You should never skip leg day, especially when Arnold Schwarzenegger is sharing leg workouts like this one. In his recent Pump Club newsletter, the Austrian Oak has shared a bodyweight workout that will help you develop more muscular, stronger legs in just 25 minutes. That’s right, there’s no pumping iron in this workout. Just put on your best workout shoes and get ready to grind.
It may surprise you that Arnie is sharing a workout that doesn’t require a pair of dumbbells or an Olympic barbell. But, weights aren’t actually necessary when it comes to strength training exercises. As long as your body encounters resistance and has to work hard to overcome this resistance, the stronger you will become and you will grow muscle. Just as Arnold says in his newsletter "basic movements performed with high intensity deliver the best results".
Arnold's lower body workout
This workout has five exercises and you’re going to do three rounds of each exercise. The reps are a little different for each one (so we’ve popped them below), but they’re generally all between eight to 15 reps, which is the sweet spot for hypertrophy training (building muscle). You get a 60 second rest in between each exercise and we’d suggest taking a 90 second rest, before you move onto the second round of the workout. Here’s what you’ll be doing:
- Reverse lunges 8-15 reps
- Single-leg hip thrust 12-20 reps (each side)
- Wall squat hold 30-60 seconds
- Bodyweight squat 10-20 reps
- Plank walkout 8-12 reps
When you start to find this workout too easy with just your bodyweight, Arnold suggests using a loaded backpack, a weighted vest, or you can even use some free weights, like dumbbells or a single kettlebell to make things more challenging. If you're after more Arnold-inspired workouts, we've got plenty! Why not give his 15-minute full-body dumbbell workout a try? Also, make sure you check out Arnold's two top techniques for building muscle, to help you on your fitness journey.
