April 10
Tip: Death to Super Deep Squats
Parallel is better for strength, power, and pain-free gains. Here's why.
April 7
4 Thigh-Quaking Squat Variations
The basic squat is the missionary position of leg workouts. Go Kama Sutra on your leg training with these alternatives.
March 22
Tip: Heel-Elevated Step-Up
The vastus medialis muscle often lags behind in strength. Use this exercise to bring it up and prevent injuries.
March 21
Tip: Zercher Squat with Zig-Zag Bar
The bar placement in the Zercher squat makes it a lot easier to activate the core and control the low back and pelvis. A straight bar without chains will work too.
March 20
Tip: High Box Squat with Safety Bar
When you have knee or shoulder issues, this is a good alternative to a standard squat. This is the touch-and-go version with chains for overload at the top.
March 19
Tip: The Heavy Goblet Squat
Use this special setup and make this so-called fluffy exercise into a real strength builder. Here's how.
March 18
Tip: Reverse Lunge from Step
This knee-friendly variation is great for your quads, glutes, and hamstrings.
Tip: Cheat Your Single-Leg Training
If you want to build muscle and reap the benefits of unilateral work, start out by doing it like this.
March 16
Tip: Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squat from Step
Elevate the front foot with a step and go deep on this one. Rack grip shown, but you can also hold the dumbbells down at your sides.
March 8
Tip: 10 and 2 Stationary Lunge
Pretend you're standing on a clock and finish off leg day with 3 sets of 10 (each leg).
March 7
Tip: Alternating Eccentric Leg Curl
Force those hamstrings to grow! Lift with two legs, then overload the negative by lowering with one leg. Switch to both legs when you hit failure.
March 5
Tip: This Exercise Beats Squats for Glute Gains
You've seen the squat-booty memes, but the squat came in last for glute activation when compared to two other exercises.
February 27
Tip: Build Quads & Glutes, Even With a Bad Back
Low back acting up? You can still train your lower body hard. Try this.
February 20
Tip: Goblet and Hack Squat Superset
For quad size, do 6 rounds of narrow goblet squats followed by continuous tension hack squats. Rest only 60 seconds between rounds.
Tip: Squatting Misses This Leg Muscle
Squats rock, but they actually don't give you complete quad development. Here's what gets skipped and what exercise will fix it.
February 8
The Most Important Movement Pattern
Here's how to get your hips moving properly and blast through deadlifts, pull-throughs, RDL's, and kettlebell swings.
February 4
Tip: Bulgarian Split Squat
The rear-leg elevated split squat isn't actually used by Bulgarian weightlifters, but hey, it's still a great exercise.
February 2
Tip: Backward Static Lunge
For bigger quads, the reverse static lunge beats the forward version.
January 22
Tip: The Combo Exercise That's Just Plain Silly
It's a popular exercise that kills two birds with one stone... except it really doesn't. It just screws up two good exercises.