No Squats, No Problem: How I Finally Built Bigger Legs

According to the gym meme, friends don’t let friends skip leg day. And yet, despite this, a lot of exercisers don’t train their legs often or hard enough. Consequently, while you’ll see plenty of lifters with well-developed arms, chest, shoulders, and backs, muscular lower bodies are much rarer.

I believe that part of the reason for this is the muscle-building reputation of squats and many people’s overreliance on the so-called king of exercises.

Squats CAN be effective and are one of the best ways to build muscle and strength. Heck—entire workouts have been written around squats, including:

• The Old School 20-Rep Squat Routine for Size and Strength
• The Smolov Squat Program
• The Squat Every Day Program
• Just about every powerlifting and powerbuilding program ever written!

But, while squats can and do work, they also come with a whole list of potential downsides.

As a former powerlifter, I’ve done plenty of heavy squats and successfully used them to build strong, muscular legs. But, I’m also a personal trainer with more than three decades of experience, and I’ve seen firsthand how squats aren’t always the best fit.

Reasons not to squat include knee, hip, or lower back pain, insufficient mobility, lack of core strength, shoulder or upper back pain, no access to the correct equipment, and finding squats awkward, painful, or impossible to perform with good technique.

So, while I encourage my clients to squat, I also have a list of equally effective alternatives I can use when squats don’t fit the bill. Since retiring from powerlifting, I also use these exercises myself, which is how I know you don’t need squats to build an impressive lower body.

In this article, I reveal my favorite muscle-building squat alternatives and share a proven squat-less workout for you to try.

Can’t Squat, Won’t Squat? Do These Exercises Instead!

I have nothing against barbell back or front squats, goblet squats, overhead squats, Zercher squats, box squats, or any other bilateral (two-legged) squat variation.

Related: 12 Unique Squat Variations for Stronger, More Muscular Legs

However, despite their title as the king of exercises, squats aren’t compulsory, and there are plenty of similarly effective exercises you can do instead. Based on my extensive experience as a personal trainer and veteran lifter, these are the best squat alternatives for building muscle size and strength.

1. Bulgarian Split Squats

Bulgarian split squats, also known as rear-foot elevated split squats, are one of the best leg exercises ever invented! While I realize that’s high praise, once you ditch conventional squats and try them for yourself, you’ll soon see the truth in my words.

Working one leg at a time takes stress off your lower back, and the greater balance demand increases muscle recruitment, especially in the glutes and inner/outer thighs. Plus, working one leg at a time means you can get a great workout with less weight and without a squat rack or barbell. As such, they’re ideal for home lifters.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your back to a knee-high bench.
2. Bend one leg and place the top of your foot on the bench behind you.
3. Hop forward and into a split stance.
4. Bend your legs and lower your rear knee down toward the floor.
5. Drive down through your front leg and stand back up.
6. Continue for the prescribed number of reps and then switch sides.

Pro-trainer tips:

• Hold dumbbells or wear a weighted vest to make this exercise more challenging.
• Pause at the bottom of each rep for an even tougher workout.
• Lean forward slightly to increase glute and hamstring engagement.
• Do this exercise next to a wall/bench for support if necessary.

Related: Bulgarian Split Squats: Target Your Legs for Maximum Gains

2. Backward Sled Drag

Weighted sleds are mostly used for conditioning and fat loss. However, when loaded appropriately, you can also use them for building muscle and strength, often without stressing your joints. There are plenty of upper and lower body exercises to choose from, but for building bigger legs, the backward sled drag is hard to beat.

The backward sled drag is a low-impact, low-tech, but high-effect leg exercise that will blow up your quadriceps in next to no time. The joint action falls somewhere between leg extensions and sissy squats, but without the knee pain. If you’ve got a sled, you’ve got the perfect squat-free workout for massive quads.

How to do it:

1. Attach a long rope/strap to your sled.
2. Hold the handle and stand facing your sled. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
3. Bend your knees and adopt a semi-squat position.
4. Pushing through the balls of your feet, walk backwards while dragging the sled.

Pro Trainer Tips:

• Use a waist belt to remove your upper body from the exercise.
• Keep your knees slightly bent throughout to maximize quadriceps recruitment.
• Take small, deliberate steps without creating any momentum.
• No sled? No problem—you can replicate this exercise with a couple of strong resistance bands:

3. Deficit Reverse Lunge

While I love Bulgarian split squats, I also recognize that doing them—especially with weight—requires excellent balance plus a suitable bench on which to rest your back foot. As such, I understand that, like conventional squats, they aren’t a good fit for everyone.

Deficit reverse lunges are more accessible, require less equipment, and, in my experience, are easier to learn and master. As such, they’re my go-to alternative for Bulgarian split squats. The deficit allows for a deeper range of motion, which more than makes up for the fact that they’re a little less challenging.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet together on a 6 to 8-inch platform, e.g., a step box top or stacked weight plates. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Brace your core and pull your shoulders back and down.
3. Take a large step back, bend your legs, and lower your rear knee down below the level of your front foot.
4. Push off your back leg and return to your platform.
5. Switch legs and repeat.

