Everyone wants stronger legs and a tighter booty!  But sometimes the equipment at the gym can be a little intimidating… So here is a step by step of a great leg routine that can help you on your journey to get-it-right and get-it-tight!

First, we start with squats!

You want to make sure your rack siding is high enough to catch your barbell in case you can’t make the final push back up to the standing position.  I always recommend doing a body squat to get a good idea of where your barbell will hit.  You want your barbell to be about 1-6″ above your rack sides at your lowest squat point.  If you need help adjusting your rack sides, grab a gym staff member or nearby trainer.

You want to use a low weight when you do a warm up set.  If you are looking to burn more body fat, push light weight for a set of about 15 reps.  If you are looking to build up those quads and that booty, push the heaviest weight you can handle with good form for about 8-10 reps.  Always do 4 sets.

In regards to form, make sure your feet are shoulder width apart.  Try and keep your back as straight as you can (never round it).  As you lower yourself into the squat position, make sure your chest is up, and you continue to breathe.  A right angle is what you are looking for just like you’re sitting in an imaginary chair.  Dig into the floor hard with your heels as you push back up to the standing position.  Never roll up on your toes.  Flat shoes are always recommended.

 

Next, we’ll look at one of my new favorite lunge discoveries… and boy you feel it the next day!

The key to this lunge is having two 45# plates stacked on each other and planting your front foot on top of the plates.  This helps you achieve a deeper lunge and puts those glutes to work!

I would recommend a warm up set first with no barbell or only the barbell.  You really want to move slowly to make sure you keep your balance.

As you come back up, drive with your front heel.  This is where the booty action takes place!  Warm up with a set of 8-10 reps.  Then add weight appropriately.  For more fat burning, 15 reps on each leg with lower weight.  For lean muscle and booty building, use the heaviest weight you can push (with good form) for 8-10 reps.  Always do 4 sets.

Here is a rear view:

Resting at the top.

Dropped into the lunge position.

Our third exercise is going to be the standing kick back!

This really gets the hamstrings and glutes.

I would recommend doing the movement first without weight just to get adjusted to the movement.

Brace yourself on the cable machine and lift one leg as shown in the mirror above.  Then follow through with your reverse kick as high as your leg will kick back.  You want to make sure you feel this in your glute/hamstring.  If you don’t, you may want to increase your weight.

Continue this for 15 reps if you are looking to increase heart rate and promote fat burning, or increase your weight to build that booty and shoot for 8-10 reps with good form.

And lastly, the adductor machine!  This is the machine everyone feels so awkward on, but it does such great work for inner/outer thighs!  Today we are actually going to use it for booty building.  So here is how!

In the photo above, I am leaned forward and my booty is hovering over the seat.  The goal here is to stay low when you push out with your thighs.  You want to stay hovering over the seat and push slowly to keep control.  Keep everything tight and that will also help with your control.

Then push outwards while continuing to stay low and hovering over the seat.  Shoot for 15 reps with the heaviest weight you can handle.  Today, Kendra and I actually maxed out the machine at 210#!!  Whooo hoo!!

This is a great leg day routine we had a blast with today!  I hope you enjoy the burn as much as we did!