A club training workout for legs? YES! You can use your club for leg exercises. Since the clubs are much lighter than a barbells, we’ll use leverage and volume to create hypertrophy. Learn the top 3 club training exercises for leg work.
These exercises are all two handed, heavier club moves, and will be performed for 100 reps each in sets of 10 or 20. Clubs are a useful tool for leg and lower body work developing the mid range muscle fibers which aid in the force needed to make gains in the barbell squat, deadlift, and Olympic lifts. We will cover three moves guaranteed to increase your pr’s with the weights.
Leg Exercise #1: Club Front Swing
The first is the Front Swing. It’s like a kettlebell swing, but don’t let the club ‘hike’ backward. Using a fairly heavy club, men begin with 20lbs and women 15lbs. Start and stop the swing at a 45 ̊ angle between the feet. Swing that club up to eye level (Russian style) powered only but the thrust of your hips forward. DO NOT swing the club up with your arms! Also, remember that this is posterior chain work.
THIS ISN’T A SQUAT! Allow the glutes and hamstrings do the work, keeping the knees slightly flexed and the upper body hinging at the waist. Try to perform 10 sets of 10 reps with a minute rest between. As you advance, try doing a set or two of 20 reps unbroken, then 10’s until you hit 100. When you can get that, change it up at the next workout to 4 sets of 25, then on to 2 sets of 50 unbroken reps, then 100 unbroken. Try to go up in weight now, 5 or 10lbs heavier and repeat the sequence beginning at 10 sets for 10 reps. I told you that you’d be getting more clubs!
Leg Exercise #2: Club Squat
The Squat will be different in the way that you progress because we will use the club’s leverage factor to tax the muscles. Choose a weight club that will let you be challenged doing 10 x 10 routine, but squat with the club resting on one shoulder. This will allow good form to be learned.
Once you can progress to getting 20 unbroken reps for 5 sets, hold the club slightly in front of your torso, about 6-8 inches to make the squats more difficult. Again when you get to 5 sets of 20 unbroken reps, hold the club out further and start at 10 sets of 10 again. Keep progressing until your arms reach full extension for 5 sets of 20. Then you’re able to raise the weight of the club and begin again with the club 6-8 inches in front.
Leg Exercise #3: Club Front Swing
A third exercise, which I utilize on my lower body days, is the front clean. This is an excellent exercise for those who do Olympic weightlifting because it teaches the trainee to develop ‘fast hips’ to get under the bar. Start the exercise as you would the front swing, but as the club comes upward and forward ‘catch’ the club by pushing the knob under the muzzle which causes the club to be upright and lock the elbows to the sides of the body, elbows bent at 90 ̊.
To return the club, let the muzzle or head of the club fall away from the body while extending the arms forward as it drops and continue into the bottom part of the front swing. Once this has become easy to perform for a few sets, add a squat catch to the mix. Begin again as in the front swing, power from the hip drive as the club is traveling upward and forward drop into a squat and try to ‘catch’ the club in the bottom position and finish by standing up. This is designed for quick coordination between the upper and lower body.
Give these club training exercise a try in your next leg workout. Develop the bit of skill needed to build a solid foundation then adapt the exercise as you progress to challenge yourself. Keep it interesting and reap the benefits of solid lower body power, you won’t be disappointed.
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