Leg workout: five exercises, the right tempo and a session that fits in 30 minutes

Why legs deserve their own session

The legs hold the largest muscles in the body. The NHS asks adults to strengthen all major muscle groups, legs and hips included, on at least two days a week, and lists climbing stairs, hill walking and squats among the activities that count. With age, leg strength becomes the difference between taking the stairs and avoiding them, which is why the NHS puts sit-to-stands, mini-squats and calf raises at the heart of its home strength routine.

A leg workout also gives a lot back for the time it takes: five exercises, done well, cover every muscle from hip to ankle.

Five exercises, with technique

1. Squat. Feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell at the chest once bodyweight is easy. Sit down between the heels, knees following the line of the toes, chest up, as deep as you can while the back stays long. Push the floor away to stand. Our squat form guide covers the details.
2. Split squat. One foot forward, one back, about a long stride apart. Lower the back knee towards the floor, keeping the front heel down, then push up through the front foot. Hold a chair at first for balance.
3. Romanian deadlift. Feet hip-width, knees soft, weights in front of the thighs. Push the hips back with a flat back until you feel the stretch at the back of the thighs, then drive the hips forward. The hip hinge guide teaches it step by step.
4. Step-up. A sturdy step, bench or stair at knee height or lower. Place the whole foot on it and push through that heel to stand tall, without pushing off the back foot. Lower slowly.
5. Calf raise. Hands on a wall or chair. Rise onto the balls of the feet as high as is comfortable, pause, lower slowly. Do it on a step edge for a bigger range, or on one leg to make it harder.

How deep, and what about the knees

Kubo's ten-week trial gives the clearest answer on depth: the full squat increased the volume of the gluteus maximus by 6.7%, against 2.2% for the half squat. Depth is worth working towards.

For healthy knees, depth is not the danger it is often said to be. A review by Hartmann and colleagues concluded that deep squats do not add risk of injury to the passive tissues of the knee, and Escamilla's review of knee biomechanics found that the parallel squat does not harm a healthy knee. The old rule that knees must never pass the toes has a cost too: in a study by Fry and colleagues, blocking the knees behind the toes shifted a great deal of extra load onto the hips. Let the knees travel forward naturally, in line with the feet. If your knees are sore, read our guide to knee-friendly exercises before choosing a depth.

Tempo: a tool, not a rule

Tempo is the time each phase of a repetition takes: lowering, pause and lifting. Schoenfeld's meta-analysis found similar muscle growth with repetitions lasting from half a second to eight seconds; very slow repetitions beyond ten seconds were probably less effective. A review by Wilk and colleagues adds that a slow tempo reduces the load and the number of repetitions you can manage.

In practice, a three-second lowering, a one-second pause and a one-second lift is a good default. It makes form easier to control, lengthens the time under tension of a light weight at home, and keeps you honest about depth. The calculator on this page shows how long each set and the whole exercise will take at the tempo you choose.

A 30-minute leg session

1. Warm-up, 5 minutes. Brisk march, ten bodyweight squats, ten hip hinges with a stick or broom, ten calf raises.
2. Squat, 7 minutes. 3 sets of 8 to 10 at a 3-1-1 tempo, about 90 seconds of rest.
3. Romanian deadlift, 6 minutes. 3 sets of 10.
4. Split squat, 6 minutes. 2 sets of 8 per leg.
5. Step-up and calf raise, 6 minutes. 2 sets of 10 step-ups per leg, then 2 sets of 15 calf raises.

The NHS describes a useful set as 8 to 12 repetitions that bring you close to the point where one more would be difficult, with two or three sets per exercise. That is exactly what this session asks for. On short days, the squat and the Romanian deadlift alone make a respectable workout.

How to progress over eight weeks

• Weeks 1 and 2: bodyweight only, full range, 3-1-1 tempo. Hold a support for the split squat if needed.
• Weeks 3 and 4: add one or two repetitions per set each week.
• Weeks 5 and 6: add load. A dumbbell, a kettlebell or a backpack filled with books.
• Weeks 7 and 8: harder versions. Bulgarian split squat with the back foot on a bench, single-leg Romanian deadlift, single-leg calf raise.

Leave one or two repetitions in reserve on most sets. Keep a note of loads and repetitions: progress is easier to see than to feel. When you are ready to measure your strength, the one-rep max calculator estimates it from a set of several repetitions.

If you have knee, hip or back pain, a recent injury or joint surgery, or a heart condition, ask your doctor or a physiotherapist before starting a leg workout with load. Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain or swelling.

Train your legs with Never Skip Club

Leg day is the session people skip first. In Never Skip Club, you choose the body area, the level (Easy, Medium or Intense), 20, 30 or 45 minutes and where you train, with or without equipment, and the app builds a guided session of five or six animated exercises in about a minute, with your sets logged. Start a crew of three to seven friends with a rhythm such as two leg sessions in a four-session week: each session of 30 minutes or more counts, and the ranking rewards regularity, not extra sessions. Add our glute workout for a full lower body. Create your free account, and if you want an expert to check your squat depth or your hinge, find a coach from our network. Already a member? Sign in.