Week 1 – Bodyweight

During week 1, you will solely focus on bodyweight exercises, as those are the movements that will allow you to perfect your exercise form and learn the correct movements.

The best part is that you can do these exercises anywhere, including in a home environment!

Let’s first have a look at the exercises, sets, and repetitions, and then we’ll move on to written explanations for each exercise.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Bodyweight Squat	5	15	90 seconds
Bodyweight Walking Lunges	4	12	90 seconds
Bodyweight Hip Thrust	3	12	90 seconds
Bodyweight Calf Raises	5	15	90 seconds

The Squat

This first exercise on the list is without a doubt the most famous movement for the lower body and it has even been dubbed ‘the king’ of lower body exercises!

The squat primarily engages the quads, and secondarily the hamstrings and glutes while the calves stabilize.

Exercise Execution:

1. Stand up straight with feet at shoulder width
2. Open up the toes slightly (so they point diagonally)
3. Distribute weight evenly on both legs
4. Bend knees slightly, out of lockout
5. Place your hands on your shoulders, crossed
6. Look forward
7. Dip your butt down until the legs are parallel to the ground
8. Move up and flex the glutes up top
9. Repeat

The Lunge

Secondly, we have the walking lunge, which is another great exercise that will improve not only your strength but also your balance!

The lunge primarily engages the quads and glutes and, secondarily, the hamstrings.

Exercise Execution:

1. Stand up straight with your feet close to one another
2. Look forward and keep your hands by your sides
3. Take a big step forward and lunge down
4. Avoid hitting your back knee in the ground!
5. Move up and instantly proceed to another step with the opposite leg
6. If you can’t do that, move up, bring your feet together and then take the next step
7. Optionally, you can stay on one leg briefly at the top and flex the glute of that side

The Hip Thrust

Thirdly, we have the hip thrust, which is an exercise that gained quite some traction recently!

This exercise is amazing, mainly because of the fact that it utilizes the primary function of the glutes – hip extension!

Exercise Execution:

1. Lie on a bench/couch with just your upper back – Let your hips hang
2. Place your feet at shoulder width with toes pointing diagonally, slightly
3. Place your hands as you find comfortable
4. Dip your butt down, and then thrust up
5. Flex the glutes up top

The Calf Raise

Last, but not least, we have the standing calf raise, ensuring peak contraction of the bulky chunk of the calf musculature.

Exercise Execution:

1. Stand on an edge, on your toes
2. Dip the heel down slowly
3. Pause at the bottom
4. Push up through your toes
5. Contract the calves up top
6. Pause briefly
7. Repeat

Week 2 – Weight Training

As we mentioned early on, the fundamental principles of fitness training don’t change, regardless of what muscle group you are training.

In week two of this challenge, you are going to take the movements from week one and realize the principle of “progressive overload.”

That is, doing the same movements but at a slightly higher resistance, which is done by… Adding weights!

Remember – You DON’T have to lift really heavy weights. Only lift weights that are challenging but still, allow you to keep flawless exercise form.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Barbell Squat	5	10	150 seconds
Dumbbell Walking Lunges	4	10	150 seconds
Barbell Hip Thrust	4	10	120 seconds
Machine Calf Raises	5	12	90 seconds

The Barbell Squat

If you are looking to sculpt your body like a Greek god, there aren’t many exercises that are as effective as the barbell squat.

The movement is pretty much the same as the bodyweight squat, but with a twist!

Exercise Execution:

1. Step under a bar and hold it at around shoulder width
2. Place the bar centered in the middle of your trapezius muscles
3. Un-rack the bar and take a step back
4. Step with your feet at shoulder width, toes pointing out slightly
5. Keep your elbows back, and knees slightly bent
6. Look forward
7. Dip your butt down until parallel
8. Move up and flex the glutes up top

The Dumbbell Lunge

Secondly, we have the dumbbell lunges, which are great to overload the lower body!

The added weight will allow you to further feel how stable you are, so again, besides strength, you’ll develop superior balance, too!

Exercise Execution:

1. Take a pair of dumbbells and keep them by your sides
2. Stand up straight with feet close to one another
3. Look forward, take a big step and don’t bend over
4. Lunge down without hitting your back knee
5. Come up and proceed to the next big step on the opposite leg

The Machine Calf Raise

Last but not least, we have the machine calf raise, which is a marvelous way to put more tension on the calves.

If you want to emphasize the bulky chunk of your calves, this is your go-to movement!

Exercise Execution:

1. Stand on the edge of the calf raise platform with your toes
2. Put the machine pads on your shoulders as comfortably as possible
3. Un-rack the platform
4. Go down slowly, letting your heel dip
5. Pause at the bottom briefly
6. Push up explosively through the toes, contracting the calves up top
7. Hold peak flexion briefly, then repeat

Important Note!

During your weight training sessions, each working set should be challenging and taken close to failure.

Failure meaning, the point where you can’t do another rep – But don’t reach that point every set, just be close to it, leaving a couple of reps in reserve!

Week 3 – Sprints

The main principle of supreme muscular development is the utilization of short, power-burst exercises.

This is why weight training is the best way to sculpt your body – It consists of 15-20 second sets, during which exertion levels are high, and you are close to failure!

And well, the truth is that we can take that same exercise and apply it to many other exercises.

In fact, when you apply it to running, your general jog becomes a full-on sprint!

By all characteristics, sprints are a muscle-building exercise and what’s more to it, is that they’re one of the most natural lower body movements.

Furthermore, sprints will hammer even the weakest lower body muscle groups, so if you have weak calves, for example, they will certainly come up if you regularly sprint!

This is why, during week 3, you will focus on a couple of sprint sessions!

Let’s have a look at the sprint workout!

Exercise	Sets	Duration/Distance	Rest
Light jog	1	5 minutes	40 seconds
60% Speed sprint	1	30 Meters	40 seconds
70% Speed sprint	1	40 meters	50 seconds
Full-On Sprint	4	60 meters	120 seconds

Note: With each session, put a slightly bigger demand on your lower body – You can do this in a couple of ways: Do one more set, increase the distance, decrease the rest time, or simply try to beat your previous time!

Week 4 – Hikes & Fun

Now, if you’re not oriented entirely towards bodybuilding, you don’t necessarily have to do heavy squats 2-3 times a week.

In fact, one of the best feelings is when a muscle group becomes highly functional and enjoyable.

So on week four, do your favorite activities that engage the lower body but are also fun, slightly intense, and enjoyable.

Go hike. Go cycle. Maybe even go rollerblading or ice skating!

Do something fun, relax, unwind and prepare for your next bout of intense leg training!

When The Challenge Ends

It is important to be noted here that this challenge doesn’t really promise unrealistic results in four weeks.

Instead, this challenge was designed to help you see and experience all the movements your lower body is capable of.

When the challenge ends, keep doing these things and make a habit out of them!

In time, the progress will stack up and substantial visual changes will be visible to you!

Last but not least, it is worth mentioning that exercising your lower body will not only lead to better-looking lower body musculature but will also make you feel better and become healthier!

So take this challenge up and smash it!