Leg workout plan for legs and glutes, 3 days a week

A leg workout plan with three leg days a week, for the gym and for legs and glutes together.

Who it is for

Day A starts with the leg press, day B with a hinge for the glutes and hamstrings, day C mixes both in about 25 minutes. Two more tabs hold the same plan with dumbbells only and a heavier 4 day version.

• You are new to leg training and want machines you can learn in one session
• You train at home with a pair of dumbbells: take the dumbbell tab
• You have lifted for six months or more and want a barbell squat: take the 4 day tab
• Women and men: the plan is the same, only the weights differ

How to lay out the week

Train every other day, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Day A leads with the leg press, so the front of the thigh is fresh for it. Day B turns that around: the Romanian deadlift and the reverse lunge come first, while your hips and hamstrings are strongest. Day C is short, a goblet squat and three small exercises, and it closes the week without leaving you sore for the weekend. The first two weeks run only days A and B with mostly two sets each, so your knees and hips get used to the load before the full plan starts. In the 4 day version two days in a row are fine, because one day works the front of the thigh and the next the back.

How to add weight

Every exercise has a rep range. Stay at one weight until you reach the top of the range in every set, then add the smallest step the machine or dumbbell rack allows and go back to the bottom. On the leg press that is often 5 to 10 kg, on the goblet squat the next dumbbell. Calves and the abduction machine move slowly; add reps before weight there. If a set falls below the bottom of the range two sessions in a row, take 10 % off and build back up.

If you use Claude or ChatGPT, you can connect it to AIm later: it reads the same log.

Warm-up

1. Two easy minutes on a bike or a treadmill, until you feel warm.
2. Ten bodyweight squats to a box and ten hip hinges with your hands on your hips.
3. One light set of the first exercise of the day, at about half the working weight.

Mistakes to avoid

• Knees caving in on the leg press and squat: push them out over your toes all the way up.
• Half reps: lower until your knees bend to at least a right angle, or take less weight.
• Skipping the leg curl. The hamstrings need their own work, the squat does not cover them.
• Loading the leg press for show. A weight you can move 10 times with control builds more than one you can only nudge.

Leg day with dumbbells

The dumbbell tab keeps the same three days with a goblet squat, a split squat, a dumbbell Romanian deadlift, a slider leg curl and a wall sit in place of the machines. It needs two dumbbells you can change and a smooth floor or a towel for the curls. When the heaviest pair gets easy, lower each rep over three seconds before you go up a weight.

Lower body workout for glutes

Glutes work on every day of this plan: the glute bridge on day A, the Romanian deadlift and the reverse lunge on day B, and the abduction machine on all three days. If glutes are your main goal, keep the order and add one set to the bridge and the lunge rather than adding a fourth day.