of dumbbells on the floor on either side of you. Step one foot up on the platform, then lower down on the other knee, creating 90 degree angles with both legs. Lean forward slightly.
The midfoot and toes of your back foot should be on the floor. Your feet should be on "train tracks,"—in other words, parallel to each other. Gaze straight ahead to keep your neck in a neutral position.
Squeeze your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes. Grip the dumbbells tightly.
Fire your rear glute to stand up.
Lower back down, but don't slam your knee on the floor. Instead, keep your balance and float just above the floor, before firing back up to standing.

Somersault Squat

EB SAYS: “Essentially, we're taking our upper body completely out of the equation on the somersault squat, and all we're doing is focusing on a lot of knee flexion. Own the eccentric, try to get your hamstring to cover your calf on every rep, and really feel that stretch. That’s the key to getting the most out of the somersault squat.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

HOW TO DO THE SOMERSAULT SQUAT:

Start with your feet shoulder- to hip-width apart on the floor, or with your heels slightly elevated on a pair of small weight plates or a slant board. Set the kettlebell between your feet so that the handle is parallel to your legs, bisecting your body.
Place your forearms deep into the creases of your hips. Squat down with your arms in this position so that your hands reach the kettlebell’s handle, and your hamstrings are on the backs of your calves. Grab the handle of the kettlebell.
Push back with your legs so your torso comes forward as your butt goes up and back. At the top of this position, you’ll basically be at the bent-over position of a good morning or stiff-legged deadlift exercise.
Bend your knees to return to the starting position, with your hamstrings returning to the backs of your calves. Continue in this way for 10 to 20 reps.

Offset Kettlebell Swing

EB SAYS: “This gives you four and a half minutes of heart-rate work that will push your limits. It also hits your hamstrings and glutes, and gives you an athletic way to finish the workout.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 rounds of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off

HOW TO DO THE OFFSET KETTLEBELL SWING:

Begin in a standard swing starting position a few feet away from the bell—but step one foot back slightly, keeping your hips and shoulders square.
Push you butt back, then lean over to grip the bell's handle. Hold on tightly.
Squeeze your shoulder blades, then shift your arms to turn the pits of your elbows outward. Squeeze your abs to create tension. Keep your eyes on the floor to maintain a neutral spine.
"Hike" the weight back between your legs, keeping your knees slightly bent. Keep your arms straight.
Stand straight up, locking your knees, and aggressively squeeze your glutes to perform the swing. Keep your arms loose, like ropes connecting yourself to the kettlebell. Don't aim for a certain point; allow the momentum to determine how high the bell goes.
Allow the weight to fall back down, back through your legs.

SESSION 1:

Upper Body

Spiderman Lunge

EB SAYS: “Expect to be a little bit sore [from Day 1.] Use this to feel out your hips.”

SETS AND REPS: 60 seconds

Cat-Cow

EB SAYS: “This will get you into a couple good spine positions and help to relax your lower back.”

SETS AND REPS: 60 seconds

HOW TO DO THE CAT-COW:

Get in a tabletop position (hands, knees, and feet on the ground), with the shoulders above your wrists. Your knees slightly wider than hip width.
Round your back as much as possible, while spreading your shoulder blades and bending in your neck as much as possible
Look up to slowly begin arching your back, taking two to three seconds to create as much spinal extension as possible while squeezing your shoulder blades.
Continue alternating between extension and flexion, moving for 2 to 3 seconds per each rep.

Incline Bench Row + Pushup

EB SAYS: “I do want you going heavy on this superset, so that we can push our upper body a little bit, but the idea here is that because we're doing rows on the incline bench…taking our lower back out of the equation since that lower back put in some work yesterday.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps (row) + max reps (pushup)
HOW TO DO THE INCLINE BENCH ROW:

Set your bench up to a 45 degree angle. Sit down on the bench with your chest on the pad top, feet planted. Squeeze your core and glutes.
Pick up your dumbbells. Squeeze your shoulder blades together.
Drive with the elbow first, pulling it towards the ceiling and back towards your ribcage. Don’t lift the chest off the bench.
Squeeze and pause at the top for a few seconds.

