The Best Barbell-Only Leg Workout – Fitness Volt

Numerous trainers LOVE to jot down difficult exercises. And whereas these applications CAN work, they’re usually past the attain of lifters who practice in dwelling or garage gyms or just wouldn’t have entry to state-of-the-art resistance machines.

The excellent news is that you just don’t want to coach in a million-dollar facility to construct spectacular ranges of energy and muscle mass.

Actually, all you really want is a barbell, a squat rack, and loads of weight plates.

You see, your muscle tissue can’t actually differentiate between doing barbell squats with a heavy barbell or leg presses on a $50,000 leg press machine. They only know pressure and work.

Offering you practice arduous sufficient, your muscle tissue will develop and adapt no matter the way you overload them. In any case, old-school bodybuilders constructed unimaginable physiques with very primary gear in what had been usually principally underground basements.

So, for this exercise, we’re taking a web page from the golden period of bodybuilding and supplying you with a barbell-only leg exercise to strive. Don’t let its simplicity idiot you; that is nonetheless a brutal exercise assured to construct decrease physique energy and muscle dimension.

Barbell-Solely Leg Exercise – Overview

This exercise is designed to construct your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves with nothing however a barbell and a squat rack.

Do that exercise a couple of times per week as a part of a body part split routine. In case you do it twice, be sure to practice your legs on non-consecutive days, e.g., Monday and Thursday, to permit time for relaxation and restoration.

In fact, earlier than you hit the weights, you have to spend a couple of minutes warming up and getting ready your physique for what you’re about to do. It will assist make your exercise extra productive and will decrease your threat of harm, too.

So, begin with a couple of minutes of simple cardio adopted by some dynamic mobility and flexibility workouts for the muscle tissue you’re about to coach. Lastly, do a few gentle units of the primary train of the exercise to make sure you’re 100% able to go.

All warmed up? Then let’s do it!

The Greatest Barbell-Solely Leg Exercise

Train Directions

There are two methods to do any train: the proper manner and the unsuitable manner.

The fitting manner is straightforward in your joints, places a great deal of pressure on the goal muscle, and produces one of the best outcomes.

The unsuitable manner is normally much less efficient and extra more likely to trigger harm. So, be sure to do every train on this exercise the proper manner by following these directions:

1. Bottoms-up entrance squat

Whereas the barbell again squat is commonly referred to as the king of workouts, the entrance squat is arguably the higher muscle builder. The vary of movement is normally larger, and the upright torso place makes it extra quads-centric. On the draw back, some lifters do discover entrance squats extra awkward.

This bottoms-up variation supplies a short pause between reps, making it considerably extra manageable.

Tips on how to do it:

1. Set the security bars in your squat or energy rack to round hip peak. You’ll must experiment to search out the proper place. Relaxation your barbell on the security bars.
2. Stand behind the barbell. Squat down, so the bar is throughout the entrance of your shoulders. Maintain it with a shoulder-width grip. Place your ft, so that they’re about hip-width aside, toes pointing ahead.
3. Brace your abs. Be certain your decrease again is barely arched and never rounded.
4. Drive your ft into the ground and rise up explosively.
5. Descend below management and decrease the barbell again to the security pins.
6. Permit the burden to accept 1-2 seconds, reset your core, and repeat.

2. 1 ½ Romanian deadlift

Romanian deadlifts are among the many greatest glute, hamstring, and decrease again workouts. However, pretty much as good as they’re, they’ll quickly begin to lose their efficiency in the event you do them too usually. Performing them with the 1 ½-rep technique will increase time below pressure. It will present the range it’s worthwhile to be certain they’re all the time difficult and productive.

Tips on how to do it:

1. Maintain your barbell with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Use lifting straps if essential. Stand together with your ft roughly shoulder-width aside, knees barely bent.
2. Hinging from the hips and with out rounding your decrease again, lean ahead and decrease the barbell to round knee peak.
3. Drive your hips ahead and stand again up.
4. Subsequent, hinge ahead once more, however this time decrease the bar all the way down to mid-shin peak. Take care to not spherical your decrease again.
5. Stand again as much as full your rep.
6. That’s one – preserve going!

3. Barbell strolling lunges

Numerous bodybuilders are very fast to dismiss lunges and label them as ineffectual. However what they don’t know is that lunges are literally an amazing quads, glutes, and hamstring builder, and so they had been considered one of Ronnie Coleman’s favourite leg exercises.

Large King Ron would do laps of the health club parking zone with as a lot as 225lbs on his again, and his legs had been large! So, be like Ronnie Coleman and respect walking lunges.

