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5 best unilateral lower body workouts
Summary
The lower body contains the largest and most powerful muscles, and that is why we need to train them regularly. Here are five great exercises for that
There is always more variety in lower body exercises than in upper body ones, given just how many major muscles there are. Starting from the glutes and going down the hamstrings and calves in the posterior chain to the hip flexors, and quads and tibialis down the front, it’s all lower body. Add the lateral chain with the IT bands and the adductors and one has a lot to work on and choose from.
I wrote about single-arm exercises last month in a Lounge article titled How To Get Stronger With Unilateral Upper Body Exercises, so this one is about the lower body. It wasn’t easy to narrow this list down to five of the best single-leg exercises, but doing all of these on the same day will make sure you hit every major muscle group and more.
Bulgarian split squats: This has to be on top of the list of any leg workout. The Bulgarian split squat is the holy grail of lower body exercises, given how easy it is to adjust the angle to switch from a quad-focussed to a glute-focussed rep. For those who haven’t tried this one yet, Athlean-X has a 4-minute video which takes you through each step, starting from the leg setup, the distance between the feet, the angles of the torso, and the techniques which change the muscle group focus.
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“If you want to hit more of the quads then you will want to make sure you keep your torso upright throughout the entire movement. If you want to make this more of a glute focused exercise then you would want to angle your body forward (without rounding your low back) and maintain this slight lean throughout the set," says trainer Jeff Cavaliere in the video.
Bench step overs: You can use a bench, a box, or maybe a stepper for this plyometric exercise that will help with both your stability and agility. Place yourself parallel to the bench with the front leg on the bench and the back leg on the floor—basically an elevated lunge position. The next step is to explode off the back leg and land on the other side of the bench and keep going from one side to the other as long as you can.
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Holding a kettlebell, a plate, or a dumbbell with both hands close to the chest is the next progression in this exercise. What is also essentially happening is that your body is switching from a curtsy lunge to a side lunge with every rep. An excellent cardio essential to your routine that is challenging and fun.
Single leg calf-raise: This is the easiest of the lot but also very effective, since it targets one of the most important muscle groups in the body. All the single leg calf-raise needs is an elevated step, which could be a stair or any other platform. When I do leg days at home, I use the raised entrance to my bathroom, which also works perfectly.
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The single leg calf-raise is more useful when it comes to loading the muscle with weights because you can hold yourself for balance using one arm and the other arm (on the same side of the leg you are working out) can be used to hold weight.
Cable kickbacks: This needs a pulley machine and is an excellent isolation exercise that hits every part of the glutes. You will also need an ankle attachment to attach to the cables and these are available in most gyms. If not, and you’re interested in strong glutes, they are worth the investment.
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Start with the ankle strap attached to the side you are working on and lean into the cable stand so you get a little hinge as shown in the video below. Moving the working leg to the side and slightly behind (at a 30 to 45 degree angle) will hit your gluteus medius. Kick straight back to hit the gluteus maximus. Just take care not to let the pressure crank up on the lower back while doing this, so adjust the intensity and length of your kickbacks accordingly.
Single-leg Romanian dead-lifts: When working your lower body, you can’t leave the hamstrings out. To that end, this is easily the pick of the exercises for the posterior chain. Single-leg RDLs can be done using a dumbbell or a kettlebell in one or both arms. Or one can also start with no weights to master the movement.
“Without rounding your lower back, hinge from your hips and lean forward. Reach down and touch the floor with your opposite hand. Extend your non-weight-bearing leg out behind you for balance. Stand back up and repeat," states a fitnessvolt.com article on the five best unilateral leg exercises.
Pulasta Dhar is a football commentator, podcaster and writer.
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