Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Legs | The Don't List | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
Follow
30/08/2024
Legs | The Don't List | Men's Health Muscle
Category
🥇
Sports
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Some leg exercises like squats and deadlifts and lunges you just know you need to do if you've been anywhere near a gym
00:06
but what about some of what's on Instagram a lot of this is just a
00:12
Cosmic waste of your time and it's really hard to know if a lot of the leg exercises
00:16
You're seeing that pop up on your feed have any value at all
00:19
The truth is especially if you're trying to build leg muscle
00:23
Often what you're seeing on Instagram and on tik-tok is just a waste of your time and isn't really gonna help make you strong
00:29
So here are four ridiculous leg exercises and think of these as ideas, too
00:33
so when you see anything similar than them
00:35
You're gonna want to skip them and we're gonna give you some options that are gonna help you actually build leg muscle and strength that
00:40
You can do instead one of the most cosmic waste of time exercises
00:44
I have ever seen when it comes to training lower body is a BOSU ball squat now
00:48
Listen, if you want to work on the BOSU ball
00:51
It is fine as an activation exercise aka warm-up and it is fine in some situations if you're rehabbing an injury
00:58
But if you are actually trying to build strength and muscle, there are simply better options
01:02
Here's the issue with the BOSU ball squat. No matter what you're loading. No matter how much you're loading on it
01:08
Your stability is so compromised that you're just not loading as much as you possibly can and you're just not going to really
01:14
generate as much force as your legs are really capable of when you're in that squat position the
01:19
Upside of the BOSU ball squat is that it is going to teach you to keep your chest upright
01:24
but the move we can go to
01:25
Instead of the BOSU ball squat is simply any kind of goblet squat or even the front rack kettlebell squat
01:31
If we're going to those exercises our feet are now grounded properly
01:35
Our abs are gonna be a lot more engaged no matter what they tell you about the BOSU ball squat in terms of its ab
01:40
Engagement our abs are gonna be more engaged with the goblet squat and we're gonna be able to work through that squat pattern and load
01:47
It a ton more so you're gonna get a lot more out of that than you are the BOSU ball squat
01:51
The most common leg exercise you'll see in group fitness is also one of the biggest leg training wastes of your time
01:56
And that is going to be any kind of combo squat
01:59
And this is a great way to tell if somebody is an Instagram pretender or if they actually know what they're doing from a fitness
02:04
standpoint you're gonna see a squat into a lateral raise or a squat into a biceps curl or a squat into anything else and
02:10
All of those exercises just aren't getting the most out of your legs
02:14
Here's why your legs are much stronger. Even if your legs are not strong at all
02:18
They are much stronger and capable of generating more force and moving more load
02:22
Than your shoulders are during lateral raises than your biceps are during curls
02:26
Then your upper body is during any of these accessory motions
02:30
So when we combine that accessory move with the squat
02:33
We're only challenging the accessory move and we're just wasting time by doing the squat if you really really
02:39
Desperately have to do a combo move
02:40
The only combo move that is worth your time is something called the dumbbell thruster or the kettlebell thruster here
02:46
We are working through that squat pattern and we can generate maximum force in one direction
02:52
And we're using the power that we create
02:54
From our squat the excess power to then drive dumbbells or kettlebells overhead in that overhead pattern
03:00
All of our energy is going in one direction
03:02
So if you have to do a combo move make it a thruster if it is anything else
03:06
Don't even bother with it if you're trying to train your legs the most contrived leg exercise out there and the leg exercise
03:12
That just doesn't really get you anything except for group fitness props is something called the jump squat now
03:18
Understand this about the jump squat. It is not a natural jump
03:21
If you're jumping you're not lowering deep into your squat pattern to do it
03:26
So we're not taking ourselves through a truly athletic version of the jump is also not a natural squat
03:32
Because there's nothing that's really allowing us to create maximum force with the jump squat
03:37
Especially when we're doing the jump squat to kind of pile up multiple reps because then we're very often
03:42
Actually not driving our hands upwards. We're just not creating the maximum force that we possibly can
03:47
This is a waste of time group fitness move and nothing more if you want to do an athletic leg exercise idea
03:54
That's going to help you build
