Jenna's Leg & Glute Workout: A Complete Lower-Body Day

By Jon Klipstein, U.S. Army Combat Veteran & Founder of Die Tryin Co., and Jenna Fiscus, Die Tryin Co. Athlete & Coach

Protocol verified by Jenna Fiscus — the workout demonstrated in the video is her actual leg & glute day routine.

Science reviewed by Onur Oncer, BS Physiology (Phi Beta Kappa) and peer-reviewed published researcher.

GLUTES TRAINED RIGHT — AND THE WHOLE LOWER BODY FOLLOWS

Most leg day routines treat the glutes as an afterthought. Squat, leg press, leg curl, maybe a token hip thrust at the end if there’s time. Glutes get whatever’s left.

Jenna runs hers the other way. Glute activation comes FIRST — before a single barbell touches her back — and the entire session is structured to keep the glutes loaded across every movement that follows. That’s why her lower-body sessions build the shape they do.

Here’s the protocol, the principles behind it, and the stack she runs alongside it.

WATCH JENNA RUN HER LEG & GLUTE DAY

This video is from our UXO Supplements archive. UXO Supplements is now Die Tryin Co. — same crew, new name.

What Jenna says in the video (transcript)

“I warm up by starting and really activating the glutes. I like to use either bands or cables. These kickbacks really get everything activated... [video continues through full leg & glute session] ...All right, that’s a wrap. Leg day — give it a try, let me know how it goes, and good luck.”

The narrated sections cover her warmup philosophy — the rest of the video runs through the actual leg & glute exercises in real time. Watch closely for her execution cues on every movement. The breakdown below covers the principles behind the protocol so you can run a version that fits your own equipment and schedule.

“I LIKE TO USE EITHER BANDS OR CABLES” — THE WARMUP PRINCIPLE

Jenna opens the session with banded or cable glute kickbacks. Not stretching. Not foam rolling. A direct activation movement targeting the muscle she’s about to train heavy.

The principle: most lifters walk into leg day with quad-dominant, hip-flexor-tight, glute-asleep bodies. They squat, lunge, and press anyway — and the quads and hip flexors do most of the work because they’re already firing. The glutes coast along, slightly involved but not fully recruited. Result: bigger quads, flatter glutes, and the familiar “I train legs but my glutes don’t grow” problem.

A 5-10 minute activation circuit fixes it. Banded kickbacks, banded clamshells, cable kickbacks, glute bridges with band — pick two or three exercises, do 15-20 reps per leg, two to three rounds. The goal isn’t to fatigue the glutes. The goal is to wake them up so they fire harder during the compound lifts that follow.

This is the single biggest leg-day adjustment most lifters can make: 8 minutes of pre-session glute work makes the next 60 minutes of squats, presses, and Romanians actually load the glutes the way they’re supposed to.

WHY GLUTE ACTIVATION CHANGES EVERYTHING DOWNSTREAM

The glutes are the largest muscle group in the body. They’re the prime hip extensor — meaning every time you stand up from a squat, drive out of a deadlift, or finish a lunge, the glute should be firing hard. The hypertrophy research is clear that mechanical tension on the working muscle is one of the primary drivers of growth. If the glutes aren’t firing during your compound lifts, they’re not getting the mechanical tension — and they don’t grow, no matter how much weight is on the bar.

Pre-activating wakes up the motor pathway. Once the glutes are firing in isolation under load, they fire harder in compound movements. The squat becomes a glute exercise that incidentally involves the quads. The Romanian deadlift becomes a posterior chain monster instead of a lower-back movement. The lunge actually loads the glute of the working leg.

This is also the move that lets women lifters build glutes without disproportionately growing the quads — an outcome a lot of physique athletes specifically want.

THE PRINCIPLES BEHIND A COMPLETE LOWER-BODY DAY

Jenna’s session covers the full lower body, not just the glutes. The principles she applies across the workout:

Multiple movement patterns. A complete leg day hits squat patterns (squats, leg press, hack squat), hip-hinge patterns (Romanian deadlifts, hip thrusts, good mornings), single-leg patterns (lunges, Bulgarian split squats, step-ups), and isolation work (leg curl, leg extension, calf work). Skip any pattern and parts of the lower body stay underdeveloped.

Full range of motion. Half-squats and quarter-Romanians don’t build legs. Every rep starts from a stretched position and ends with a hard contraction. If you struggle with squat depth specifically, the bench squat form drill fixes it in 2-4 weeks.

Mind-muscle connection. Slow eccentric, deliberate squeeze, feel the target muscle work on every rep. Especially on glute-focused movements — the squeeze at the top of every hip thrust or kickback is where the magic happens.