Tips on how to do it:

1. Rack and maintain your barbell throughout your higher again. Be certain it’s in your traps and NOT your neck. Brace your abs, stand together with your ft collectively, and look straight forward.
2. Take a big step ahead, bend your legs, and decrease your rear knee to an inch above the ground.
3. Step ahead together with your rear leg and into one other rep.
4. Proceed alternating legs till you’ve lined the prescribed distance.
5. No house for strolling lunges? Do common alternating barbell lunges as an alternative.

4. Barbell hack squat

Earlier than the hack squat machine grew to become standard, that is how folks did hack squats. This train is called after Estonian weightlifter and wrestler George Hackenschmidt, who was famed for his large thighs and immense energy (1).

Historically, barbell hack squats are finished with elevated heels, which will increase quad activation. Nevertheless, some exercisers could discover this places an excessive amount of stress on the knees. In case you DO carry your heels, begin with a small block to see how your knees really feel, not simply through the train however afterward, too.

Tips on how to do it:

1. Place your barbell on the ground. Relying on the diameter of the plates getting used, chances are you’ll want to put the bar on blocks to have the ability to attain it.
2. Together with your again to the burden, stand together with your ft about shoulder-width aside and the bar touching your calves.
3. Squat down and seize the bar together with your palms dealing with backward. Use lifting straps if essential.
4. Straighten your arms, be certain your again is barely arched, pull your shoulders down and again, and brace your abs.
5. Drive your ft into the ground and rise up, pulling the bar up the again of your legs as you ascend.
6. Bend your legs and decrease the burden again to the ground. Reset your core and grip and repeat.

5. Barbell hip thrust

Barbell hip thrusts are a really lower-back-friendly solution to practice your glutes and hamstrings. Whereas you are able to do this train with simply your physique weight for resistance, it’s rather more efficient in the event you relaxation and maintain a barbell throughout your hips. Go heavy with this train – the glutes and hamstrings are fairly highly effective and normally reply properly to loads of weight.

Tips on how to do it:

1. Sit on the ground together with your higher again resting in opposition to the facet of a secure train bench. Roll your barbell up your legs, so it’s over your hips. Bend your legs and plant your ft firmly on the ground. Maintain the bar regular.
2. Drive your ft into the ground and carry your hips up till your knees, hips, and shoulders kind a straight line.
3. Decrease your butt again all the way down to the ground and repeat.

6. Barbell standing calf elevate

You don’t want a calf elevate machine to coach your decrease legs. Actually, you solely want a barbell. That is one other train that it is best to be capable to do with heavy weights. The calves are very robust muscle tissue, and the vary of movement can be fairly small. So, because the memes say, go heavy, or go dwelling!

Tips on how to do it:

1. Relaxation and maintain your barbell throughout your higher again. Be certain it’s not in your neck however is in your traps, as an alternative.
2. Stand together with your ft about hip-width aside, core braced, and legs straight.
3. Press your toes into the ground and stand up onto your tiptoes.
4. Decrease your heels again to the ground and repeat.
5. You may make this train a little bit more difficult and efficient by putting the balls of your ft on a raised floor, e.g., a few bumper plates. Nevertheless, this may make it a little bit tougher to take care of your steadiness.

7. Barbell seated calf elevate

Seated calf raises goal your soleus, which is the lowermost calf muscle. Whereas the soleus is concerned in standing calf raises, it’s extra energetic when your knees are bent. This train is a freeweight various to machine seated calf raises.

Tips on how to do it:

1. Sit on a chair or flat bench. Relaxation and maintain your barbell throughout your decrease thighs. Place the balls of your ft on the sting of a raised platform, e.g., some bumper plates.
2. Plantar flex your ankles and stand up onto your tiptoes.
3. Decrease your heels down towards the ground and repeat.
4. Use a squat bar pad or wrap your barbell in a towel or health club mat to make this train extra snug.

Extra Leg Exercises:

Wrapping Up

Whereas there may be nothing unsuitable with training with machines, there could also be occasions once you don’t have entry to the gear you wish to use.

For instance, possibly you practice in a storage health club, your health club’s machines are damaged or being serviced, or you’re simply feeling nostalgic for some old-school-style bodybuilding coaching.

Regardless of the causes, be assured {that a} barbell and squat rack are all you really want to construct muscular, robust legs. Heck, add a bench, and you’ll practice your complete physique with this minimalist setup.  

So, don’t fear in the event you don’t have entry to state-of-the-art machines – you don’t want them. Simply seize a barbell, and practice arduous and heavy. Your muscle tissue gained’t know the distinction!

References:

1 – Encyclopedia Britannica: George Hackenschmidt https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Hackenschmidt