HOW TO DO THE PUSHUP:

Start in a high plank position, with your palms flat on the floor, stacked directly below your shoulders.
Squeeze your shoulders, glutes, and core to create full-body tension. Your spine should form a straight line, with a neutral spine.
Bend your elbows to descend to the floor, stopping with your chest just above the ground. Your elbows should be at a 45 degree angle relative to the torso.
Press back up off the floor, raising up to the top position with your elbows fully extended.

Close-Grip Lat Pulldown

EB SAYS: “Another little piece that's going to happen on this close-grip pull down, in addition to attacking your lats and attacking your biceps and covering our pulling, it's also going to help traction out your spine and open up your lower back a little bit.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
HOW TO DO THE CLOSE-GRIP PULLDOWN:

Set seat at a comfortable height. Grab the handle, using a neutral grip if it's a V-handle or underhand grip for the more standard wide bar.
Focus on keeping your feet planted into the ground, core tight, and maintain a tight grip on the bar.
Lean back slightly—do not arch your back for this—then, squeezing your shoulder blades, drive them down as you pull. Remember to drive your elbows down as well as you pull the bar to the top of your chest.
Hold momentarily at the bottom, then return to start position under control.

Half-Kneeling Windmill to Overhead Press

EB SAYS: “You do not need to go heavy on this. We want to hit the movement pattern, but you can essentially think of this as a good way to give your lower back a little bit of a stretch and a little bit of a different stimulus.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 6 reps per side

HOW TO DO THE HALF-KNEELING WINDMILL TO OVERHEAD PRESS:

Start in a half-kneeling stance, foot set slightly wide, glutes squeezed and core tight, dumbbell or kettlebell held at your shoulder.
Tighten your core and press the weight overhead.
Keeping your core tight, hinge forward, lowering your free elbow to the ground. Keep watching the kettlebell as you do so; your chest will open to one side as you do this.
Explosively press back up, lower the bell to your shoulder, then repeat.

Hip Thrust

EB SAYS: “You're going to do 15 reps again on this set, but then you're going to rest for about five deep breaths, and then you're going to go right back in and do as many reps as you can. Make sure that you actively squeeze your glutes at the top of every single hip thrust rep on these.”

SETS AND REPS: 1 warmup set; 1 set of 15 reps and 1 set of 15 reps/to failure
HOW TO DO THE HIP THRUST:

Start with a barbell and bench to set up. Samuel recommends using an EZ curl bar or short barbell to start.
Get down on the ground, with your back facing the bench. Place your shoulder blades against the bench.
Pick a point directly in front of you to focus your gaze to help to keep your spine in a neutral position.
Lift your hips up to find the proper position for your feet. Your shins should be parallel with the floor, with your feet about hip-width apart.
Roll the bar up to your hips just above your pelvis (for comfort, use a pad on the bar if possible). Grasp the bar with a tight overhand grip.
Drive the weight up, squeezing your glutes as much as possible. Open your knees up as you drive to help protect your knees. Pause at the top, emphasizing the contraction.
Lower back down to the start.

SESSION 2:

Lower Body

Spiderman Lunge

Use this drill again to open your hips and prepare your body for heavier lower-body work. Move with control and focus on getting into strong positions.

SETS AND REPS: 60 seconds

Hip 90/90

This drill reinforces hip mobility before you load your lower body. Keep the movement smooth and avoid forcing range you don’t have.

SETS AND REPS: 60 seconds

Trap Bar Deadlift

EB SAYS: “This should be the exercise where you're moving the most sheer load and you're picking it up from the ground. On the last set of this, I want those six reps to be incredibly hard, even if you fall a little bit short. If you only get four or five reps, I'm good with that, as long as you're really pushing.”

