How Working One Leg At a Time Builds More Muscle
To make a unilateral training strategy even more effective, I really like to stack multiple single-leg moves together without no rest between them. This creates more metabolic stress and extends your time under tension for a more effective leg workout in less time and with less joint-wearing loading throughout your body.
Try out these two stacks today and I think you’ll agree with me. For best results, either switch between the two stacks from session to session or do both stacks within the same session.
1. The Quad-Glute Stack
Both of the following exercises work your glutes. But they tend to work your quads more than they work your hamstrings, so if your quads are lagging behind your hams, hit this stack up more often.
Perform the following exercises on the same side with no rest between the moves. After you complete the second exercise, rest 30 to 60 seconds.
Then switch sides and repeat.
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 3 rounds per side.
1A. Rear-foot-elevated goblet split squat, 8 to 12 reps
1B. Shoulders-elevated single-leg hip thrust, as many reps as possible
2. The Glute-Ham Stack
Both of the following exercises work your glutes. But they tend to work your hamstrings more than they work your quads. So if your hams are lagging behind your quads, hit this stack up more often.
Perform the following exercises on the same side with no rest between the moves. After you complete the second exercise, rest 30 to 60 seconds.
Then switch sides and repeat.
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 3 rounds per side.
1A. Rear-foot-elevated hip hinge, 8 to 12 reps
1B. Feet-elevated single-leg hip thrust, as many reps as possible
This article was originally published on MensHealth.com
