Girl lifters, what does your leg day look like?

runway12

I am very underweight and trying to gain muscle and become fit. Today was my first day of lifting, and it was a leg day. Today I did:

4 sets of barbell squats in reps of 15, 12, 6, 5
4 sets of leg presses in reps of 15, 12, 6, 5
4 sets of calf raises in sets of 20, 10, 10, 10

along with a 10 min ab workout, and 10 minutes light cardio.

Is this a good start? When should I add more and what are the best leg excercises for building lean muscle? I am just so sick of being so boney.

I am really happy to begin my journey to a healthy fit body : ) any advice is great you guys!! : )

Sreneesa

I do different workouts but what remains the same is squats, deadlifts, lunges(I do side lunge as well), and hip raises, and I have to admit my muscles are looking oh so lovely... just need to shed the little fat off of them and soon lift heavier than 12lbs on barbell but progress and legs look great.

TheLadyBane

The weight I lift gets heavier with each set. Leg day usually looks something like this:

Barbell squats 3 sets 8-10 reps
Deadlift 3 sets 8-10 reps
Leg press 3x10
Calf raises 3x20
One-legged weighted lunges 3x10
leg extensions 3x10
leg curls 3x10

I'll throw in a superset here or there for the challenge.

Galatea_Stone

Barbell squats 3x5 warm-up; 3x5 working sets; 1xmax set at 80% max, usually 10-13 reps (7, sometimes 8 sets)
Hip Thrust 3x10, 1xmax pause at top of rep (4 sets)
Leg press 4x10 full range 5 half range reps for glute iso (so 4x15)
Abductor 4x12
Lunge 2x10 or 3x10
glute-ham raise, weighted, 3x12, 5 second pause at top of rep

And if there is anything left in the legs after that, I will add in cable kick backs, 3x12
or barbell step-ups 3x12.

geekyjock76

If you are underweight and trying to gain a modest degree of muscle mass, progressive training is just one part of the equation. Even with heavy lifting, you aren't going to gain any appreciable amount of muscle without a calorie surplus and adequate protein intake. Are you assuming a surplus at the moment? If so, do you know how much above your maintenance? A good start would be about 250 calories above which likely would garner a half lb gain of body weight per week: 1 lb of lean mass to 1 lb of fat mass per month. If you have good genetics, you may be able to add more calories to lean mass than fat.

Sarauk2sf

^^this.

Plus, your routine is a little unbalanced as it does not have hammies/posterior chain focused lift.

Also, what does the rest of your routine look like?

rick_po

It looks like you're doing an upper/lower split of some kind. A split is more appropriate for someone who has been lifting for a while - it's a trick for getting extra rest between workouts, which new lifters don't usually need.

You should start with a full body beginner routine, like all pro beginner, Stronglifts 5x5, Starting Strength, or New Rules of Lifting. Pick one and follow it to the letter.

With those routines, you'll be working out 3 days a week, hitting every body part every other day, with a rest day between. After several months, you'll be lifting considerably more weight, and you'll eventually get to the point where you need more than two full days of rest between workouts (you'll know it when you get there!). That is when you move to a split.

Be prepared to eat like a horse.

JazmineYoli

ETA: This is my typical leg day. Still change it every now and then.

Mrsallypants

ETA: This is my typical leg day. Still change it every now and then.

Looks like Jay Cutler's leg day.

robabob3

ETA: This is my typical leg day. Still change it every now and then.

that... is insane

DizzieLittleLifter

This is what my leg day currently looks like. I am always upping weight. I tend to do a pyramid for squats and deadlifts.

Squats:
empty bar (45lbs) x10
65x10
95x8
115x5
120x5
95x5x3

Sumo Deadlifts:
95x10
115x8
125x8
135x5
140x5
95x10

R. deadlifts
95x10
115x8
125x8
135x5
140x5
95x10

Smith machine lunges:
75x12x3

good AM:
45x12x3

cable kick backs: ( foot in the stirrup)
25x12x3

hip thrusts:
115x12x4

hack squat:
65x12x3

leg prone:
90x12x3

dumbell lunge squats:
50x12x3

dumbbell sumo squat:
25x12x3

front squat:
35x10x3

Leg press:
180x12x4

summertime_girl

Leg day has shoulders in it for me too:

Walking Lunges holding 10lb dbs - 50 steps, 1 minute rest then another 50 steps
Leg Press 5 x 15 ( wide, mid, narrow, mid, wide)
Leg Extension Machine superset with Lying Leg Curl Machine 3 x 15
Seated Abductor Machine 3 x 20 superset with Bench Step Ups holding 10lb dbs 3 x 12 each
Standing BB OH Press superset with db side raises 3 x 12
Seated Arnold Press superset with standing db front raise 3 x 12
Reverse Pec Deck 3 x 12

20-40 minutes solid state cardio after lifting.

caseys29

I lift with my husband and his boss in his basement. He has a better set up than the local gym. This is what we do on leg day:

15 minutes of cardio to warm up
Barbell squats- 3 sets of 12-18 (I can't go too heavy yet because my knees hurt so bad so I'm doing higher reps right now)
Deadlifts, sometimes straight leg deadlifts - 3 sets of 10-12
Vertical leg press - 3 sets of 10-12
Calf raise on vertical leg press - to failure, holding 3 seconds at top and bottom
Hack squats - 3 sets of 10-12
Leg press on the hack squat machine - 3 sets of 10-12

Sometimes we throw in reverse hack squats, seated calf raises, standing calf raises, good mornings, lunges, etc., but the above is basically what we do. We all have different rep/weight ranges, of course. My goals right now are to lose fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible. I also want to keep my thighs and butt thick.

azrielda

If you are starting out, definitely recommend starting strength. Don't really see a point in a specific "leg day" as I olympic lift, so every day is leg day ;P Normally spend an hour working on one of the olly lifts ( clean & jerk or snatch), then do some 5X3 or 5x5 back squats at 60kg or 5x3/5x5 front squats at 50kg.
As an exercise, I can't recommend squats enough so long as they go below parallel.

establishingaplace

As others have mentioned, look into Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5. Do one of those, and eat 500 cals a day over maintenance.

dixiewhiskey

I follow something more closely to Stronglifts 5x5 and have lower/upper body days vs just legs or arm days.. This is what I do on a lower body day:

Barbell Squats
95lb x 3 sets of 5
115lb x 3 sets of 5
120lb x 2 sets of 5

Deadlifts
125lb x 5 sets of 5

Alternating Dumbbell Row (Plank) w/ Leg Raises
50lb (combine) x 2 sets of 10

Barbell Row
70lb x 3 sets of 5

Calf Raises
*to failure


followed by 20-30 minutes of running or HIIT


In order to make some gains, you'll have to eat more than you would if you were eating at a deficit.

runway12

Yes I'm at a surplus, 500 above normal, and i drink a high protein shake on my workout days after I finish

runway12

Thanks everyone for the replies, I'll look into 5x5 strength : ) Also, I can't afford a gym membership so I have to do all of this strength training at home.

Amelia7779

I'm doing legs/chest on same day, 2x/week

Barbell squat--3 sets at working weight (plus two warm ups)
Bench press
Dumbbell step-ups (M) or lunges (F)
Stiff leg Deadlift
Incline bench press
Push-ups
Ball hamstring rollout
Jump squats/burpees to finish

I do deadlifts on my back day

beaches222

bump