Leg exercises
No muscle group in the body soaks up more total training volume than the legs, and that changes how you should program them: they can take — and need — more sets and more frequency than anything else to keep progressing, so treating leg day like any other day on the split usually leaves them undertrained relative to their size. That extra volume only pays off if it's split across the two patterns that move the leg, and they aren't interchangeable: the squat, which bends the knee and hip together (squat, Bulgarian split squat, sumo squat, leg press, lunges), and the hip hinge, which barely bends the knee at all (Romanian deadlift, dumbbell Romanian deadlift). The leg curl breaks that pattern entirely — it isolates the knee with no hip involvement, which is exactly why it's useful on a day when the lower back is already fried from something else. Among the squat variants, what shifts the balance between quads and glutes isn't which squat you pick but how you set up: a narrow stance with an upright torso loads the quads harder, while a wide stance or a forward lean shifts the work toward the glutes and posterior chain. The conventional deadlift sits between both patterns — a real hip hinge plus genuine knee bend near the floor — which is precisely what separates it from the Romanian deadlift, where the knee stays almost straight.
Exercises
1. Romanian deadlift
hamstrings and glutes · barbell
The prime mover is the hamstring group — biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus — extending the hip from a stretched position, which is exactly where it responds best in both strength and size.
2. Hip thrust
glutes · barbell and bench
The prime mover is the glute max, working through a range no other common exercise loads this close to full hip extension.
3. Deadlift
posterior chain · barbell
The prime movers are the glutes and hamstrings extending the hip, together with the whole erector spinae chain working isometrically to resist spinal flexion under the heaviest load in the gym.
4. Bulgarian split squat
quads and glutes · dumbbells and bench
The prime mover is the front leg's quad, mainly the rectus femoris and the vastus muscles, which do most of the work extending the knee on the way up.
5. Sumo squat
glutes and adductors · barbell or dumbbell
The prime movers are the adductors, which in this wide stance sit in a much more direct line of pull with hip extension than in a conventional squat, along with the glute max, which also takes on more load from the same angle change.
6. Squat
quads and glutes · barbell
The prime mover is the quad, mainly the rectus femoris and the vastus muscles, which extends the knee through the whole ascent and takes on more load the more upright your torso stays, as happens with a high bar.
7. Leg curl
hamstrings · machine
The prime mover is the full hamstring group — biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus — flexing the knee against the machine's resistance.
8. Lunges
quads and glutes · dumbbells or bodyweight
The prime mover is the front leg's quad, extending the knee on the way up, together with that same leg's glute max extending the hip.
9. Leg extension
quads · machine
The sole prime mover is the quadriceps, the group of four muscles on the front of the thigh: the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius.
10. Hack squat
quads · machine
The prime mover is the quad — rectus femoris and the vastus muscles — extending the knee through the whole range; fixing the back to the pad takes the hip mostly out of the equation and concentrates nearly all the work on the knee, more than a free squat does at the same depth.
11. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift
hamstrings and glutes · dumbbells
The prime mover is the same as in the barbell version: the hamstring group — biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus — extending the hip from a stretched position, with the glute max joining in more forcefully near the top of the movement.
12. Dumbbell deadlift
posterior chain · dumbbells
The prime mover is the same as in the barbell version: glutes and hamstrings extending the hip, with the quads kicking in harder than expected near the floor, where the knee angle is most closed, to help break the weight off the ground.
13. Leg press
quads and glutes · 45° leg press machine
The prime mover is the quad, extending the knee through the whole range and taking on more of the work the lower and narrower the feet sit on the plate.
14. Sumo deadlift
glutes and adductors · barbell
The prime movers are the glutes and adductors extending the hip from a much wider, lower starting position than the conventional pull, together with the quads, which contribute more than in a conventional deadlift because the knee starts from a more closed angle.
15. Back extension
lower back and glutes · roman chair
The prime movers are the glutes and hamstrings extending the hip from a flexed position — the same job the hip does in a Romanian deadlift, just with no bar holding the load.
Workouts with these exercises
- Leg workout routine
- Glute workout routine
- 3-day full body workout
- Beginner gym workout plan
- Push pull legs routine
- Back workout routine
Frequently asked questions
Which exercises work the hamstrings?
Two kinds, and it pays to have both: the Romanian deadlift loads them from the hip, with the knees only slightly bent, and the leg curl from the knee, without loading the hip. The leg routine has both in every session: the barbell Romanian deadlift in A and the dumbbell one in B, and the leg curl in both.
Romanian or conventional deadlift?
They're different patterns. The Romanian starts standing and lowers the bar as far as your hamstrings allow, with a flat back and the knees only slightly bent, without setting it on the floor; it loads mostly the hamstrings and glutes. The conventional starts from the floor with the knees well bent, so it brings in more quads and lets you lift more weight.
Bulgarian split squat or lunges?
Both train one leg at a time. In the Bulgarian split squat your back foot rests on a bench, so almost all the weight lands on the front leg; in a lunge you take a step every rep, which adds balance and coordination.
Is the leg extension worth doing?
Yes: it works the quads without loading the hips or lower back. That's why the leg routine adds it after the squat in session A.
Other muscles
Gojan builds the routine and changes it when you tell it your week falls apart. Download Gojan