Kettlebell and Power Rack Training for Leg Training

Kettlebells are an excellent tool to train not only the leg muscles but also the entire body. There are several other great tools for training the legs, which we will take a look at in a future column.

As we age our legs lose strength at a more rapid pace than most other muscles so it is very important to use a regular exercise program that is effective at building strength in the leg muscles. It is also important to train the front (thigh) and rear (hamstring) muscles of the legs evenly to avoid injuries such as hamstring pulls and other common injuries. Before beginning this or any exercise program for that matter, consult with your doctor to determine if it is safe for you to exercise.

To train our legs we are going to use a combination of traditional kettlebell exercises and typical weight training exercises.


A good beginning workout to begin with is as follows:
• Kettlebell swings- 12 repetitions
• Kettlebell clean and squat- 12 repetitions
• Kettlebell leg lunges- 12 repetitions

To do a kettlebell swing, use a stance wider than your shoulders and grab a kettlebell with both hands. Bend over, and using a smooth movement with no momentum, bring the kettlebell up overhead. Pause for one second then return to the start position. Repeat.

Kettlebell clean and squats are done by grabbing a kettlebell with both hands, bending forward and rapidly bringing it to shoulder level in front of you. Squat down to parallel or below if your knees allow and return. Repeat.

To do a kettlebell lunge, hold the weight in one hand and step forward with the leg on the same side. Return and repeat with the other leg. Begin by stepping forward with a normal stride then as you become more advanced increase the length of the stride.

Power Rack Training for Legs

One of the great tools available at a complete gym is the power rack. Comprised of four upright posts with holes spaced one inch apart, a power rack enables the lifter to set safety pins eliminating the need for a spotter in the event of a missed lift.

Pin locations give the ability to train lifts at the weak link, or sticking point, to build strength and increase the maximum weight one is able to lift in an exercise.

A great muscle group to train with a power rack is the legs. An effective program to use is as follows:

•squats-5 sets of 15, 12,10,8,6 reps
Do the first three sets normally using full reps, lowering as far as you safely can. The fourth set should be done as a partial rep set. Set the pins so the lift begins at the mid point and do 8 reps from that point until the finish position of the squat. Change the pins so the lift begins at the bottom position and ends at the mid point and do 6 reps in that zone.

The pin positions can be altered to train different points in the lift to work through sticking points.

Power racks have nearly limitless pin positions and are very helpful in loading up weight on big lifts and doing short rep partials. I'll expand on this in an upcoming article.

Give this program some time and intense effort and you will realize great results!


David Groscup is a leading author/trainer in HIT, High Intensity Training, a form of weight training that uses brief, intense training to achieve outstanding results.

His books have been used by many bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts around the world to rapidly obtain new muscle strength, size and fitness results.

See his books at http://www.amazon.com/author/davidgroscup

and blog at: http://drhitshighintensitybodybuilding.blogspot.com/

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