Former two-time Women’s Physique Olympia Erin Stern always takes an insightful approach when breaking down training techniques. In a recent YouTube video, Stern walked fans through her go-to glutes and leg-focused workout, which utilized pre-exhaust methods and supersets.
“We’re going to utilize some techniques that I’ve been using in the past couple of years that have helped me get greater results. These are things like pre-exhaustion, adding volume without adding soreness, and of course, supersets for saving time.”
Having reached the pinnacle of the sport, Erin Stern’s combination of aesthetics, conditioning, and muscle definition was impossible to ignore. Her IFBB Pro League career has been defined by intense training and methodical approaches to fitness, supplementation, and health.
Now, a thriving Bikini bodybuilding competitor, Stern never shies away from imparting wisdom to her growing fanbase. If you’re eager to build a ‘superhero body,’ she has got you covered. And in her latest offering, Stern walked her audience through how to maximize results with an efficient glutes and leg workout.
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Former 2x Figure Olympia Erin Stern Shares Her Staple Leg and Glute Workout
Find Stern’s workout below:
- Single-leg leg extension
- Hip thrusts
- Back hyperextensions
- Hack squat supersetted with reverse lunges
- Single-leg leg press supersetted with calf raise on leg press
Stern underlined the importance of pre-exhausting the muscles before taking on bigger lifts:
“Pre-exhaustion is a method that’s used to exhaust a particular muscle before you go into your main lift. So, for example, if you feel like your quads take over squats, then doing leg extensions before you do squats can help you feel glutes more, can help you feel other muscle groups a little bit better.”
Single-leg leg extensions
First, Stern offered instructions for the single-leg leg extensions.
“This is the pre-exhaust method where we’re going to essentially tire out the quads so they don’t kick in on our hip thrusts and we’re able to better focus on the glutes.
So, for this exercise, I like to start with the non-dominant or weaker leg and let that dictate the number of reps I’m doing on the stronger leg. This really helps towards building symmetry and improving strength between right and left sides.”
Hip Thrusts
Next, Stern revealed how to perform hip thrusts with body positioning and explained how to make proper use of the bar pad.
“These are not just regular hip thrusts we’re going to go ahead and do one and one half rep hip thrusts. For the setup of this exercise, you want to make sure that the bench is around 14 inches tall and that it’s nice and secure, that it’s not going to slide back as you perform the exercise. Using a bar pad or balance pad is going to be really helpful as the bar is going to sit just below the hip bone.”
“Make sure that you’re pulling your feet nice and close so that your lower leg is perpendicular to the floor as you reach that mid-rep point. If it’s not and your feet are a little further out or you’re feeling it in your hamstrings, go ahead and pull your feet closer to your body because this is going to help shift the emphasis back to the glutes.”
Back hyperextensions
Stern says to focus on foot position for back hyperextensions and to start with body weight only reps.
“For this exercise, I want you to focus on a couple of things. The first is foot position. Point your toes out this is going to help with recruiting the glutes, specifically, the upper glutes. Next, you’re going to focus on tucking your chin and rounding your upper back.”
“I recommend using body weight to get a feel for it,” added Erin Stern. “That pad needs to sit below the crease of your hips.”
Superset – Hack squat followed by reverse lunge
As for hack squat reps, Erin Stern advised lifters to think about pushing their weight through their toes for quad activation.
“For this hack squat, if you want to focus more on your quads, think about pushing your weight through your toes.
If you want to hit a little more glutes, push your feet up higher on the platform. Take a little bit of a wider stance. This is going to help hit those glutes a little bit more.”
In addition, she shared how to reap the most benefits from reverse lunges.
“Straight to the reverse lunge. You can either do this without weights or you can go ahead and grab some plates and for this exercise you want to think about nice slow and eccentric again, which is that negative so slowly step back, lower yourself, and what I want you to think about is your front leg doing the work on each rep.”
Superset – Single-leg leg press followed by calf raise on the leg press
For the last superset, Stern practices single-leg leg presses followed by calf raises on the leg press machine, emphasizing foot positioning once again.
“Now single leg everything is awesome because your able to of course focus on one leg at a time but you’re able to start with that non-dominant leg and let that dictate the number of reps you do on your dominant or stronger side.”
“A little bit wider, so it’s going to allow your knee to pass your chest on that mid-rep point so you’re getting a great amount of depth on this. As you lower that platform to mid-rep, you really want to think about keeping your glutes in the seat,” shares Erin Stern.
Lastly, Stern gave tips for performing calf raises on the leg press.
“For the calf raise, you want your legs to be straight but don’t lock your knees out. You want to place the balls of your feet on that platform and get a nice stretch at the bottom and feel free to pause for just a second if you would like. Then you’re going to push the platform away thinking about pushing your heels forward.”
This wasn’t Erin Stern’s first comprehensive workout demonstration. As of late, the credentialed Pro gave her best techniques for creating a ‘smaller’ and tighter waist using hollow body planks. Whether she is crafting nutrition plans or coming up with protocols to avoid injuries during training, Stern’s detail-oriented personality makes her a treasure for the bodybuilding community.
Following her latest training session, Stern’s calculated approach to fitness was on full display. Feel free to try out her latest glutes and leg-building workout!
Watch the video below:
RELATED: Erin Stern Shows How To Build Arms w/ Superset-Based Workout: “Think About Constant Tension”
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