Volume that progresses over weeks. Build training volume gradually — add a set, increase a rep, bump the weight a small increment week over week. Stagnant volume = stagnant legs.

HOW TO STRUCTURE YOUR LOWER-BODY WEEK

Most lifters undertrain legs — one heavy session a week, plus maybe a casual Bulgarian split squat thrown in if they remember. That’s not enough volume to grow the largest muscle groups in your body.

Jenna trains lower body at least twice a week: one heavier session focused on squats and Romanian deadlifts in the 6-10 rep range, one higher-volume session focused on hip thrusts, leg curls, kickbacks, and isolation work in the 12-20 rep range. The structure fits cleanly into a push/pull/legs or upper/lower split.

For the full leg-day blueprint with specific exercise breakdowns, see Chelsea’s 8 best leg exercises — the canonical leg session this protocol fits inside. For the upper-body companion to this lower-body day, run Jenna’s back day on the alternating day of your split.

WHAT JENNA STACKS WITH LEG & GLUTE DAY

Training is the trigger. Recovery, nutrition, and the right stack are what lock in the adaptation. Jenna runs a tight, no-fluff stack across daily health, training, and recovery — the same stack she’s used to build the lower body you see in the video.

Daily Health

Daily Essentials — premium chelated multivitamin with a gut-health stack (probiotics, enzymes, prebiotic) built in. The base layer for nutrient sufficiency.

Ghillie Greens — real-ingredient greens powder with KSM-66 ashwagandha and AstraGin. Daily micronutrient coverage from food-derived sources for lifters who don’t eat enough vegetables.

Training Support

SEND IT 3.0 — daily-driver pre-workout with clinical doses, Alpha-GPC for focus, PeptiPump for blood flow, zumXR extended-release caffeine. The pre Jenna runs before her leg & glute day.

Glutamine — 5g L-Glutamine standalone for gut integrity and recovery support during heavy training blocks.

Creatine Monohydrate — 5g micronized monohydrate. The most-researched performance supplement in sports nutrition. Strength, training volume, recovery between sets — especially relevant on leg day, where total work output drives growth.

Post-Workout

Post Iso — 24g of fast-absorbing whey isolate with DigeZyme enzymes. The recovery shake Jenna hits after every training session.

Not sure where to start? Take the quiz — we’ll match your training and goals to the right stack in under a minute. The full muscle-building framework lives in the Muscle Building pillar, and the recovery side — sleep, food, deload weeks — lives in the Recovery pillar.

FAQ

How often should I train legs and glutes?

Two times per week is the sweet spot for most lifters. One heavier strength-focused session (squats, Romanian deadlifts in the 6-10 rep range), one higher-volume glute-focused session (hip thrusts, kickbacks, isolation work in the 12-20 rep range). Once a week is usually the limiting factor when legs or glutes are lagging.

How important is the glute activation warmup, really?

It’s the single biggest leg-day adjustment most lifters can make. 8-10 minutes of banded kickbacks, banded clamshells, cable kickbacks, or glute bridges wakes up the motor pathway so the glutes actually fire under load during the compound lifts. Without it, quads and hip flexors do most of the work and the glutes stay underdeveloped.

Do I need bands or cables for the warmup?

Bands are cheap and travel anywhere — a $15 set covers everything you need. Cables work great if your gym has them. Either does the job; the principle is direct glute activation in isolation before loading the compound lifts.

Will training glutes hard make my quads too small?

No — you’re still squatting, leg pressing, and lunging, which all train the quads. Glute activation just shifts more of the load to the glutes during those movements, not away from the quads entirely. Most lifters end up with a more proportional lower body when they prioritize glute work.

Should I take pre-workout before leg day?

If you train legs hard, yes. Leg day is the highest-output, most fatiguing session of the week for most lifters. SEND IT 3.0 gives you the caffeine, focus, and pump to push through the back-half of the session when your legs want to quit.

What does the BODYSHOP coupon code apply to?

10% off sitewide on dietryin.co — works on any of Jenna’s stack picks above, any other DTC product, or your full cart.

Where can I follow Jenna?

Instagram: @jennajo_. Coaching, meal plans, and nutrition guides at jennasbodyshop.com.

READY TO GEAR UP?

Watch the video. Run Jenna’s protocol. Activate the glutes first, hit all the movement patterns, full range of motion every rep, two sessions a week. Build the lower body that everything else in your training hangs off of.

Need the stack to back it up? Use code BODYSHOP for 10% off, or take the quiz if you want a personalized stack built around your goals.

ALWAYS FORWARD.