THERE ARE MANY ways to train, but it’s tough to beat the basics if you’re striving to build muscle and lose body fat at the same time. That lofty goal is called body recomposition, which you can accomplish using the right plan. Take the leg day below, provided by Men’s Health’s fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. as part of our Body Recomp Ultimate Workout video.
The workout is built upon a foundation of tried-and-true muscle-building principles. You’ll use compound movements to target multiple muscles at once, lift heavy weights within a rep or two of failure to stimulate hypertrophy (muscular growth), and rest long enough to ensure you can tackle each set with ferocity. As long as you’re consistently eating in a slight caloric deficit, you’ll build new muscle tissue while slowly stripping body fat from your frame.
This is just Day 1 of the whole plan, which runs for four weeks. To access the entire program, you’ll have to be a Men’s Health MVP Premium member.
Body Recomposition Workout Details
Expect to spend anywhere from an hour to an hour and 15 minutes in the gym for this workout, delegating about half that time to rest—a key to getting the most out of this session. Before you screenshot this workout and give it a try, there are a few things you should know:
- Stick to the rest time recommendations. Below, you’ll see rest times as short as zero to 30 seconds and as long as two and a half minutes. Research has shown that both short (less than 60 seconds) and long (more than a minute) rest times are effective for building muscle, but longer rest times will allow you to lift heavier weights for your next set. Which brings us to the next point:
- Lift heavy weight. One of the keys to building muscle is using heavy weights—that’s especially true if you’re eating in a caloric deficit, according to Samuel—so choose a load that has you reaching failure within the rep range of your final set. And by failure, we mean technical failure, which is defined as not being able to do another repetition with perfect form.
- Use lifting straps. The goal of this workout is to stimulate your muscles for growth, not lifting as much weight as possible. Grip strength will usually be the first point of failure in these heavy lower body lifts; your back and hamstrings will always be able to support more weight than your forearms. We suggest you use lifting straps for this routine to remove your grip from the equation so you can focus on hitting the muscles you’re actually trying to train.
The Day 1 Body Recomposition Workout
The RDL is a hip hinge movement that hits your back, hamstrings, glutes, and taxes your core. Samuel advises that perform this movement with a barbell, so you can load up as much weight as you can handle. “Think of your first two sets where you’re building to that top set where you’re going to go as heavy as you possibly can for six to 10 good reps,” he explains.
How to Do It:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and abs engaged, holding a barbell with both hands.
- Hinge forward, pushing your hips back and lowering your torso. Stop when your torso is parallel to the floor or your hamstrings are tense.
- Pause, and then return to the start. That’s 1 rep.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps; 2 to 2:30 minutes rest each set
You’ll move onto a quad-dominant movement next—and we’re not talking about the back squat. Instead, Samuel wants you to perform walking lunges. “I want you to use heavy dumbbells…think about going up to 40-, 45-, even 55-pound dumbbells on each side,” he says.
Why the lunge and not the squat? “In real life, I don’t get to stand here, talk to you, and never move,” he says. “We want to do something in the gym where we’re going from place to place and getting in that locomotion and acceleration.”
How to Do It:
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Wear lifting straps so your grip isn’t a limiting factor of how much weight you can lunge,
- Take a step forward and simultaneously squat down, driving the knee of your lead leg over your toes. Both of your legs should form roughly 90-degree angles.
- Drive up, bringing your back leg forward so it’s in front of your lead leg.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps per leg; 90 seconds rest each set
THIRD AND FOURTH EXERCISE: Leg Extensions and Seated Leg Curl
You’ll end the workout by isolating the muscles in your quads and hamstrings, using machines and minimal rest times to really push your limits. If you don’t have access to a seated leg curl machine, you can use a lying leg curl machine—but Samuel likes the seated machine as it “leaves a lot less room for you to cheat and involve other muscles.”
How to Do It:
- Set both the seated leg curl and leg extension so the ankle and knee pads are properly aligned with your joints.
- Start with the seated leg curl. Lean forward so your legs are extended and you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings. Hold onto the handles and curl your legs as far as the machine will let you. Slowly raise your legs until they’re extended, holding the stretched position for one second. Do 10 reps, and then rest briefly as you move to the other machine. seconds.
- Sit in the leg extension machine. Lean back to extend your range of motion and place more tension on your quads. Extend your legs until they’re completely straight. Take two to three seconds to lower the weight. That’s one rep. Do 10 reps and then rest 30 seconds before returning to the leg curl.
Sets and reps: 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps for both exercises; 0 to 30 seconds rest between each exercise
Want more next-level tips like these so you can crush your body recomposition goals? Check out our entire program at Body Recomp Central, available only for MH MVP Premium members.