SETS AND REPS: 1 warmup set, then 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps
HOW TO DO THE TRAP BAR DEADLIFT:

Position yourself inside the trap bar, with your shins aligned with (or just in front of) the center of the bar.
Push your butt back as far as possible, bend your knees, and reach down to grip the handles. Grip as tightly as possible.
Keep your head in a neutral position, keeping your gazed fixed at something in front of you. Squeeze your shoulder blades to create tension, and turn the pits of your elbows forward, facing out.
Make sure your hips are lower than your shoulders, then prepare to initiate the lift.
Push your feet through the floor to stand straight up, squeezing your glutes at the top.
To finish the rep, push your butt back as far as you can, then bend your knees to set the weight down.

Walking Lunge

EB SAYS: “The walking lunge, when done with heavy weight, and when you're really pushing your limits, is a really, really great way to build quads, glutes, and hamstrings, and it's going to build a lot of total body conditioning too.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 8 to 10 steps per leg under load, the bodyweight lunge back to start
HOW TO DO THE WALKING LUNGE:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart holding a pair of dumbbells at hip-level. Squeeze your glutes, and, and shoulder blades, keeping your gaze neutral at a point straight ahead of you.
Step forward and slightly out with one leg, landing with your heel first. Avoid slamming your knee into the ground. Keep your chest in an upright position, bending your knees to form right angles with both of your legs. Turn on your forward glute muscle to help protect your knees.
Drive off the ground with your front heel to drive up, stepping forward into the next rep with your rear foot cycling forward. Keep your torso in a solid upright position by squeezing your core to stay balanced.

Goblet Lateral Lunge

EB SAYS: “I want you to think about this less as just a pure strength move and more as a mobility move. How low can you get? How much can we sink into that working side knee? The more you can get out of that, the more of a stretch you're going to get on your adductor on the other side, and that is more what we're playing for the mobility of this move.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 8 reps per leg
HOW TO DO THE GOBLET LATERAL LUNGE:

Start standing, holding a kettlebell or dumbbell at your chest in a goblet position, core tight.
Step to the right a few feet with your right leg, taking a relatively large step.
Land. Keeping your left leg straight, bend your right knee and push your butt back, lowering slowly.
Lower as far as you can comfortably, aiming to get thigh parallel to the ground.
Then explosively drive up and to the left, driving back to a standing position.

Leg Press

EB SAYS: “Make sure these are 15 good reps. Take your time lowering with control and make sure that you press all the way up. Try not to lock out your knees at the top of every single rep.”

SETS AND REPS: 1 warmup set, then 2 rest-pause sets of 15 reps, 5 reps, then reps to failure
HOW TO DO THE LEG PRESS:

Get into position on the machine with your feet planted on the sled about hip-width apart.
Press through the sled with your feet, maintaining tension in your torso. Release the sled from the safety lock, then control the weight down.
Watch your knees as you lower the weight, making sure you don't allow them to cave in or track excessively outward.
Lower down as far as you can, maintaining upper body tension with your back flush against the pad. Don't allow your butt to raise off the seat; if you shift you've gone too deep.
Press through the pad with both feet to raise the wait back up, extending your knees.
As you fatigue, you can perform reps within a shorter range of motion.

SESSION 2:

Upper Body

Spiderman Lunge

SETS AND REPS: 60 seconds

Cat-Cow

SETS AND REPS: 60 seconds

Bird-Dog Row

EB SAYS: “The mistake everybody tends to make with an exercise like this: they think this is some kind of Pilates move, and they can do it with five-pound dumbbells. Focus on squeezing that back leg glute; that's what's going to keep you stable. We're sneaking in a little bit of isometric work for our glutes, for our core, in addition to getting that really good horizontal pull.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps per side
HOW TO DO THE BIRD-DOG ROW:

Start in a quadruped position (on all fours) on a bench. Your wrists should be stacked directly beneath your shoulders.
Look straight down at the ground (you'll continue this throughout the whole movement. This allows you to maintain a neutral spine. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to create tension, then squeeze your abs to set your ribs. Your spine should be straight, not rounded.
Extend one arm straight out, keeping it in line with your torso. At the same time, squeeze your glutes to raise the opposite leg. Pause for a count at the top, maintaining tension to keep your shoulders or hips from dropping. Lower your limbs down under control.
Grab a dumbbell and row it up to your ribcage. Pause at the top before lowering back down.
Repeat on the movement with the opposite arm and leg.

