Best Barbell Exercises For Your Legs – 5 moves everyone MUST use regularly!

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As many of you know, I am a huge fan of free weights. They remind me of what working out was probably like way back in the day – “That thing is heavy and I’m going to pick it up.” 🙂 Seriously, though,I love the versatility and the degrees of freedom that they offer during exercises. Oftentimes it’s a lack of stability/support which makes your muscles work even harder during the given activity. With one simple piece of equipment (a bar loaded with heavy weight) there are literally dozens of exercises you can do to strengthen key muscle groups. That being said, the vast majority of my personal leg exercises are barbell activities. At times this can get overwhelming! Where do you start? How do you do these lifts and what are they for? To clear up some of this confusion I’m dedicating today’s post to my top five barbell leg exercises.

Squats

Probably my favorite all-around exercise. With the bar across your shoulders, bend your knees until your thighs are parallel with the ground. Keep your head up, your chest out, back straight, and knees right over your toes throughout the exercise. Exhale on the way back up from the bottom of the squat. Great for the back, butt, and quads.
3 sets of 10

Lunges
Start in standing with the bar across your back. Lunge way out in front of you with the left foot and drop until your right knee just about touches the floor. Keep your left knee headed right over your second toe but don’t let it proceed in front of your toe. Return to starting position. Great for the butt, quads, and hips.
3 sets of 10 on each leg

Deadlifts
Start by holding the bar in front of you with your arms straight as shown. Keep your back straight as you bend forward at the hips until the bar is just below your knees. Squeeze your butt and pull yourself back to the upright position. Amazing for your butt and lower back.
3 sets of 10

Clean
Start with your barbell on the ground. Bend down to pick up the bar – your feet should be about shoulder width apart with your hands slightly wider than your knees. Keep your back straight. Stand up and use the momentum to carry the bar up to your shoulders as shown. Slowly and in control lower the bar back down to the starting position on the floor. Great for the butt, quads, lower back, and shoulders.
3 sets of 10

Front squats
This time we’re loading the barbell across the front of the chest. This creates a slightly different mechanical advantage as compared to the back squats (#1). Hold the bar in place as you slowly lower to the squat position. Try to keep your head up, shoulders back, chest out. Great for the quads, butt, and core.
3 sets of 10