15 Leg Exercises and How to Design a Leg Workout

Certain movements — such as squats and deadlifts — can help fortify and shape your legs. Increasing sets and repetitions can further enhance results.

Strong legs do more than look pleasing. Even basic everyday tasks like walking require leg strength. Adding focused leg sessions to your regimen is essential for overall fitness.

You might be wondering how to get started.

Whether you’re exercising at home or back in the gym, crafting an efficient leg session doesn’t need to be complex. Let’s explore.

Movement patterns in an effective leg session

When planning a productive leg routine, simplicity wins. The core lower-body patterns — squats, hip hinges (deadlifts), and lunges — should make up most of your plan.

These movements naturally target the main leg muscles: the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves.

Once you’ve learned these fundamentals, there are numerous variations and progressions to keep you challenged.

A simple framework for a leg workout: begin with a squat-based move, follow with a hip-hinge exercise, then include single-leg work.

How to warm up and cool down correctly

No workout is complete without a proper warm-up and cool-down.

For your warm-up, aim for about 5 minutes of light cardio to raise your heart rate and increase circulation. If available, spend 5 minutes on a foam roller to release soft tissue.

After that, perform dynamic mobility drills like leg swings, hip-openers, bodyweight squats, and lunges.

Post-workout is the ideal time for a more extensive stretching routine.

Summary

Begin with light cardio, foam rolling, and dynamic mobility work. Finish with thorough stretching to cool down.

Exercises to include in your leg routine

When assembling your next leg session, pick from the following 15 effective exercises.

1. Back squat

Hit your posterior chain — including glutes and hamstrings — with the back squat.

How to perform:

1. Place a barbell across your traps and stand with feet about shoulder-width apart. Look forward, keep your chest up, and point your toes slightly outward.
2. Sink back into your hips, bend your knees, and descend toward the floor. Make sure your knees track outward and don’t cave in.
3. Lower until your thighs are parallel to the floor (or as low as your mobility allows), then drive back up to the starting position.

2. Front squat

Emphasize the front of the legs — especially the quads — with the front squat.

How to perform:

1. Rest a barbell across the front of your shoulders, wrapping your fingers in an underhand grip on either side to support it. Keep your elbows high and gaze forward.
2. Sit back into your hips, bend your knees, and lower down. Ensure your knees track outward and your chest stays up to avoid tipping forward.
3. Descend until your thighs are parallel to the floor — or as far down as you can — then press back up to start.

3. Romanian deadlift

Develop your glutes, hamstrings, and calves, and improve hip mobility with the Romanian deadlift.

How to perform:

1. Grip a barbell or hold a dumbbell in each hand. Maintain a straight back and a steady gaze throughout.
2. Hinge at the hips, lowering the weight toward the floor with a small bend in the knees. Keep the weights close to your legs and descend until you feel a hamstring stretch.
3. Pause, then thrust your hips forward to stand back up, letting the glutes drive the motion.

4. Good mornings

Activate your hamstrings with the good morning, a classic hip-hinge exercise.

How to perform:

1. Load a barbell across your traps and stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
2. With slightly bent knees, hinge at the hips and lower your torso, pushing your hips back. Keep your chest proud and eyes forward throughout.
3. Descend until you feel a hamstring stretch, then use your glutes to return upright.

5. Walking lunges

Test your balance and target quads, hamstrings, and glutes with walking lunges.

How to perform:

1. Begin with feet together. For added resistance, hold a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Keep your chest lifted and eyes forward, step ahead with your right leg and lower until your thigh is parallel to the floor.
3. Drive up through the right heel to return to standing, then continue forward by stepping with the left leg.

6. Reverse lunge

A slightly gentler alternative to forward lunges, the reverse lunge helps reinforce proper lunge mechanics.

How to perform:

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides.
2. Step back with your right foot, lowering until your left leg forms a 90-degree angle. Keep your torso upright.
3. Push through your left heel to return to the start.

7. Lateral lunge

Most daily movement happens front-to-back, but side-to-side work like lateral lunges boosts stability and strength.

How to perform:

1. Stand with feet wider than hip-width.
2. Bend the left knee, sitting back into the left hip while keeping your torso upright. Keep the right leg as straight as possible and lower until the left knee hits about 90 degrees.
3. Press back up to the starting stance and repeat. Perform reps on both sides.

