The Motor Unit

This is a continuation of my last post and the focus is to give you an idea of how to build your own lower-body training template. My previous post also details how you could pair your lower-body training with upper-body training in your weekly routine depending on your goals, but here, I’m diving right into building a lower-body training template.

My last lower-body workout session looked like this -

Warm-up: joint mobilization through 15 to 30 seconds each of leg swings, pigeon stretches, body weight pause squats, side lunges, and banded pull-throughs.

1. Main lift: Back squats (conventional barbell style or safety squat bar style). Build to a 3 rep max in 6 to 8 sets. Goal - build lower-body squatting strength. 3 minutes rest between sets.

2. DB Romanian deadlifts: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps. This is a supplementary lift targeting muscles antagonistic to the ones involved in the main lift. In this case, the muscles targeted here are the hamstrings while the muscles targeted in the main lift are the quads and glutes.

3. Single leg superset done for 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps * both sides. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds between a and b and 60 to 90 seconds between supersets.

   a. Bulgarian split squats

   b. DB Single-leg Romanian deadlift

4. Superset done with a kettlebell 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps. Minimal to no rest between a and b and 60 to 90 seconds between supersets.

   a. Kettlebell swings

   b. Kettlebell goblet squats (other alternatives - KB side lunges, KB forward or backward lunges)

5. Calf raises: 3 to 5 sets of 12 to 20 reps.

While this is the session I trained, the template boils down to two options that I alternate every lower-body session -

Option 1:

1. Main lift: Heavy squat variation focusing on strength. Exercise options include - barbell back squat, SSB squat, and barbell front squat. Build to a heavy 5 RM, 3 RM, or 1 RM, 3 minutes rest between sets. You could also do these exercises with a box/stool to make it a box squat variation.

2. RDL variation done for 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps targeting muscle hypertrophy.

3. And 4. Supersets with 60 to 90 seconds rest between supersets done for 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 15 reps

   a. Squatting accessory movements like Bulgarian split squats, goblet squats, and lunges.

   b. Hip hinge accessory movement. Options include - single-leg RDL, B stance RDL, KB swings, and hip thrusts.

5. Calf raises: 3 to 5 sets of 12 to 20 reps.

Option 2:

1. Main lift: You could replace the heavy squats in the main lift with a heavy deadlift variation like conventional barbell deadlifts, trap bar deadlifts, or sumo-style barbell deadlifts.

2. Given the logic between exercises 1 and 2 mentioned earlier, the second exercise would be a squat or a lunge variation to target your quads since they are antagonistic to the muscles involved in deadlifts.

Exercise selection logic for 3, 4, and 5 would remain the same as option 1.

This is a table from my previous post. I focus mostly on programming routines 1 and 2 from the table with routine 3 reserved for people looking to build a lot of muscle mass and are able to get plenty of rest to train accordingly.

If I’m programming routine 1, then one of the superset pairings is removed and the total number of exercises is limited to 5 in both lower-body sessions to manage the load. If I’m programming routine 2, then the number of exercises (including the pairings in the superset) is limited to 7 as shown in the template we built above.

So, I trust this helps give you an idea of how to build your own training templates for both upper-body and lower-body training and if you’re interested in working with me personally, reach out to me at [email protected].

Until next time!