Ryan Terry’s Olympia Leg Day Workout: 22 Sets for Lower Body Growth – Muscle & Fitness

Three-time Olympia Men’s Physique champion Ryan Terry has built a successful bodybuilding career by paying attention to proportions. In a recent Instagram post, the muscular Brit shared an intense leg session as he looks ahead to the 2026 finals later this year. Here’s how you can try it yourself.

Terry headed to his own RT-Fit gym in Nottinghamshire, England, to train his legs with a combination of machines and free weights to achieve absolute muscle exhaustion. Here are the five exercises the current Olympic men’s physique champion completed, along with the sets and reps.

Ryan Terry’s Board Short-Busting Leg Workout

• Leg extension:
  • 2 sets of 16 to 18 reps (warm-up)
  • 5 sets of 10 to 12 reps (working sets)
• Stiff leg deadlift:
  • 1 set of 16 to 18 repetitions (feeler set)
  • 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps (working sets)
• Hack squat:
  • 1 set of 10 to 12 repetitions (feeler set)
  • 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps (working sets)
• Lying hamstring curl:
  • 1 set of 12 to 15 repetitions (feeler set)
  • 4 sets of 10 controlled + 5 forced reps (working sets)
• Bulgarian split squat:
  • 5 sets of 15 to 18 reps (working sets)

Why this 22-set leg workout builds serious muscle

With over 20 work sets, this is an intense legs day, designed to break down the muscles so they build back stronger. Terry uses feel sets to gauge how hard he can go on a given day and then gets to work. First up are the leg extensions. “Heavy and controlled,” he noted, isolating the quads. He then picked up the barbell for some stiff leg deadliftsan exercise that hammers the hamstrings, lats, glutes and posterior chain.

Terry felt the burn and sat on the hack squat with his feet about shoulder-width apart, placed in the center of the platform for a balanced position. strain his quads and glutes. Notice how the champion keeps his back on the rest pad and rides by feel. The fourth exercise was the lying leg curl to target his hamstrings. And because the bodybuilder wants to create tension, he performs the majority of his reps as controlled movements and then saves the last five of each set for forced reps, with Terry trying to push past failure and maximize hypertrophy.

Heading to Bulgarian split squats as a worthy finisher, the Men’s Physique competitor never abandons his desire to find perfect form. “Lighter in weight, but still guaranteed

There’s absolutely nothing left before he leaves the gym floor,” he explained, as he pounded his quads and calves into submission. Ryan Terry’s detailed approach, which involves 22 work sets, is a serious leg day, so if you’re just starting out, feel free to adjust the volume, but try to mirror his intensity for maximum muscle growth.

To follow Ryan Terry on Instagram, click here.