8. Step up

Build strength, coordination, and power with step-ups.

How to perform:

1. Stand facing a bench or raised platform about one foot away. Hold dumbbells for a weighted variation.
2. Drive your right foot onto the bench, pressing through the heel to bring the left foot up to meet it. For more challenge, lift the left knee instead of placing the foot down.
3. Step down with the left foot to return to the start.

9. Glute bridge

This movement can be performed using only bodyweight.

How to perform:

1. Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and arms resting at your sides.
2. Inhale and press through the four corners of your feet, engaging core, glutes, and hamstrings to lift your hips toward the ceiling.
3. Hold at the top, then slowly lower back down to the start.

10. Hip thrust

Grow strength and size in the glutes with the hip thrust.

How to perform:

1. Sit with your upper back against a bench or couch and place a barbell, dumbbell, or plate on your hips, supporting the weight with your hands.
2. Scoot down so the bench sits under your shoulder blades, knees bent and feet flat hip-width apart. Your thighs should form about a 90-degree angle.
3. Keep your chin tucked and lower your hips until your torso is roughly at a 45-degree angle, then push through your heels until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Squeeze the glutes at the top and return to start.

11. Goblet squat

The goblet squat is gentler on the spine than a back squat while still targeting quads and glutes.

How to perform:

1. Hold a dumbbell vertically, gripping under the top. Keep the weight pressed to your chest throughout the movement.
2. Start to squat by sitting back into the hips and bending the knees. Maintain an upright torso and descend as far as your mobility permits.
3. Drive through the heels to return to the starting position.

12. Leg press

Although machines don’t offer all the benefits of free weights, the leg press lets you isolate the quads, hamstrings, and glutes effectively.

How to perform:

1. Position yourself in the leg press with your back and head flat against the pad. Place your feet hip-width apart so your legs form about a 90-degree angle.
2. Engage your core and extend your legs, pausing near the top without locking the knees.
3. Slowly bend the knees to lower the platform back to the start.

13. Leg curl

Use the leg curl machine to isolate hamstrings and calves.

How to perform:

1. Lie face down on the leg curl machine with the roller pad just above your heels. Grip the machine’s handles for stability.
2. Engage your core and curl your feet toward your glutes, pulling the pad up.
3. Hold briefly at the top, then lower the pad back in a controlled fashion.

14. Bulgarian split squat

Strengthen your legs and core with the Bulgarian split squat.

How to perform:

1. Stand about 2 feet in front of a bench or step at knee height, facing away. Place the top of your right foot on the bench behind you.
2. Lean slightly forward from the hips and lower on your left leg, bending the knee until the left thigh is parallel to the floor.
3. Press up through the left foot to return to standing.

15. Single-leg deadlift

Train your hamstrings and improve balance with the single-leg deadlift.

How to perform:

1. Hold a pair of dumbbells, maintaining a neutral spine and steady gaze.
2. Place weight through your left leg and hinge at the hips with a soft left knee.
3. Continue hinging while lifting your right leg behind you until your body forms a straight line from head to heel. Keep hips square to the floor.
4. Pause, then return to the start and repeat for the desired reps on each leg.

How many sets and reps should you do?

If you’re a beginner aiming to boost general fitness — and keeping with the simple approach — pick 3 to 5 exercises per leg session. Perform about 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions for each movement.

Why cap it at 5 exercises? This helps you concentrate on the key lifts and maintain quality. Overly long workouts can reduce effectiveness.

How often should you train legs per week?

Recent research indicates little difference in muscle growth between training large muscle groups once a week versus three times a week when volume is matched.

The factor that most affects hypertrophy is training volume — how many sets and reps you accumulate. Higher-volume sessions (for example, 3 sets of 12 or 4 sets of 8) generally yield better gains than merely increasing training frequency without increasing total volume.

Summary

Keep leg training straightforward. Emphasize squats, hip-hinges, and lunges, and aim for roughly 3 sets of about 12 reps per exercise.

The bottom line

Keeping your leg program simple is often the best path, especially for newcomers. Choose 3 to 5 solid exercises, execute them well, and you’ll see leg strength improve.