Legs: squat, hinge and single-leg
The big lower-body lifts: squats, hip hinges and single-leg work that drive most of your strength and muscle.
- Back squat
The classic barbell squat, a cornerstone lower-body strength lift.
- Belt squat
A squat loaded from the hips by a belt, so the legs work with nothing on the spine.
- Box squat
A squat to a box, which fixes the depth and teaches sitting back into the hips.
- Bulgarian split squat
A single-leg squat that builds the quads and glutes and exposes imbalances.
- Cable glute kickback
A single-leg cable movement that isolates the glutes through hip extension.
- Cable pull-through
A cable hip hinge that teaches the pattern and loads the glutes, back-friendly.
- Conventional deadlift
A full-body pull from the floor, one of the best total strength builders.
- Curtsy lunge
A crossing-behind lunge that biases the glute medius and the outside of the hip.
- Front squat
A squat with the bar on the front of the shoulders, quad-focused and upright.
- Glute bridge
A floor-based hip extension for the glutes: the regression of the hip thrust.
- Glute ham raise
A hamstring curl done with your own bodyweight on a glute ham developer.
- Goblet squat
A dumbbell or kettlebell squat held at the chest, great for learning the pattern.
- Good morning
A barbell hip hinge that builds the hamstrings, glutes and back with light loads.
- Hack squat
A machine squat on an angled sled that loads the quads hard with the back supported.
- Hip abduction machine
A seated machine for the glute medius, the side-hip muscle that stabilises every step.
- Hip adduction machine
A seated machine that trains the inner thigh through a range other lifts never touch.
- Hip thrust
A hip-extension movement that loads the glutes directly.
- Lateral lunge
A sideways lunge that trains the adductors and hip range that forward work misses.
- Leg extension
A machine isolation exercise that targets the quadriceps directly.
- Leg press
A machine squat pattern that lets you load the legs with a supported back.
- Leg press calf raise
Calf raises done on the leg press sled, with the load off your spine.
- Lying leg curl
A machine isolation exercise that trains the hamstrings' knee-bending role.
- Nordic hamstring curl
A brutal bodyweight eccentric with strong evidence for reducing hamstring injuries.
- Pistol squat
A full-depth squat on one leg, the benchmark for lower-body strength without a barbell.
- Rack pull
A partial deadlift from blocks or pins, training the top half with heavier loads.
- Reverse hyperextension
A hip extension with the torso fixed, training glutes and hamstrings with a light spine.
- Reverse lunge
A backwards-stepping lunge that is kinder to the knees than the forward version.
- Romanian deadlift
A hip-hinge that targets the hamstrings and glutes through the stretch.
- Seated calf raise
A bent-knee calf raise that targets the deeper soleus muscle.
- Seated leg curl
A machine hamstring curl performed with the hips flexed, training the hamstrings at length.
- Single-leg Romanian deadlift
A one-legged hinge that trains hamstrings, glutes and balance in one movement.
- Sissy squat
A knees-forward squat that stretches and loads the quads through a long range.
- Smith machine squat
A squat on a fixed bar path, useful for training close to failure without a spotter.
- Split squat
A stationary lunge that loads one leg at a time without the balance tax of a rear-foot-elevated stance.
- Standing calf raise
The main isolation exercise for the calves, emphasising the gastrocnemius.
- Step-up
Stepping onto a box on one leg: simple, scalable and highly transferable.
- Sumo deadlift
A wide-stance deadlift that shortens the range and shares load with the hips and quads.
- Trap bar deadlift
A deadlift from inside a hexagonal bar: easier on the back and simpler to learn.
- Walking lunge
A travelling single-leg lunge that builds the quads and glutes and challenges balance.
- Wall sit
An isometric squat hold against a wall, measured in seconds rather than reps.