Pro-trainer tips:

• Lean forward slightly to increase glute and hamstring engagement.
• You can also do this exercise with kettlebells, a weighted vest, or a barbell.
• Alternate legs or do all your reps on one side before switching as preferred.
• Raise the height of your platform to further increase the range of motion and, therefore, the difficulty of the exercise.

4. Barbell Hip Thrusts

While squats are mostly viewed as a quadriceps exercise, they also strongly work your glutes and hamstrings. As such, if you drop squats from your training, you’ll need to add glute/hamstring exercises into your routine to ensure your workout remains balanced.

While deadlifts, good mornings, and kettlebell swings are all viable options, the barbell hip thrust is usually at the top of my to-do list because it’s low-back-friendly, safe to do to failure, easy to set up, and never fails to deliver impressive results.

So, don’t neglect your posterior chain—keep it strong with barbell hip thrusts.

How to do it:

1. Sit on the floor with your legs bent and feet flat. Rest your upper back on a stable, sturdy bench.
2. Rest a barbell across your hip crease and hold it in place with your hands.
3. Drive your feet into the floor and lift your hips. They should form a straight line between your knees and shoulders. Do not hyperextend your hips or lower back.
4. Lower your butt back to the floor and repeat.

Pro-trainer tips:

• Protect your hips with a barbell squat pad, or a folded gym mat or towel if required.
• Increase outer hip engagement by putting a mini resistance band/booty band around your knees.
• Push through your heels rather than your toes to maximize glute and hamstring recruitment.
• Go heavy, but don’t use so much weight that you are unable to fully extend your hips. Reaching terminal hip extension ensures each rep is as effective as possible.

5. Wall Squat Hold

The wall squat hold is a highly underrated exercise. Why? Because most people fail to do it with sufficient intensity. They lean back and sit for minutes at a time, probably getting bored long before their muscles get tired. This is not just a waste of time, but a completely ineffective way to build muscle and strength.

When I do this exercise, or prescribe it to my clients, the aim is to push as hard as possible and fatigue the target muscles in seconds, not minutes. Performed at the start or end of a workout, a few short sets of properly performed wall squat holds will light up your quads!

How to do it:

1. Lean your back against a smooth, strong wall. Place your feet out in front of you.
2. Slide down the wall until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor.
3. Push your lower back into the wall as hard as you can.
4. Continue pushing until the target muscles are burning and shaking with fatigue.

Pro-trainer tips:

• Aim to reach failure in 20-30 seconds. You’re not pushing hard enough if you can last longer.
• Do not hold your breath, as doing so can cause spikes in blood pressure.
• Adjust the angle of your knees from set to set to challenge your quads at different lengths.
• Experiment with your stance to determine which foot placement feels most effective/comfortable.

No Squat Leg Workout For Bigger, Stronger Legs

While all of the exercises described above are great alternatives to squats, you’ll get better results from your training if you follow a structured plan. While there is nothing to stop you from writing your own, here’s one you can take to the gym today.

Of course, before you start this or any other workout, you must get your muscles, joints, and nervous system ready by warming up correctly. A good warm-up reduces your risk of injury while boosting exercise performance.

Start with 5-10 minutes of lower-body cardio, e.g., stationary bike, followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your legs and lower back. Finish your preparations with 1-2 light sets of your first exercise.

Warmed up and ready to go? Then let’s get to work!

Do the following program twice a week, e.g., Monday and Thursday, to allow plenty of time for rest and recovery.

	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Wall squat hold	3	20 seconds	60 seconds
2	Bulgarian split squat (with pause) *	4	6-8 per leg	2 minutes
3	Barbell hip thrust	4	10-12	90 seconds
4	Reverse deficit lunge	4	10-12 per leg	90 seconds
5	Backward sled drag	2	20-30 yards	90 seconds

*Pause at the bottom of each rep for 5 seconds.   

Closing Thoughts

In all honesty, squats probably deserve their royal title—they really are the king of exercises. No other movement has built more strength and muscle mass for more people. It’s no wonder that it’s the cornerstone of so many training programs.

But just because squats work for most people doesn’t mean they’ll work for you. Some people are squat non-responders, while others simply aren’t built for heavy squats. In fact, squatting when your body can’t cope with its demands is a surefire way to end up injured and frustrated with your lack of progress.

The good news is that there are several great exercises you can do that are just as effective as squats. Build your workouts around these exercises, and your legs will grow!

Not squatting might feel like you’re cutting corners in your training, but, in reality, you’re simply picking the best tool for the job.

Remember, it’s not enough to train hard—you need to train smart too, and, for some, that means not bowing down before the king of exercises and doing something else instead!

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