5 Essential Lower Body Movements for Strength & Sculpting | Brooke Ence

Brooke Ence’s take on lower body training delivers a focused blueprint for building strength, performance, and aesthetics with just five essential movements. Whether your goal is athletic power or sculpted muscle definition, these exercises form a versatile foundation for any routine.

By mixing and matching two to three, or going all-in with the full set, you can customize your training for a targeted lower-body burn that maximizes results. Here’s why these five exercises remain Brooke’s “go-tos” and how you can incorporate them into your own workouts.

1. Cyclist Squats: Quad Focus and Knee Strength

Cyclist squats are a powerful variant that emphasize the quadriceps while promoting knee integrity and mobility. Positioned with heels elevated on a platform, this squat variation shifts the load forward, honing in on the quads differently than traditional back squats.

This makes it especially useful for athletes or anyone seeking to sculpt well-defined thigh muscles without compromising joint safety. Including cyclist squats in your regimen helps build explosive leg strength and endurance.

2. Bulgarian Deadlifts: Targeting the Posterior Chain

The Bulgarian deadlift, a single-leg movement performed with the rear foot elevated, targets the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back with precision. This exercise improves unilateral leg strength and balance, addressing asymmetries that can lead to injury or performance plateaus.

It enhances hip hinge mechanics, vital for explosive athletic performance, and plays a key role in injury prevention, especially for runners and jumpers. Bulgarian deadlifts serve perfectly for developing a strong, explosive posterior chain.

3. Nordic Hamstring Curls: Hamstring Strength and Injury Prevention

Nordic hamstring curls are a challenging eccentric exercise designed to increase hamstring strength and resilience. By slowly lowering the body forward while the feet remain fixed, this movement works the hamstrings under tension and through a full range of motion. Incorporating nordic curls not only enhances muscle growth but importantly lowers the risk of common hamstring injuries, making them a must for athletes or anyone serious about leg health.

4. Front Squats: Core and Quad Dominance

Front squats prioritize an upright torso posture and demand high core stabilization alongside quad activation. This variation strengthens the legs while also engaging the abs and upper back to maintain posture, benefitting overall athletic performance and functional strength. Front squats improve mobility and balance, reduce lower back stress compared to back squats, and refine technique for lifting movements. They’re a staple in strength training for those seeking to combine power and control.

5. Walking Lunges: Functional Strength and Balance

Walking lunges incorporate unilateral leg work with dynamic movement, challenging balance, coordination, and muscular endurance. This exercise targets the quads, hamstrings, and glutes while also engaging stabilizing muscles throughout the hips and core. They mimic natural athletic movements, helping improve gait and functional lower-body strength. Walking lunges are excellent for hypertrophy, conditioning, and as a functional warm-up or finisher.

By frequently revisiting these five movements, Brooke Ence blends performance training and aesthetic goals into a comprehensive lower body routine. Each exercise complements the others by hitting different muscle groups and movement patterns, offering a balanced approach that avoids overuse and injury risk.

To tailor your training:

- Choose 2–3 exercises per session for focused strength or hypertrophy.

- Cycle through the full list over the course of a week for balanced development.

- Increase volume or load progressively to keep challenging the muscles.

- Combine with proper warm-ups, mobility work, and recovery for maximum gains.

Whether you want to improve athletic performance, build a stronger lower body, or simply torch some calories with a muscle burn, these five moves have earned their spot as foundational. Add them to your workout arsenal and keep coming back to what works.