There are a lot of good reasons not to skip leg day. Your legs include some of the largest muscles of the body by muscle mass and doing effective compound leg exercises not only burns more overall fat and strengthen your muscles, but exercises like squats can be great for your mobility and posture as well as release growth hormone which has a whole range of health benefits.
Effective compound leg exercises are also a great way to target and strengthen your core. Compound exercises use more than one joint and multiple muscle groups to perform an exercise as opposed to isolation exercises that focus on a specific muscle giving you overall greater results.
Compound movements are effective and efficient at producing better results – the more muscles you involve in exercises, the more overall muscle you are going to build as well as increase your endurance and strength.
Benefits of focusing on compound leg exercises include:
- Save time – work out more muscle groups efficiently at once.
- Burn more calories – using more muscles, you burn more overall calories. Stimulating multiple muscle groups encourages your body to burn fat faster and increases your metabolism.
- Heavier loads – engaging more muscle groups enables you to distribute heavier loads and helps strengthen your body.
- Build core strength – engage and strengthen your core. Balance and posture are improved and a healthy back is maintained as pressure is taken of the spine.
What are the big 6 massively effective compound leg exercises?
Back Squat
Deadlift
Front squat
Bulgarian split squat
Farmers Carry
Lunges
What primary body parts are targeted with each exercise?
Back Squat – glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, lower back and core.
Deadlift – glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, adductor muscles, lower, mid & upper back, biceps and traps.
Front Squat -glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, lower back and core with greater emphasis on the quads.
Bulgarian Split Squat – glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, adductors.
Farmers Carry – glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, adductors, core, upper back, lats, forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, traps.
Lunges – glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, obliques, core.
Big 6 massively effective compound leg exercises
Back Squat
Being one of the most popular compound exercises, the back squat is a full body movement that engages almost every muscle in the body. Squats are a power-lifting competition exercise and are great for building muscle, strength and increasing mobility. They are also a very practical and functional exercise for everyday life making it a fantastic exercise to perform. In order to progress with the squat it is useful to perform squats in a squat rack.
Deadlift
The deadlift is an essential tool for creating strength and is a classic benchmark of overall strength. The barbell deadlift is also a power-lifting competition lift which primarily targets your mid and upper back, hamstrings, quads, glutes and core, but also your lats, traps, biceps and forearms.
Deadlifts build core strength and stability and are very beneficial even with light to moderate weights. They help develop overall strength and size in the posterior chain. Deadlifts help you build muscle and burn fat as well as increase strength and are always useful for everyday functionality like bending and picking things up.
There are many types of deadlifts however the two most popular are:
Conventional deadlift – hands are on the outsides of your legs, targets your lower back (spinal erectors) and hips more.
Sumo deadlift – hands are on the insides of your legs, targets your quads more.
Front Squat
The front squat is another variation of the very popular back squat with huge emphasis on your quads. Instead of having the weight resting across your traps the barbell rests against your shoulders. Front squats are known for being easier on your back and knees and are another enjoyable exercise to include as effective compound leg exercises. Including the front squat in your routine can also help you increase weight with your back squat. They are typically harder to perform than the back squat as the upper back is worked harder to maintain your upright posture and you can typically get the same strength gains as the back squat with less weight used.
There are three main grips for the front squat the Olympic grip, strap grip and the crossover grip with the most popular being the Olympic grip as shown in the photo above.
Cap Barbell: The Beast
This 7″ 20kg Olympic barbell is great for weightlifting, powerlifting or CrossFit and is the perfect companion for performing all your effective compound leg exercises. Built from solid steel with a black phosphate finish and able to handle a total max load capacity of 750 lbs makes it a great barbell for your home gym that will be up for what you throw at it as well as being durable enough to last a long time.
Bulgarian Split Squat
The Bulgarian split squat involves a bench, pylometric box or something else to elevate your foot. It involves all typical muscles worked in the squat and lunge but creates a greater emphasis on your quads. Like lunges, Bulgarian split squats are a unilateral movement so you avoid issues with over compensation of a stronger leg. It is great to perform compound exercises and also include a combination of bilateral and unilateral exercises
Farmers Carry
The Farmers Carry or ‘Farmers Walk’ can be easily done with a kettlebell, dumbbell or any heavy weighted object with a good grip. Farmers carry are a nice full body exercise to do after doing more targeted exercises like squats or deadlifts to mix up your routine. The farmers carry is a great functional exercise that is extremely useful for everyday life. It’s great for your core, strengthens your back which can lead to improved posture. Your hand grip can also get strengthened.
It’s a great exercise to increase your balance and stability. It’s important to engage your core and comfortably carry the weight evenly. With all exercises, start light, become comfortable with the form and movement and increase the weights as you progress.
Lunges
Lunges are not always everyone’s favorite exercise, but they work extremely well at developing the leg muscles making them an extremely effective compound leg exercise. Lunges are a great stabilizing and balancing exercise and incorporating them into your exercise program is a great way to increase strength and mobility in your legs. Lunges can also be a great alternative to squats especially for those that do not enjoy squats or that may have hip or ankle mobility issues and find lunges more comfortable.
Another great reason to add lunges to your exercise program is that they are a unilateral exercise meaning both legs will be efficiently worked out where with squats you could possibly have a stronger leg compensating. If your new to lunges it is a great idea to start with only body weight and when you are comfortable slowly add weight with holding a barbell or dumbbells. Options are staying in the same spot and doing alternate legs or performing them as part of a lunge walk if you have the space.
Conclusion
Working out your legs using effective compound leg exercises is a great way to build overall strength, burn overall fat and is important for creating a strong functional body. Try incorporating some of these great effective compound leg exercises into your routine and you will enjoy the benefits these exercises will bring.
The most efficient way to build strength is to perform these effective compound leg exercises as part of a weekly exercise routine. It is also beneficial to mix up your routine and perform different leg exercises, this keeps it interesting as well as targeting a range of different muscles. Effective compound leg exercises are great way to efficiently maximize your workouts.