Sonam Bajwa is as known for her dedication to fitness as she is for her on-screen presence. A recently shared glimpse into her intense leg day workout has fans buzzing. Here’s a breakdown of the exercises in her lower-body strength session.
The Foundation: Barbell Squats
The cornerstone
of many leg day routines, and featured in Sonam's, is the barbell squat. This compound exercise is highly effective because it engages multiple muscle groups at once, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. Beyond just building leg muscle, squats are a functional movement that strengthens the core, improves mobility, and enhances overall stability. They mimic everyday actions like sitting and standing, making them practical for real-world strength. By loading the barbell, you can progressively increase the challenge, which is key for building both strength and muscle definition over time. Proper form is crucial to maximize benefits and prevent injury, focusing on a straight back and ensuring your thighs become parallel to the floor.
Targeting Power: The Leg Press
Another key component of a powerful lower-body workout is the leg press. This machine-based exercise allows you to target the quads, hamstrings, and glutes with significant weight, but with added back support. This makes it an excellent choice for isolating the leg muscles without putting as much strain on the spine compared to free-weight squats. The leg press is versatile; by adjusting foot placement on the platform, you can shift the emphasis between different muscles. For instance, a higher foot position tends to engage the glutes and hamstrings more, while a lower position focuses on the quadriceps. It’s a great exercise for building volume and strength in a controlled manner.
Unilateral Strength: Dumbbell Lunges
Sonam’s routine also incorporates lunges, a fundamental unilateral exercise, meaning it works one leg at a time. Performed with dumbbells, lunges are fantastic for building strength and improving balance, coordination, and stability. Working each leg independently helps identify and correct muscle imbalances between the left and right sides of the body. Lunges heavily recruit the quadriceps and glutes, but also engage the hamstrings and core stabilisers. There are many variations, including forward, reverse, and walking lunges, all of which contribute to a well-rounded and functional lower body.
Posterior Chain Power: Hip Thrusts
To specifically target the posterior chain, particularly the glutes, the hip thrust is an unparalleled exercise. While squats and lunges work the glutes, the hip thrust isolates them in a unique way, allowing for maximum activation at the top of the movement. This exercise is performed with the upper back resting on a bench, and a weight (often a barbell) placed across the hips. The movement involves driving the hips upward to full extension, which powerfully contracts the gluteus maximus. Strong glutes are essential not just for aesthetics but for improving posture, generating power in movements like running and jumping, and helping to prevent lower back pain.
Putting It All Together
A comprehensive lower body session like the one Sonam Bajwa follows is designed for more than just looks; it's about building functional strength that supports you in daily activities and other athletic pursuits. The combination of compound lifts like squats, machine work like the leg press, unilateral movements like lunges, and targeted isolations like hip thrusts ensures that every major muscle group in the lower body is challenged. This approach promotes balanced muscle development, enhances stability, and contributes to long term joint health when performed correctly. For anyone looking to build a stronger foundation, this structure provides a solid and effective template.
