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Leg day is one of the most hated workout days in the gym. People go so far as to skip it all together because they dread enduring another set of squats, lunges, leg presses or step ups. Don’t let this be you ever again. After watching this video, you are going to know the real reason why you hate leg day and, most importantly, what you need to do to start loving it from now on.
Leg training is very polarizing. Ask someone whether they enjoy training their legs and you are going to get a strong response one way or the other. Some will actually look forward to it while the majority will despise it. There is actually a very good reason for why you might be one of those that does not like training their legs. Because doing so is really hard! There are over 50 muscles in the lower body that get trained when you do your leg workouts. The same cannot be said for training biceps. The more muscles that are working the harder the demand placed on you.
That said, that isn’t the only reason why you hate leg day. More importantly, if you do not look forward to training your legs then you likely were forced by external forces to start training your legs in a way that exceeded your abilities at an early point in your training. This is a big mistake, but it can be corrected. If you are willing to break it all down and start back at square one, you can rebuild your leg training and build huge legs in the process.
This is going to require that you get honest with yourself however. You need to be willing to admit that your squat (while heavy) may not truly be commanded at all points in the range of motion of the exercise. If you are feeling every rep in your joints more than your muscles then you definitely need to re-evaluate your performance of the lift and be willing to make some changes.
Either way, when we skip the necessary process of building up to a big squat, we get frustrated and wind up hating leg training. This happens for one of two reasons. The first is, you perform your reps badly and allow the muscles that should be doing the work to escape unworked. This will only limit the gains you see in your legs which will frustrate you and make you start wanting to blame your genetics for your poor progress.
It is not your genetics. It is you. You need to be honest with your shortcomings and realize that lifting with a lighter weight may have allowed you to put more of the work in your legs where it should be and you would get better results in the process. The second thing that happens is that you compensate your way through every rep of your leg training and wind up beating up your knees, ankles and hips in the process. This makes leg training physically unbearable and something that you want to avoid at all costs moving forward.
Neither of these situations are conducive to you getting bigger legs. So, look at yourself in the mirror and be honest with your current approach to leg training. If you find that either of the above scenarios sounds like something that you are doing too much of right now, do me a favor and back off. Start with much lighter weights than you can supposedly handle and work on perfecting your squat form. From here, gradually add back in the weight and you will be shocked at not just how good your legs feel but how great they start looking in the process.
If you are looking for a complete program that puts the science back in leg training to help you build your best legs yet, head to and get our ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start building ripped, athletic and powerful legs by training like an athlete.
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50 comments
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I just want to know why working out my legs gets me tired like I've been doing extreme cardio
I also need some advice from a professional: the bar always hurts my spine when squatting and so I got a pad to put on the bar and even still its painful I actually finished a leg workout and idk what happened but my whole right shoulder leading into the arm was completely numb for 3 WEEKS ! I figured it was nerve damage but idk what to do I even tried putting the bar in different spots along my back to see if I just had it positioned wrong but it's still painful and leaves my back bruised or worse please give helpful advice
This helped me so
Much I use to be able to lift 315 pounds and I loved doing leg day but I stop working out for a while and I went back to working out and I tried to lift 200 and couldn’t get it up and now every time it’s leg day I try to get out of it but I think this video help me not feel so insecure about lifting smaller Weight so thanks
Damn I did this unconsciously and started enjoying it once I reset like damn!!!?
Oddly enough I do biceps right after I work out my legs. Something to look forward to I guess.
It’s as simple as dropping the ego
Jeff, I would you to do video's specific for women. I know, there are Athlean-X for women videos but I want you to do them… you have credibility. Please??
Love the truth 👍
I hate leg day bc I have to use fucking dumbbells. It’s hella uncomfortable
Definitely needed to hear this
The only reason I hate leg day is that nauseous feeling and the best part is after the workout. You feel invincible!
I was squatting really heavy with a mate, good form etc… Long leg session, thrashed them….Then Next day had a 18 hours bus ride in dirt roads (south america) most painful uncomfortable 18 hours of my life😅
Damn this hit home lol😂
Is there a way that you can do minimum leg day without feeling the pain for 3 days. Like enough to get some gains but not enough to walk like a newborn.
