Leg Day Warm Up Routine (10 Minutes)
Ten minutes to mobilise ankles, hips and hamstrings and wake the glutes and quads up before squatting, hinging or deadlifting.
Routines
Day 1 — Hips & Ankles Primer
Dynamic mobility and activation for ankles, calves, hips, and glutes.
Day 2 — Hips, Hamstrings & Adductors Flow
Loosen adductors and hamstrings, open hip flexors, then activate quads/glutes.
About this plan
Two ten-minute warm-ups for the lower body, run before squatting, hinging or deadlifting.
Version one works from the floor up: ankle circles, a wall calf stretch, calf raises, hip circles and knee-to-chest. Version two covers the hips more directly — side lunge stretch, seated groin stretch, hamstring stretch, lying knee-to-chest and a standing hip flexor stretch.
The ankle comes first for a reason. Squat depth is limited by ankle dorsiflexion more often than by anything else, and when the ankle will not let the shin travel forward, the heels lift or the torso pitches over. Two minutes of ankle work before squatting changes what the first set feels like more than any other single thing here.
The hip flexor stretch in version two matters for the other end of the same problem. Sitting all day leaves the hip flexors short, and short hip flexors tilt the pelvis forward, which is what turns a squat into a lower back exercise. Tuck the pelvis before you lean into the stretch or you will stretch your lumbar spine instead.
The seated groin stretch covers the adductors, which are heavily involved in a wide-stance squat and a sumo deadlift and almost never warmed up.
Calf raises in version one are the activation piece — the calves stabilise the ankle throughout a squat and giving them twelve reps first is cheap.
Ten minutes, then two or three progressively heavier warm-up sets of the day's first lift. The stretching does not replace those.
Train this plan in the app
LoadMuscle carries all 2 routines with a demo for every exercise, and logs your sets as you go, so next session you can see what to beat. Free on iPhone and Android.
Want something built around your own schedule and equipment instead? Try the free workout planner.
