French-Canadian competitor Regan Grimes is training for the upcoming IFBB Texas Pro An Olympia fit with a detailed leg workout that uses a simple technique. Here’s how to try it yourself.
“Two sets of work for each exercise!” wrote Grimes, as he shared the method behind his current muscle-building progress. No doubt, with big legs like hers, we can easily be convinced to lean on her phone. However, even though this exercise is easy to understand, it is quite a challenge to master, as Grimes cycles through seven essential movements.
Here’s the exact workout shared by the IFBB Pro and two-time Olympia finalist.
Regan Grimes’ 2 Working Set Leg Workout
Grimes even prescribed a specific exercise to follow her session:
- Assembly Machine
- Abductor machine
- Lying Hamstring Curl
- Press the Leg
- The Pendulum Squat
- Bulgarian Split Squat
- Get Raised
Classification of Exercises
Grimes starts working on a seated machine to start things off, targeting the inner thigh as she brings her legs together. Next is the countermovement of the abductor mechanism, where the knees are pushed outward, charging the outer hips. The trick here is to add isolation movements at the beginning of the session which means that the thighs and hips are engaged in isolation before they are engaged in joint exercises that will require their use, exhausting the muscles as the session progresses but making sure they are fully engaged from the get go.
Grimes brings a similar grind to lying hamstring curls, another isolation exercise, before continuing with compound movements, starting with leg presses. Of course, the leg press is a great mass builder, because it works the quads, glutes, and already warm thighs, hamstrings, and glutes. And those quads are about to get crushed because next is the pendulum squat, a movement that allows for a deep squat, working the quads through an advanced range of motion while relying on the hamstrings, hips, and glutes for support.
By now, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Grimes has saved the easy exercises for last, but there are competitions to be won, so she adds compound work and blasts some Bulgarian squats instead, to correct any imbalances in those quads, glutes, hamstrings, hips and calves. Speaking of calves, he’ll get a final blast with calf raises, bookend his bottom workout with isolation exercises that build deeper and wider calves.
The take home message? By going all out and returning two sets of work to failure, you’ll be able to focus on form while building the ultimate lower body. Start with a weight you feel comfortable with, in the 8 to 12 rep range, to hit hypertrophy, and increase the intensity from there. “This is the perfect leg day,” wrote one of Grimes’ impressed Instagram followers. Be careful when you go up the stairs for the next few days!
The IFBB Texas Pro takes place on August 14-15, 2026.
To follow Regan Grimes on Instagram, click here.