I think most people who say they cant wall after leg day are doing too much weight like you said copying bodybuilders and have bad form. They probably pulled a muscle and think its just soreness lol
No bullshit, all facts, all science.
That’s Jeff ❤️
AMAZING!!! @Athlean-X
I don't like leg day because I literally feel like I am dying, bcause of energy deficit.
dude literally has skeleton in there😱😱😱😱
I hated leg day until I went to the doctor and he told me I had a torn acl
I have no issue at all starting small and using proper form. I’m not embarrassed at all about that. My issue is quad soreness and not being able to sit down and get up for many days
Best leg workouts are squats, lunges, atlas stone lifting, sled pulling.
I started body weight squats and in 4 months i am doing 70kgs squats i love leg day
Thank you
My coach is getting me to bench squat no weight, giblet squats with dumbbell, and hack squat machine progressing overload THEN we will take it to the squat rack when form and muscles develop enough to benefit from the square rack…. some times the plates I use are not as big as others but I can assurely say, I'm getting a full/better work out because I understand what it is I'm doing
I WANT to squat, I’m almost 6 feet tall tho..😭 long way down…
Legs 🦵 is where it’s all about if you wanna run faster hop faster jump higher and lift heavier
Thank you for this. I lost about 25 lbs on squat trying this, but the burn is so much better!!!
Its all fun and games until you have a chicken feet for a leg and a kick in the shin
i Hate leg day bc i walk 3 days after it like a fucking penguin
I dont feel the pump for legs, only pain
Me at 1:46 😂
form before strength:. master yi
I hate leg day because of the cardiovascular demands. Hate that feeling of breathlessness. Really don't mind the stiffness etc the next 2 days, I actually like it because it means (for me) that I went hard enough at it.
If u hate leg day ur a bitch
yesterday I for the first day in Gym in my life and I was asked to do squat (no weight) after treadmill 15rep 3sets.. and today I`m completely broken. Can`t even sit nor stand after sitting.
People don’t like training legs because if you actually get a good workout in you’ll basically be a cripple for the next few days and wish you owned a wheel chair lol
I've started training recently but seems I have strong quads. I can squat 154 for some 8-10 reps, but my joints (knees) really didn't like it the time I did it, so I'm working through lower weights first to create the nervous system and joint capacity first
Wise words (I think! I hate leg day)
Man, this video was definitely made for me. Blaming my genetics, running to the leg press instead, this has been my MO for a while now.
Thanks Jeff, I needed to be called out on it.
Love your work. And respect your advice.
This video was a bit contradictory however. You can’t get low you shouldn’t be under bar? But leg press no good… and I’ve seen your other videos about hip limitation – for example cam impingement and other things, and to not get too low if you have restrictions.
Seems hard to balance it out, when your internal rotation a bit limited on one side and external rotation on other for example.
So don’t get under bar if you can’t get full range? Does that hold or not? Where’s the balance between deepness and some limitation. Is now the leg press machine ideal?
Then again the bar also helps with core stabilisation and just the added weight on shoulders rather than flat back on machine.
Seems like a good next video 😉
The progression is bodyweight squats -> goblet squats -> Zercher squats -> front squats -> barbell back squats.
I kinda thought this too but it helps to hear it in detail and confirm that little idea that popped in my head. I will definitely be starting completely over with legs and hope i dont get as light headed doing squats.
Leg day = cardio, and everyone knows that cardio will kill you
I just hate the fatigue feeling of the legs more than the core or arms. Put that same amount of fatigue anywhere else but the legs and I can handle it a lot better
I used to like leg day … before I trained other muscles . I saw nubeee gains and I’m not a ego lifter its just so much work for leg day . My favorite now is back .
Did my first leg day today, I literally thought there was a chance I was gonna collapse walking out the gym. My legs felt like literal rubber.
Thank you! Raza 🙂
My knees hurt (or at least make a snapping sounds) even if I squat without a bar.