03:56
Athleticism and help you to jump better your better option is going to be something called the depth jump here
04:02
We're gonna stand on a bench a box something like that. We're gonna land into the ground
04:06
Decelerate our body absorb that force and then redirect upwards
04:10
This is gonna teach you how to build power and strength
04:12
We're gonna keep the reps low
04:13
But it's a lot better than those jump squats that you can do and the ultimate waste of time
04:18
Exercise if we're trying to build leg strength is the pistol squat now
04:23
Understand this about the pistol squat is a tremendous expression of strength and mobility and you can't take anything away
04:29
From anyone who can execute a pistol squat
04:31
But it is not the best way to add the leg muscle onto your body and it is not the best way
04:37
To build leg strength and if you look at those people who have massively jacked legs and do pistol squats
04:42
understand that they're doing a lot in addition to the pistol squat to
04:46
The problem with the pistol squat is the stability demands of the move are so great that you never ever ever
04:52
Will truly get to load the movement enough to build strength again great move and it looks great
04:57
It's just not the best way to help you build strength
04:59
If we want to go through that single leg pattern and still be able to load and actually to be honest still have a little
05:06
Stability demand we're gonna go to the Bulgarian split squat here. We will eventually get to go heavy
05:11
We have just enough stability that way we can focus on that single leg without having to worry about our balance paramount above all and that's
05:19
Gonna let us eventually go heavy with this exercise
05:21
The Bulgarian split squat will be your ultimate single leg pattern. The pistol squat is great
05:26
But if we are chasing strength and size on our legs instead of doing the pistol squat
05:31
We're gonna go Bulgarian split squat instead
05:33
So if you stick with those leg moves and get rid of the other stuff and stop wasting time on Instagram
05:39
You're gonna see a lot more growth in your legs and you're gonna make strength gains a lot faster
Recommended
6:35
|
Up next
The Don't List | Recomp | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
01/01/2025
10:29
How to Do the Leg Press | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
10/01/2023
8:36
How to Do the Dumbbell Lunge | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
10/05/2023
4:46
Cheat Curls | Form Check | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
04/10/2024
4:54
Bench Dips Are Pointless | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
23/06/2022
8:00
Top Exercises to Build Massive Calves | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
14/12/2022
8:28
Perfect Calf Raise Form | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
27/12/2023
7:13
You Can’t Train For Muscle Tone | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
03/01/2023
10:30
These Are the Best Forearm Workouts | Muscle Musts | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
14/06/2022
7:18
Build Big Quads Without a Leg Extension Machine | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
14/11/2023
6:47
Plyo Pushups Build Chest Power | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
29/03/2023
10:11
Properly Train the Turkish Get Up | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
13/12/2022
7:03
Cable Crossover | Form Check | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
29/04/2024
6:07
Muscle Confusion Is An Ineffective Way to Train | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
25/01/2023
10:07
5 Must-Do Exercises for Your Low Back | Muscle Musts | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
23/08/2023
10:53
Best Workouts To Build Inner Chest Muscles | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
22/11/2022
3:56
Don’t Do These Glutes Exercises. Hit These Alternatives Instead to Build Your Butt. | The Don't List | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
14/08/2024
3:38
How to Do the Elevated Plank Row PROPERLY *Avoid These Mistakes* | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
15/02/2022
4:43
Stop Doing These Chest Exercises. Do These Moves Instead. | The Don't List | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
29/08/2024
5:26
5 Leg Curl Alternative Exercises to Build Hamstrings | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
17/01/2024
8:52
How to Do Single-Leg Hip Thrusts | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
10/02/2023
5:32
Stop Doing These Back Exercises. Do These More Efficient Moves Instead. | The Don't List | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
28/08/2024
11:03
5 Exercises You Can to to Improve Shoulder Health | Muscle Musts | Men's Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
11/08/2023
5:41
Kinotek Captures How You Move | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
17/03/2023
7:52
How to Do the Machine Press | Men’s Health Muscle
Men'sHealth
28/01/2023