For bodybuilders and beachgoers, a muscular lower body is essential for aesthetics. For athletes and gymgoers, a strong lower body is crucial for performance in most athletic arenas. With countless leg exercises, training subpar ones could sabotage gains.
On July 30, 2024, bodybuilding coach Joe Bennett, the “Hypertrophy Coach,” detailed a four-exercise leg workout to maximize quad and hamstring growth.
Joe Bennett’s Four Leg Exercises To Build Muscle
- Seated Hamstring Curl
- Pendulum Squat
- Leg Extensions
- Lying Leg Curl
[Related: The Anatomy of Your Leg Muscles, Explained (and How To Train Them)]
[Related: Why Chris Bumstead Can’t Build More Muscle]
Maximizing Lower Body Hypertrophy
- Limit warm-ups to four to six reps per set
- Use a seat belt during seated leg curls
- Adjust training volume and intensity according to their recovery capacity and goals
- Training to failure is not necessary for hypertrophy
- Vary workouts to prevent burnout
Bennett suggests performing three sets of each exercise to optimize muscle stimulation and minimize systematic fatigue.
1. Seated Hamstring Curl
During seated leg curls, flex the hips at full extension to place more tension on the hamstrings in their fully lengthened position. (1) Bennett advises securing the legs between the thigh pads to ensure stability.
Bennett recommends tempo reps, incorporating five-second eccentrics, and pausing at the top. Post mechanical failure, perform lengthened partials. (2)
2. Pendulum Squat
Use a squat wedge or weightlifting shoes to mitigate ankle mobility constraints and achieve maximum knee flexion.
Get your hamstring on your calves and pause there.
Choose a stance that feels natural. Bennett advises against a narrow stance, as it doesn’t isolate the quad sweeps and can restrict range of motion.
“Most people will benefit from a wider stance, toes turned out, and slightly driving the knees out as they go to the bottom,” confirms Bennet.
3. Leg Extensions
After training the hamstrings and quads in the mid-to-lengthened position, Bennett recommends focusing on the mid-to-shortened range. Ensure the patellas point forward or upward throughout the exercise.
Not great for knee health if they point in or out.
Bennett suggests pausing at peak contraction each rep to maximize rectus femoris activation; actively pull into the seat throughout to prevent the hips from coming off the pad. This limits the quad’s range of motion and muscle activation.
4. Lying Leg Curl
Prioritize driving the thighs, rather than the hips, against the machine’s pad to prevent posterior pelvic tilt that could reduce tension on the hamstrings. Focus on contracting all the heads of the hamstrings to their fully shortened position.
The whole point is to load the hamstrings through the mid- and fully- shortened position.
Since the prone leg curl is often the only hamstring isolation exercise in most gyms, Bennett recommends performing shortened partials after mechanical failure.
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References
- Maeo S, Huang M, Wu Y, et al. Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle Lengths. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2021;53(4):825-837. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000002523
- Pedrosa, G. F., Lima, F. V., Schoenfeld, B. J., Lacerda, L. T., Simões, M. G., Pereira, M. R., Diniz, R. C. R., & Chagas, M. H. (2022). Partial range of motion training elicits favorable improvements in muscular adaptations when carried out at long muscle lengths. European journal of sports science, 22(8), 1250–1260. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2021.1927199
Featured image: @hypertrophycoach on Instagram
