Cydney Gillon is committed to offering her fans easy-to-apply training knowledge. In her latest endeavor, Gillon opened up on her guide to building a proper leg day routine targeting the quads, hamstrings, and glutes.
As a standout IFBB Pro, it didn’t take Cydney Gillon long to start shining on stage thanks to her thin waist and aesthetics. For the last several years, Cydney Gillon has dominated the Figure landscape, having secured a total of seven Figure Olympia titles. Her continued dominance is a testament to her training and nutritional practices.
Despite her jam-packed schedule, Gillon makes time to give back to the fitness community. From your first-time lifter to an experienced bodybuilder, Cydney Gillon employs a simple yet effective approach to training, and her methods are supported by her success at the highest level.
Cydney Gillon Shares How She Structures a Leg Day Routine as a 7x Figure Olympia Champion
Gillon explains how she builds her leg day routines around quad-focused and hamstring-focused exercises:
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How to Build Your Routine
“If I’m doing one leg day a week my goal is to touch the entire leg in that one day. So, that means I’m going to choose three hamstring exercises, I’m going to choose three quad exercises.
With that being said, how do you differentiate that, on say a leg press in terms of okay, I want to do a leg press but how do I know its for quads or how do I know it’s for hamstrings.”
Below, Cydney Gillon lays out her ideal workout for those aiming to sculpt their legs.
Quick Breakdown
- Leg press
- Walking lunge
- Backwards lunge
- Split lunge
- Lying hamstring curls
- Romanian deadlifts
- V-Squats
- Leg extensions
Leg press
First, Gillon explains the do’s and don’ts of the leg press, including foot position tips and how to perform the movement to activate the quads and glutes.
“Everybody has a leg press you may not have this specific one but you have a leg press variation, okay? When you’re thinking about training quads, you’re going to think about keeping your feet a little lower at the bottom to where the knee is forced to cross over the toe a little more or be aligned with it. When you think of hamstrings, you think about keeping your feet higher and more so digging through the heels.”
“You can go feet together if you so choose, or go feet neutral,” adds Gillon. “You can go feet wide. If I go feet-wide, I’m going to be working all in here [inner thigh]. If I turn my feet out, I’m still going to be working all in here with a little bit more glute.”
Walking lunge
Next, Gillon details how to execute a proper walking lunge for taxing the quad muscles.
“First you have your traditional walking lunge, alright so if I’m going here my hands are down at my sides. I can put them at the sides so you’re not using your arms. You’re going to really work on your balance. When I take that first step I’m going to lift my foot up and step here first. Note the distance between my feet.”
She also offers body positioning tips for stability.
“When my foot connects is when I’m going to bend,” said Gillon. “So quad variation, my ankle is stabilized and my knee is not fully over my toes but it could be if you train that way.”
Backwards lunge
She explains that backward lunges are ideal for stimulating the glute and quad muscles.
“What you’re doing is, that’s going to be more glute and quad because you’re going to have to push off of that back leg with momentum. So, when you push back, it’s push off.”
Split lunge
As for split lunges, the reigning seven-time Figure Olympia queen mentioned that front foot placement is critical. She specified that it’s best not to push into this leg because then you start cheating the body out of its full range of motion.
“This front foot is where all your meat and potatoes should be. You’re going to feel the stretch to this side of that quad. You do not push into this leg because that’s when you start cheating.”
“You can even lean forward a little more to get in that quad a little bit more. You push up. You don’t use this foot to push up it’s just to hold you so you don’t put all your weight on this front leg.”
Hamstring variation of split lunge
Her hamstring variation also employs a similar setup to the split lunge.
“Same kind of general setup, the main difference is again like we learned on the leg press, the distance your heel is from your other foot and your pelvis.”
Lying hamstring curls
When performing lying hamstring curls, Cydney Gillon makes sure the pad is set to her lower calf.
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“I like the pad to be lower calf, kind of above the ankle at the top of the motion. If it’s not there, restructure the machine so that you’re lining up for your body type so that you’re not causing any injuries.”
“I’m driving my heels to my butt and I’m going to release. Now, when I release I’m not going to go all the way down. I’m going to keep the tension on that muscle and I’m going to come back up. While I’m doing this I’m going to sing my breathing.”
In addition to a full range of motion and proper form, Gillon underlined the importance of effective breathwork during reps.
“Breathing is very very important, if you don’t breathe properly, everything doesn’t go right.”
Romanian deadlifts
Moving along, Gillon offers setup help for the ever-popular Romanian deadlift, revealing where she sets her feet in relation to her hip width.
“All these movements, I’m just teaching you how to move your body in the space of what you’re trying to activate. So, again, know what you’re trying to do, set your plan.”
“Start from the bottom to the top, my feet are set, and I’m going by hip width,” says Gillon. “I grab the bottom handle, and I’m going to stand up first.”
While performing reps of RDLs, Gillon uses her glutes to stand up instead of picking the weight up with her back.
“I use my glutes to stand up. I’m not just kind of picking up with my back. From this, I’m going to work my way back because I’m too far forward for me, when I hinge I’m going to hinge from the hips.
For RDLs and glutes really come into play with this, I’m going to push my butt back first, abs in tight, and then I’m going to hinge from the hips, get that stretch from here, I’m going to squeeze my glutes in and pull up,” Cydney Gillon shared.
V-Squat
For squat variations, Gillon demonstrated why she favors V-squats. She admits barbell squats aren’t a part of her routine but she isn’t against their effectiveness.
“You can still squat,” said Cydney Gillon. “Definitely believe in squatting but again it’s how you do it.”
“If you’re trying to keep your waist small and get everything popping around it you got to work around those less functional movements but still functional movements, find a happy medium so you’re able to better your physique.”
Leg extensions
For her last exercise, Gillon performs leg extensions, offering insight into foot placement and body positioning.
“Your pad should be on your shins, like right above your ankle. When I slide back, I want to be able to rest comfortably against the pad. I’m just going to grab here because their handles are back here.”
She reveals that she never locks her knees and prioritizes a strong flex in the quads throughout the exercise.
“I’m not locking my knees. I’m getting that flex on my quads. I’m going to the range of motion that allows me to get that stretch at the bottom push back up and get that contraction at the top without hurting my knees.”
Even though Cydney Gillon makes extreme sacrifices in terms of nutrition and exercise during her contest preps, that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy some cheat meals. She created the ‘food festival’ concept, which she describes as a 24-hour window where she can eat whatever she wants.
Cydney Gillon remains one of the most successful IFBB Pros currently competing given her track record of accomplishments. She encourages anyone watching her video to try to sculpt a leg day routine using her insight.
RELATED: 6x Figure Olympia Cydney Gillon Shares Ab Workout & Tips
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