Dumbbell Incline Press

EB SAYS: “Try to take that good glute squeeze that you got from the bird-dog rows into this incline press. Just in general, when we are pressing, if we can learn to squeeze our glutes that much harder, we're going to get more out of the press.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
HOW TO DO THE DUMBBELL INCLINE PRESS:

Sit on the incline bench set to a 45 to 60 degree angle holding a set of dumbbells. Drive your feet into the floor, drive your glutes into the seat, squeeze your abs, and drive your shoulders into the back pad.
Raise the dumbbells to your shoulders. If the weight is too heavy, use your knees to kick the bell up. Your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor.
Press the weight straight up, keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the ground.
Once the weight is up, drive your shoulders down to create tension. Shift the angle of your arms by turning your hands slightly in.
Lower the weight back down toward your chest as your chest flexibility allows, at least until your elbows are below your shoulders.

TRX Rotational Row

EB SAYS: “The goal of this TRX row, yes, we want to move and we want to face a little bit of resistance, but the goal is as much mobility and feeling out our body and making sure to get a little bit of twist in as anything. I don't need you to do a ton of reps; I don't need this to feel incredibly heavy, but I do want you to move through the movement pattern.”

SETS AND REPS: 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps per side

HOW TO DO THE TRX ROTATIONAL ROW:

Hang under a TRX, knees bent slightly, feet flat on the floor, abs and glutes tight, your left hand grasping the TRX handle. Squeeze your shoulder blades.
Squeeze your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes. Now rotate your right hand out and toward the ceiling, tightening your abs as you do.
Reach as high as you can, while you simultaneously row your entire torso toward the TRX cable, squeezing your shoulder blades.
Lower with control, then rotate your chest to the right side and reach your hand toward the ground, stretching your abs.

Banded Somersault Squat

EB SAYS: “If you can get the band in there, it's going to force your knees forward every single time when you do the somersault squat, get you a little bit more resistance in the bottom position of the squat and at the top of the squat, and all of that is going to wind up pushing your quads to the limit. You should barely be able to walk away after one hard set of the somersault squat.”

SETS AND REPS: 1 warmup set, then 1 set of 15 reps and 1 set of 15 reps plus failure
HOW TO DO THE BANDED SOMERSAULT SQUAT:

Start with your feet shoulder- to hip-width apart on the floor, or with your heels slightly elevated on a pair of small weight plates or a slant board. Set the kettlebell between your feet so that the handle is parallel to your legs, bisecting your body.
If possible, loop resistance bands around your knees from an anchor to increase resistance.
Place your forearms deep into the creases of your hips. Squat down with your arms in this position so that your hands reach the kettlebell’s handle, and your hamstrings are on the backs of your calves. Grab the handle of the kettlebell.
Push back with your legs so your torso comes forward as your butt goes up and back. At the top of this position, you’ll basically be at the bent-over position of a good morning or stiff-legged deadlift exercise.
Bend your knees to return to the starting position, with your hamstrings returning to the backs of your calves.

Check out all of our the videos in our New Rules of Leg Day program, available exclusively for MH MVP subscribers, here.

Andrew Gutman, NASM-CPT

Andrew Gutman, NASM-CPT is a journalist with a decade of experience covering fitness and nutrition. His work has been published in Men's Health, Men's Journal, Muscle & Fitness, and Gear Patrol. Outside of writing, Andrew trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, helps coach his gym's kickboxing team, and enjoys reading and cooking.