Build athletic, strong legs by training like an athlete here
When training for leg strength, you have to make sure you keep your leg workouts simple and focus less on the number of leg exercises and more now on the quality of the ones you perform. In this video, I show you a two exercise leg workout that can help you to build lower body strength and power. Additionally, this workout will help you to build functional athletic strength by teaching you how to push off the ground with maximum force from athletic leg positions.
The two exercises in this leg workout are deadlifts and Bulgarian split squats. These are two of my favorite lower body movements you can do. The deadlift is great for helping you build strength in your entire posterior chain, from your feet to your fingertips. The first half of the exercise is essentially a standing leg press that requires great strength in your legs to get the bar off the ground.
The second half of the exercise requires a strong hip drive and glute strength. In order to finish the pull you will need to drive your hips into extension while maintaining the rigidity and stability in your spine. Of course, your back plays a huge part in providing this stabilization, however without the necessary leg strength to start the exercise, you’ll struggle mightily to get the bar off the ground.
The next exercise in this leg strength workout is my favorite, bulgarian split squat. This ground based exercise is one of the best ways to work your quads and include the help of your glutes during the initial portion of the lift as well. One of the keys to initiating the movement is to drive your chest forward as you start pushing up. This slight but key movement helps to power your push and improve your leg strength on the exercise.
I work my way through each of these exercises, making sure not to perform too many wasteful reps on my way to my heaviest reps. One of the biggest mistakes people make is tiring themselves out too much on their way to their most productive reps. In a strength workout, those reps are going to reside at the top end of the weights you can handle. Once I reach that level, I stick to doubles for the duration of the workout. Five sets of two reps is my main focus, before I work my way back down attempting my best quality reps at each level.
Same thing applies to the bulgarian split squats. I work my way up to my heaviest weight, which in this case is 95 pound dumbbells in each hand for 5-6 reps. I stayed there for 6 sets and then worked my way back down once again to my original 40 pound weights.
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two great exercises I will do now. thanks.
heavy dead lifts without belt?
Your knees are trashed already? Maybe stop putting so much heavy weight on
them if you want to be walking in 20 years.
holy fk double overhand grip for 4 plates…
i tried this after work and damn its good.
holy shit i can barely do 2 plates
awesome !!
+1 man. Cheers.
Should I go till failure when training for strength?
OK, I won’t “count” them, but do you count so that you try to do the same
number of reps for each leg?
And thanks a lot for the videos!!!!
your legs should Never be straight when You Train them, that’s Bad for the
joints and cartilages, You should Always have a Little angle or am i Not
Right ?:D
I’m a soccer player I was wondering if dead lifts are good for me since I
do a lot of intense running.
why the fuck would i do deadlifts for leg day…
Hi Jeff! I’m just wondering why don’t you lean more backwards when you
deadlift? Pushing through the heels, so to speak.
I warm up with 800 lbs, and I’m only 14. Is this good or no?
welp, I’m a girl but I’m going to try this anyway. I’m looking to lean out
and be athletic so I think I’m in the right place :)
I’m 2 months old, and I warmup with two airplanes. Is that good?
What’s that black wrap around his wrist?
good luck with the move Jeff,thanks for the leg workout I need it!!
my supporting foot hurts when pressing against the bench doing the split
squat, very uncomfortable. any solutions?
Is this workout good for maintaining or even building leg muscle size?
when you do the single leg Bulgarian split squat, you mentioned you don’t
worry about counting,
Is it important at that point to at least equalize what you do for both
legs?
dead lifts its not for back?
At first I thought this was last year but it’s actually two years ago, but
whoever watches this video know that you can trust Jeff, as these two
exercises are my favorite as well.