When it comes to leg day, many gym-goers stick to the same traditional exercises—squats, deadlifts, and leg presses. While these movements are effective, it’s easy to hit a plateau when your body becomes too accustomed to the routine.
Incorporating alternative leg day exercises can add new stimulus, challenge your muscles in different ways, and help you build new skills, ultimately leading to better progress. Changing workouts and exercises is one of the key ways we keep our personal training clients making progress at AdMac Fitness.
By switching things up, you'll not only reignite muscle growth but also improve overall functional fitness, stability, and power. Here are six alternative leg day exercises that can revitalise your workout, keep you motivated, and deliver amazing results.
1. Burpee Broad Jumps
Why they’re great:
Burpee Broad Jumps are a dynamic full-body movement that combines explosive power with cardiovascular conditioning. This exercise works your legs, core, and arms while simultaneously boosting your heart rate, improving endurance, and developing lower-body strength.
Benefits:
Enhances explosive leg power
Boosts cardiovascular fitness
Engages core and upper body muscles
How to do them:
Start in a standing position. Drop down into a burpee by placing your hands on the floor and jumping your feet back into a push-up position. Perform a push-up, jump your feet back towards your hands, and explosively jump forward as far as you can (the broad jump). Land softly on your feet and repeat the process. Aim for 3 sets of 8-10 reps, maintaining form throughout.
2. Farmer’s Walks
Why they’re great:
Farmer’s Walks are a fantastic functional movement that target the entire body but place special emphasis on your legs, grip, and core. Walking while carrying heavy dumbbells or kettlebells challenges your leg muscles to stabilise your body, making this a perfect addition to leg day.
Benefits:
Improves grip strength and core stability
Enhances posture and balance
Strengthens legs, hips, and lower back
How to do them:
Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells or kettlebells, stand up straight with your chest proud, and walk for a set distance or time. Make sure to keep your core braced and maintain an upright posture. Start with 3 sets of 30-45 seconds of walking, gradually increasing the weight as you progress.
3. Dumbbell Box Step Ups
Why they’re great:
Dumbbell Box Step Ups are a fantastic unilateral movement that targets the quads, glutes, and hamstrings. This exercise helps to correct muscle imbalances, as each leg works independently, and also improves overall coordination and balance.
Benefits:
Strengthens the quads, glutes, and hamstrings
Improves balance and stability
Builds functional leg strength for everyday activities
How to do them:
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand in front of a sturdy box or platform. Step up with one leg, driving through the heel, and bring the other leg up to stand on the box. Step back down with control and alternate legs. Perform 3 sets of 10-12 reps per leg, using a weight that challenges you but allows you to maintain proper form.
4. Plyometric Lunges
Why they’re great:
Plyometric Lunges are an explosive variation of the traditional lunge that builds power, agility, and coordination. This exercise is excellent for increasing leg strength while also working on your cardiovascular endurance and plyometric capacity.
Benefits:
Enhances explosive strength and power
Improves coordination and agility
Burns calories and increases heart rate
How to do them:
Start in a lunge position with one foot forward and the other foot back. Lower into the lunge and then explode upwards, switching your legs mid-air so that you land with the opposite foot forward. Keep your core engaged and land softly with bent knees. Aim for 3 sets of 12-15 reps per leg, ensuring you maintain balance and control.
5. Barbell Jump Squats
Why they’re great:
Barbell Jump Squats add an explosive element to the standard squat, helping to build power and strength in the lower body. This exercise targets the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves, making it a complete leg-building move. The added explosive jump also increases athleticism and agility.
Benefits:
Increases lower body power and explosiveness
Enhances athletic performance
Engages fast-twitch muscle fibres for strength and speed
How to do them:
Place a barbell on your upper back, as you would for a standard squat, and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lower into a squat, keeping your chest up, and then explode upwards into a jump. Land softly, immediately lowering into the next squat. Start with 3 sets of 8-10 reps, using a light to moderate weight to focus on speed and explosiveness rather than heavy lifting.
6. Seated Calf Raises
Why they’re great:
The Seated Calf Raise is a highly effective isolation exercise for building strong and defined calf muscles. By working the soleus muscle (the lower part of the calf), this movement ensures you develop well-rounded lower legs.
Benefits:
Isolates and strengthens the calf muscles
Improves ankle stability and mobility
Enhances overall leg aesthetics
How to do them:
Sit on a calf raise machine or place a weight on your thighs while seated on a bench. Position the balls of your feet on the edge of a platform, allowing your heels to drop below. Push through your toes to raise your heels as high as possible, squeeze at the top, and slowly lower back down. Perform 3 sets of 12-15 reps, focusing on full range of motion and control.
Incorporating new exercises into your leg day routine is crucial for avoiding plateaus, increasing motivation, and ensuring continued progress. Your muscles need fresh stimuli to grow and develop, and these alternative leg day exercises not only challenge you in new ways but also improve your functional fitness, power, and coordination.
By mixing up your leg day, you’ll stay excited about training and achieve better results over time. So next time you’re in the gym, ditch the same old routine and give these alternative exercises a go!
Want to improve your health and fitness? Let the AdMac Fitness Personal Trainers help…
AdMac Fitness has been helping the people of East London transform their health and fitness for nearly a decade.
We help people using tried and tested fitness approaches. Our expert team of personal trainers, based in both Bow and South Woodford can help you get a grip of your health forever. With our guidance and experience, you can relax knowing that your fitness journey is going to be guided by some of the best personal trainers in East London.
For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
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