There is nothing that feels as good as lifting lower body with heavy weight and using a barbell is a great opportunity to do that. Today I’m sharing a lower body barbell workout with you that will leave you feeling strong and powerful. Complete 8 reps of each exercise for 3-5 sets depending on your preference and your time available.
Barbell Squat (8 Reps)
Ensure that the J hooks of the squat rack are positioned around your armpit height and step under the bar. Place the bar across your trap muscles and lift the bar out of the hooks by standing up tall. Take a step back from the rack to ensure that you have enough room to complete the movement. Start by reaching your hips backwards like you are reaching your butt back towards an imaginary chair behind you. Keep your weight evenly distributed throughout your feet. Aim to get your thighs parallel with the floor or a 90 degree bend at the knee (not everyone will be able to get this initially and that’s okay, if you don’t have it yet just ensure you are focusing on range of motion when you practice your squatting movements). Ensure that you keep your chest high as you drop down into position. At the bottom of the movement, drive through your feet evenly and stand back up to your start position.
Barbell Deadlift (8 Reps)
Begin by setting up the barbell on the floor ensuring that you are using bumper plates if you have access (if you don’t have access you can try elevating the bar slightly with small boxes or from safety arms to give yourself a little more height). Ideally you want the bar positioned at about mid-shin. Position your feet about hip width apart. Your spine should stay neutral throughout the movement. With your hands positioned on the bar outside of your legs draw the shoulder blades down and back and pull the slack out of the bar to activate your lats. Keep the bar close to you as you stand up moving through the knees and hips at the same time. At the top of the movement begin your hip hinge backwards to lower the bar back towards the floor maintaining a neutral spine the whole time. Repeat the movement for desired reps.
Barbell Split Squat (8 Reps)
Set your rack so that the barbell is just below your trap muscles. Step under the bar lifting it from the rack and place one foot behind you in a staggered lunge position. Bending the back knee towards the floor and your front knee lower into a lunge position allowing yourself to lean forward slightly as you drop. The goal is to reach a 90 degree angle at the front knee, however you may not have that range of motion at first (do what you can and focus on striving for the 90 degrees). At the end range of motion drive evenly through your front foot to return to standing and your start position.
Barbell Romanian Deadlift (8 Reps)
Take the barbell in both hands to the front of your body. With your feet about hip width apart, stand tall with a slight bend in the knee. Drive your hips backwards keeping your leg straight. Keep your spine neutral as you push your hips backwards and avoid rounding the spine or in the shoulders. The bottom range of motion will vary for everyone, but most people will want to stop just below their knees (if you have perfect form and want to go further go for it). At the bottom of the movement squeeze the glutes and drive the hips forward to stand back up and return to the start position.
Barbell Hip Thrust (8 Reps)
On a bench ensure that you position just under your shoulder blades on a bench behind you. Ensure that you are using 45 lbs plates or bumper plates for this movement so that you are able to easily roll the bar over your legs to your hips. Position your feet in a position so that when your hips are fully extended your knees are over top of your hips. Beginning from the bottom of the movement your butt will be close to the floor. Squeeze through the glues and extend through the hips to generate a table top position at the top of the movement. Keep your feet flat on the floor throughout the movement. At the top of the movement squeeze the glutes and then slowly lower your hips back to the start position in a controlled manner.
Jump over to Instagram if you are looking for video demos for these exercises and don’t forget to follow @ashleepedlowcoaching for weekly workouts and health and wellness tips.
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