Jay Cutler is ringing in the New Year doing what he does best. On Jan. 6, 2026, via YouTube, he broke down his latest longevity-inspired leg workout using pyramid sets.
Jay Cutler reached the top of the sport in the 2000s when Ronnie Coleman was at the height of his powers. In 2006, Cutler dethroned ‘The King,’ kickstarting what many thought would be a long dynasty. However, he lost the title in 2008. This paved the way for an epic comeback a year later when he bested Branch Warren and Dexter Jackson to win back the Sandow trophy.
In retirement, Cutler still maintains a vigorous workout schedule. He’s free of major injuries and has pointed out that training seven days a week works best for him. Everyone is eager to hit their fitness goals in 2026, and for Cutler, that means a focus on longevity and health.
Jay Cutler Shares Latest Leg Workout for New Year
Find his exercises from the video below:
- Seated hamstring curl
- Leg curl
- Stiff-legged deadlifts
- Lying hamstring curl
- Lunges
- Leg extensions
- Leg press
- Inverted leg press
- Squat machine
- Adductor machine
Before the workout, Cutler touched on straining his quad during squats a few weeks ago.
“Nothing crazy. My whole training aspect is now for longevity, not necessarily trying to break any weight records. Although some days I train heavier and harder than other days.
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I strained my teardrop probably like three weeks ago doing squats. Last set, doing a little more contraction than I like to, wasn’t super heavy, but I got a little strain in there. I worked it out,” he said. “No pain whatsoever, or reinjury.”
Seated hamstring curl
Cutler warmed up his hamstrings first with a couple of pyramid sets. Pyramid sets are a method where you change the weight across consecutive sets, typically moving up or down in a pyramid-like pattern.
“Pyramided up a couple of plates. I think I did four or five or six sets there, a couple warm-up sets.”
Leg curl
He prefers hitting the hamstrings first because he believes they are weaker compared to his quads.
“Moved over to the one-legged curl. This is a little different. A lot of these are not selectorized equipment, so they don’t have a pulley or a chain or anything like that. I added some plates on there, one leg at a time, really isolated the bicep for the leg, which is basically the hamstring.”
Stiff-legged deadlifts
Cutler keeps a slight bend in his knees during stiff-legged deadlifts, so he called it a cross between a Romanian deadlift.
“It’s actually more of almost like a I don’t even know what to call it, a stretch of the hamstrings and glutes because I don’t do stiff legs.
It’s basically a Romanian, whatever, a cross in between, where I’m stretching everything, bend the knees a little bit. Just feels better for me. I can really bring the hamstrings in.”
Lying hamstring curl
For added stimulus, he used the lying hamstring curl machine.
“This is a little different from a nice angle on this machine. Did three sets there pretty much worked with the same weight,” he adds.
Lunges
During lunges, Cutler aimed for 10 reps per leg with 75 pounds.
“I used to do it on the turf area. We went into what used to be the leg room, which is now the powerlifting room. I did walking lunges there with a barbell, 75 pounds on my back. Normally, I do at least 10 reps per leg.”
Leg extensions
He took his time on leg extensions and hit five or six sets to push blood into his quads.
“First exercise for quads. Probably did five or six sets there, pyramided the weight up to get blood into the quads from the hamstrings.”
Leg press
For more quad engagement, Cutler moved to the leg press machine.
“Really just trying to get the quads engaged,” said Cutler.
Inverted leg press
Next, the bodybuilding legend locked in on the inverted leg press, which he admits was crucial to his iconic ’09 comeback.
“It’s one of my favorites,” shared Cutler. “I work this a lot of in ’09 when I was trying to get my discrepancy in my legs because that inverted with the blood coming down flushing back and forth, it really worked well for me.”
Squat machine
Focusing on quad contractions, he moved over to the squat machine.
“Did three sets there, not heavy, heavy weights. Just two plates a side. Just getting everything contracted.”
Adductor machine
Lastly, he pushed through reps on the adductor machine.
“I incorporated that into my workout. Did three sets there and wrapped it up. Nothing crazy. This is my first leg workout of 2026.”
Cutler has also discussed the optimal number of sets per body part to achieve the best results. While he used to aim for 20 sets per body part each week, he’s dialed it down in retirement. Now, Cutler shared that 12 sets per body part is best for his routine and recovery demands.
Cutler remains in tremendous shape since leaving the stage. He plans to continue focusing on longevity over one-rep maxes or strength on the horizon.
RELATED: Jay Cutler Breaks Down ‘Skin-Bursting Pump’ Back Workout for Maximum Thickness & Width
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