All compound movements involve your lower body, which means that their strength and reliability make a huge difference in your performance. Even in sports like boxing or javelin throwing, which you would normally associate with upper body movement, the strength of your lower body determines your ability to generate power. Now, while it’s clear that having a strong lower body benefits you in many different ways, what is the routine workout that will help you get there? Here are some suggestions that you might want to take.
1. Warm up and stretch
The simplest way for you to hurt your muscles is to try overworking them while they’re cold. Once you get the blood flowing, your muscles will become a lot more resilient. Still, how do you warm up for a leg day? Ideally, you would hit a treadmill a bit or skip rope for a while.
Once you get that blood flowing, you want to do your pre-workout stretches. Some of the most popular such exercises are:
- Knee grabs
- Hip rotators
- Walking toe touch
- Foot grabs
- Lateral lunges
All of this takes about 10 minutes to complete. It increases the effectiveness of your workout regimen and reduces the chance of injury.
2. Squats
Squats are a go-to exercise for a strong lower body. In fact, chances are that if you had to make a guess of one exercise that’s 100% on this list before clicking on the link, you would likely choose squats. Still, there are so many squat variations for you to choose from. For instance:
- Overhead squat
- Landmine squat
- Barbell back squats
- Dumbbell squat
- Front squat
- Goblet squat
Combining these squat variations can be quite good for your overall routine, seeing as how each of these exercises hits your leg muscles from a slightly different angle. Just keep in mind that, regardless of the form or type of weight, squats need to be the staple of your routine. Even by just getting a sturdy squat rack, a barbell, and a couple of weights, you’ll set yourself up for a successful lower body routine.
3. Romanian deadlifts
Deadlifts strengthen your legs, your core, and your lower back. In other words, they’re good for your entire posterior chain. Now, a Romanian deadlift is a slight variation that targets your hips and glutes far more. By improving your performance during Romanian deadlifts, you’ll get better at all movements that require you to bend down. Movements such as squatting are a perfect example of this. Keep in mind that Romanian deadlifts tend to be a bit more difficult. This is why you want to start working on the technique before adding too much weight to the barbell.
4. Lunges
Now, while squats help build more muscle mass, there is an argument to be made about lunges being great at defining the shape of your legs and glutes more effectively. Seeing as how they’re a more complex motion, they also help with your balance, coordination, and stability. Depending on how you choose to interpret lower body strength, this could play a major factor. Lunges are also one of the most popular exercises with runners, which is also a thing worth taking into consideration.
5. Hip trusts
One of the exercises that are getting more and more popular for your lower body is hip trusts. Other than just strengthening your lower body, hip trust is also known to improve your posture, as well as boost your mobility and speed. If you’re in any kind of sport that requires you to accelerate from standing still, quickly decelerate, or make a rotational shift, this should be your go-to exercise.
6. Core workout
You need to understand that your core is also a part of your lower body. Even if it weren’t classified as such, it’s a bridge between your lower and your upper body, which would make it relevant. You see, in order to do anything that requires a great deal of lower body strength, you would need a core capable of keeping the balance and transferring this power to the rest of your body. One of the core exercises that are held in high esteem is the plank. Still, there’s nothing wrong with sit-ups and other core exercises either.
7. Post-workout stretches
Stretching after the workout will increase your recovery rate, thus amplifying the effect of everything that you’ve done, so far. After you’re done with your routine, you might want to consider doing:
- Crossover hamstring stretch
- Pretzel stretch
- Heel drops
- Figure four stretch
- Quad stretch
Once again, this will take you 5 to 10 minutes and the impact that it will have on your routine will be quite significant. Also, now’s the time to take your post-workout nutrients. After all, muscle can’t be built out of thin air.
In conclusion
In the end, there’s much more to strength than just a routine. A fitness routine needs to be backed up with a great recovery, as well as proper nutrition. Consistency is key, which means that you need to display discipline for months and months in continuity. Arm yourself with patience, come up with a plan, and make sure that you stick to it. In the end, it will be more than worth it.
