Lower Body Hypertrophy Template & Top Tips!

Sarah Hemington
Oct 5, 2020
2 min read

Do you feel completely lost with how to create your own workout?

Are you following someone else's workout from instagram or a training programme from google but have no idea how they've created it?

Do you know why you're doing that many reps and sets or are you just following it blindly?

Do you have questions about programming that desperately want help with?

DONT WORRY, I CAN HELP!

I was totally 100% the same. I was completely clueless as to how to structure all of my workouts and would end up just choosing what machine was free or go to an area of the gym that was free of intimidating males.

Fast forward time to now and I actively enjoy creating programmes and walking into the gym without any fear and with excitement to actually perform what I MYSELF have created and knowing exactly that it's going to get me results and is backed by science- and that's what I want you guys to feel as well!

Like I said, I've not always been this confident and it's taken time. But I PROMISE that having a well-structured programme and knowing exactly what you're going into the gym to do is the best recipe for success and your confidence will sky-rocket!

So what's there to know?

Top tips for programming success:

Your warm up should include getting the body warm, mobilising joints, maybe foam rolling if you're feeling areas of tightness and performing dynamic stretches and bodyweight movements that will be appearing in the main session e.g. a bodyweight squat or a hip hinge.
For hypertrophy (building muscle) you need to be in the rep ranges 8-12.
Sets-wise I tend to stick between 3-4 sets for the main lifts (including a warm up set) and isolation movements 2-3 sets.
You need to start your session with the big main lifts (what we call compound lifts)- these are the most taxing as these involve multiple joints and muscles and should also involve the most weight too.
You need to include bilateral (both leg) as well as unilateral (single leg) exercises so you're working on building up strength as well as working on any weaknesses or differences you have one side compared to the other.
You should end your session with isolation exercises that target any areas you really want to work on or any areas of weakness.

If you use this template then it will cover all of these tips above so you're on the track for success!

Stick with the programme you make using this template for 4 weeks minimum and include progressive overload (e.g. gradually adding on reps OR gradually increasing the load every single week) so you're constantly adding a slightly greater stimulus to the body.