Lower A Workout: Full Session Walkthrough

What Lower A is for

Lower A leads with the squat pattern — the knee-dominant lift of the two lower days. Squat first while you're fresh, then a hinge accessory to keep your hamstrings in the rotation, then single-leg work, then calves.

Same rules as every session: warm-ups on the first lift only, two working sets to failure per exercise, a 20-30% drop set right after set two, log every working set, done in 40-60 minutes.

Back squat or hack squat — 6-8 reps

This is the first lift, so take your one or two warm-up sets here — an empty bar or light weight for a few reps, then a moderate set, building toward your working weight. Lower body needs this more than upper body does; your knees and hips are stiffer first thing in the morning.

Working sets: two, to failure, 6-8 reps. Brace your core before you unrack, feet about shoulder width, sit back and down rather than just bending your knees, and go to a depth you actually control — thighs at or just past parallel is the target for most guys, not an inch off the floor with your back rounding.

After set two, strip 20-30% off the bar and go again immediately with no rest. This is where most guys quit early — don't. The drop set is short and it's the highest-value 20 seconds of the session.

Picking your starting weight on squats

Use your second warm-up set as the real test: if it moves easily for 5 reps at a weight that felt like moderate effort, add one more small jump and call that your working weight. You want your first working set to be genuinely hard by rep 5 or 6, not a grind from rep 1.

Write the number down even on week one. A squat weight that felt reasonable today becomes the number you're trying to beat next week — that's the entire progression model, no math required beyond comparing two numbers in a notebook or app.

Romanian deadlift — 6-8 reps

No warm-up needed — you're already loaded up from squats. Two working sets straight to failure, 6-8 reps.

Soft bend in the knees, hinge at the hips and let the bar travel down your thighs, chest staying up rather than rounding toward the floor. You should feel this in your hamstrings, not your lower back — if your back is the limiting factor, the weight is too heavy or the bar is drifting away from your legs.

Drop set immediately after set two, same 20-30% cut, no rest.

Leg press or walking lunge — 8-12 reps

Leg press if your knees want a break from stabilizing; walking lunge if you want more carryover to real-world movement. Either way, two working sets, 8-12 reps, to failure.

On leg press, feet mid-platform, don't let your lower back round off the pad at the bottom. On walking lunges, step long enough that your front knee stays roughly over your ankle, not driving out past your toes. Drop set after set two — on lunges that just means fewer total steps at a lighter load, still done immediately.

Leg curl — 8-12 reps

Seated or lying, whichever machine you've got. Two working sets, 8-12 reps, to failure. Curl through a full range, pause briefly at the top squeeze, and control the weight back down instead of letting the stack drop.

Drop set right after set two — this one's an easy pin-and-go if it's a stack machine.

Calf raise — 8-12 reps

Standing or seated. Two working sets to failure, 8-12 reps, drop set after set two. Pause at the top and get a real stretch at the bottom — calves respond to full range, not bouncing through a partial one.

This is the last exercise of the session, so it's a good spot to just empty the tank. Nothing after it to protect.

Common mistakes on this session

Cutting squat depth to chase a bigger number on the bar is the one that costs the most long-term — a shallow squat with more weight builds less than a full-range squat with less weight, and it teaches your knees a bad habit under load. Pick the weight that lets you hit real depth for all 6-8 reps.

The other common one is rushing the RDL right after squats because your legs are already tired. Slow down on purpose here — a fast, sloppy hinge with a rounded back is exactly how people tweak something on a lift that's supposed to be building their hamstrings, not their physical therapy bill.

If the squat rack is taken

This is the most common equipment conflict in any gym. If the rack's occupied, do the RDL first instead — it needs no warm-up either way, so you lose nothing by flipping the order, then hit squats once the rack frees up.

If squats are off the table entirely that day, a goblet squat or leg press can stand in as your first lift — just add the one or two warm-up sets there instead, since it's now the first thing you're loading.

Pacing and logging

Five exercises, warm-ups only on the squat, two working sets and a drop set on everything. Rest 2-3 minutes on squat and RDL, 60-90 seconds on the rest. That keeps the whole session inside 40-60 minutes.

Log weight and reps on every working set, including the accessories. Squats get the attention, but the RDL and leg curl numbers matter just as much for whether your hamstrings are actually progressing.

One honest note on knees

Some stiffness in the first squat set at 5am is normal and goes away with a proper warm-up. Sharp pain that changes how you move is not normal — that's a see-a-professional problem, not a push-through problem.