The Best 6 Leg Workouts You Haven’t Tried

One of Craig’s goals is to make working out fun for his clients and that means coming up with fun, new exercises to try. Nothing is worse than the same tired routine, that’s one of the leading causes for people to stop working out. Fortunately, with a personal trainer, you don’t have to worry about getting creative with your workout. Craig will come up with unique exercises for you so you can achieve your fitness goals without getting burnt out. This week, let’s explore six leg exercises you can use to get toned legs. These will work out your glutes, hamstrings and inner thighs, the whole shebang! We would know, Craig took Alexa and me (Sara) to the gym with him and our legs were sore for almost a week! It hurt so good.

1. King Lunges:

Start out standing in a standard lunge position with your right leg forward at 90 degrees and your left leg back. Holding a bar bell underneath your right legs with your hands, slowly pulse in the lunge position. You’ll do one set of 15 then switch your legs. (3 sets of 15 on each leg)

2. Hamstring Reverse Hyper-Extension:

Start with your upper body lying across the padded part of this machine. (We had never seen this before and asked Craig if it was a prop out of the 50 Shades of Gray movie. He laughed, if only for our benefit) Be sure not to put too much weight on if this is your first time, then hook your ankles into the straps. Holding onto the front bar for balance, lift your legs up past your butt. Do your best to keep your torso stationary so you are only using your legs to lift. Remember not to move too quickly. You will feel this slightly in your lower back. (3 sets of 10)

3. Stiff Leg Dead Lifts: 

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, slightly bent at your knees. Hold a dumb-bell with your hands (we used about 10 pounds) and slowly lean towards the floor. Keep your legs straight and your butt out and be sure can feel the stretch in the back of your legs, rather than your back. They might not feel like much when you’re doing them but BEWARE the next day. (3 sets of 10)

4. 1-Legged Dead Lift:

This is similar to the Stiff Leg Dead Lift, but you don’t bend your knees at all. You’ll keep your left foot planted on the ground and holding a bar bell (we used 12.5 pounds) in your right hand, you’ll slowly lean forward while lifting your right leg up, keeping it straight. You’ll then return to standing position. (3 reps of 10 on each leg)

5. Classic Leg Extensions:

Okay, so this is a cheater. Most of you have done these before but if you’re like me, this is just the chair I’m sitting in while I wait for the next available treadmill. No one had ever taught me how to use these correctly. The key isn’t trying to lift as much as possible right off the bat. Pick a weight so that you can do 8 leg lifts and the last 2 are a struggle, almost as if you’d need a spotter. Also, be sure that you move slowly but deliberately. Don’t let the weights clank back down together when you bring your legs down but also, don’t left your legs up so high that your legs are hyper-extended. BONUS POINTS: If you don’t know what to do with your hands, hold your hands like cat paws. If nothing else, this will entertain your personal trainer and you might get an extra water break. (3 sets of 10)

6. Monkey Squats:

These you can do without any weights. Standing with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, bend over and hook your hands underneath your toes. Holding your feet with your hands, bring your butt down into a low squat then pop your butt back up into the starting position. This will feel like you are a monkey swinging on a branch. This is another one of those that you feel silly doing but holy cow does it hurt later. This is great for your inner thighs. (3 sets for 30 seconds)