As a personal trainer and fitness fanatic I love sharing my fully programmed workouts with you guys over on Instagram & through my guides. However, I also want to give you the knowledge which enables you to build your own workouts, amend your own programs and get the most from your training. I want to empower you with the tools you need to take control of your own fitness journey.
As a result, today I am sharing 7 simple techniques you can use to level up your leg workouts and challenge yourself in new ways; building strength and power in your lower body.
1. Up The Weight.
I know it’s obvious but it’s true – this is the most effective method for building strength. We can easily get comfortable with a weight and stick with it, but step out your comfort zone, add on a few kilos and decrease the reps a little. Your muscles will scream but thank you later!
2. Change The Rep Range.
It is easy to get stuck in a routine of doing 8-12 reps of each exercise. However it is important to keep your body guessing, so try shocking your system with a new rep range. For example, if you usually do 8-10 heavy hip thrusts drop the weight down and do 20-25 reps. I guarantee the pump you get will blow your mind!
3. Dropsets.
Oh dropsets, probably the most challenging training technique that exists – but one of the most effective too. A dropset is when you complete a set number of reps with a heavy weight, and then immediately drop the weight by around half or more and complete another set of the same exercise. It burns like crazy! My personal favourite exercise to do a dropset on is Bulgarian Split Squats – try doing 8 reps with a heavy weight, then dropping to half the weight and doing 8 more reps. Complete all reps on one leg before switching to the other. Ow.
4. Supersets & Trisets.
These are a staple in my leg workouts. Supersets are when you perform two exercises back to back and trisets are when you perform three exercises back to back. These techniques allow you to push your legs to exhaustion and are extremely time efficient. An example of a superset I often do is Romanian Deadlifts into Swiss Ball Hamstring Curls.
5. Circuits.
Similar to the above, circuits are when you perform four or more exercises back to back. I tend to use circuits in conditioning workouts, however sometimes I add in a 4-5 exercise circuit at the end of a leg workout and it is an absolute killer way to finish off your lower body. An example of a circuit I might do is 10 Goblet Squats, 10 Walking Lunges, 10 Sumo Squats, 10 Step Ups.
6. Plyometrics.
Plyometric exercises are explosive moments such as jump squats, jump lunges and box jumps. These build power in your lower body while getting your heart rate up. Personally I love using these in supersets in my leg workouts for example:
- Goblet Squats into Jump Squats
- Walking Lunges into Jump Lunges
- Box Jumps into Box Squats
7. Burnouts & Finishers.
This is a personal favourite technique. I love adding in quick 5 minute finishers at the end of my leg workouts to burn out my lower body. These are usually circuits, often incorporating bodyweight exercises, which use up any last remaining energy in your legs! For example:
- A 5 Minute EMOM of 10 Jump Squats & 20 Jumping Lunges every minute on the minute.
- 5 rounds of 5 burpees, 5 squat jumps, 5 jumping lunges.
I hope that these tips and tricks help you take your leg workouts to the next level. Drop me a line on instagram if you have any additional techniques which you like to use!
Check out my training guide, which uses many of these techniques, here.
Zanna x
