Leg Exercise Tier List

"what's a leg exercise?" - YMCA goer

I know Gary’s Substack readers are all avid weightlifters and super athletic, and so I present you all with the most objective, most accurate, most best, leg exercise tier list:

S Tier:

• Barbell squat - The best.

• Bench press - Although the barbell squat has been ranked higher, the bench press is my favorite leg exercise. That leg drive is enough leg work for an entire week!

A Tier

• Romanian deadlift - Not very fun or enjoyable to do, but they sure are good. At least a fella called Squat University told me that once.

• Bulgarian split squat - In my opinion, probably one of the most tiring weightlifting exercises out there. Fun fact! According to strengthlevel.com, an advanced lifter should do 1.25x bodyweight on Bulgarian split squats. Wow, fun.

B Tier

• Hip thrust - They’re good, I would not be caught dead doing these, which is why I sneakily enter the gym at 2am to do these. Okay for real though, every time I start doing these, I’m anticipating getting caught in the background of somebody’s viral TikTok video. Once there was a guy filming quite a few meters from me, and I instantly dashed out of the way, and asked him if I was in frame. He paused, and then said, “no”. I better not get clipped.

• Nordic hamstring curl - You’ll likely need somebody to hold down your grubby and sweaty little ankles for you.

C Tier

• Split squat - These probably should be in B tier but I’ve already exported the .png file… They’re kind of like Bulgarian split squats.

• Seated hamstring curl

• Leg extension

• Goblet squat - I think these are good, just not as a main exercise of a workout. Maybe for mobility or warm up.

D Tier

• Hack squat - Worse version of a barbell squat.

• Leg press - These probably should be in C tier, but I’ve already exported the .png file. Anyway, this is also a worse version of a barbell squat.

F Tier

• Lying hamstring curl - Not only is this a bad exercise, but you are placed in quite a vulnerable position that I’d personally not like to be in.

• “Calve” raises - I can’t lie, I had to do some research for this one. Turns out, “calves” are actually “in the back of your lower leg, behind your shin bone. It actually includes three muscles. Together, the muscles help you walk, run, jump, stand on your toes and flex your foot”. Wow, fascinating! Extraordinary! I’m still not going to train them, and I’m still not convinced that they exist.

I am deeply sorry for the lack of relatability in this post. I know you don’t train legs.