My Favourite Legs and Shoulders Workout Explained

Can you train shoulders and legs together? Are there any benefits to doing so? Here’s everything you need to know.

Can I Do Legs and Shoulders on the Same Day?

Yes, you can train legs and shoulders together. It wouldn’t be my first choice of muscle groups to work together, as I think there are better ways to structure a workout split.

In my view, most lifters will see better gains by pairing shoulders and arms (as you would do on the Arnold Split) or with your chest and triceps as part of a push day workout.

But training legs and shoulders together is certainly a viable option if done properly.

Training Legs and Shoulders Together: Benefits & Drawbacks

As I mentioned earlier, training legs and shoulders in the same workout wouldn’t be my first choice of muscle groups to work together.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s a complete waste of time, and there are some benefits to pairing legs with shoulders.

1. Works the Shoulders When They’re Fresh

Most popular workout splits involve working the shoulders alongside other upper body muscles.

Take the example of an upper/lower split, which typically hits the shoulders after the chest and back have been trained. Or a push/pull/legs split, where the shoulders are usually trained after you’re done training chest.

Structuring your workout in this way makes a lot of sense, because muscle groups that work together are trained together in the same workout.

Starting a workout with the bench press, for instance, gets your shoulders and triceps warm, which helps to prepare them for the exercises that come later in the workout. As a result, you don’t need to do as many warm-up sets to prepare for those exercises.

The downside, however, is that by the time you come to train your shoulders, they’re going to be partially fatigued from the work that’s been done earlier in the workout.

In most cases, this isn’t a problem, and most people will see substantial gains in both shoulder strength and size with an upper/lower or push/pull/legs split.

However, if you really want to focus on building your deltoids and traps, it makes sense to prioritize them. That means training them when they’re fresh, which can you can do when they’re worked alongside the legs.

That’s benefit number one of a leg and shoulder workout — you get to train the shoulders when they’re fresh.

2. Saves Time

Training legs and shoulders together also makes it relatively easy to incorporate paired sets (also known as supersets) in your workouts. 

That is, you do a set for the legs, then a set for the shoulders, followed by a set for the legs, and so on. One group of muscles has a chance to rest while you train another group of muscles.

For example, you might do a set of heavy squats, then rest long enough to catch your breath. 

Next, you pick up a light dumbbell and crank out a set of lateral raises. Then you rest again for a minute or so before going back to squats.

Training in this way allows you to cut down on the amount of dead time you might spend sitting around resting between sets. It lets you do the same amount of work in a shorter period of time, or more work in the same period of time.

3. Increased Training Frequency

The third benefit is an increase in training frequency for the shoulders. That is, instead of hitting the shoulders 2-3 times a week, you train them 4-5 days a week instead.

But is that even a good idea? Don’t your muscles need several days of recovery between workouts if you want them to grow?

In fact, when high frequency training has been put to the test, it’s been shown (in some studies, at least) to deliver superior gains in muscle size and strength compared to training a muscle 2-3 times a week.

READ MORE: High Frequency Training Explained: Pros, Cons & Results

The increase in training frequency allows you to hit the shoulders with a higher overall volume of training, which I’m defining here as the number of hard sets you do for a particular muscle group.

These extra sets can (as long as you choose your exercises and total training volume with care) lead to a faster rate of growth.

Some bodybuilders use high frequency training to improve a lagging muscle group.

Early on in his bodybuilding career, for example, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s calves were a real weak point. So much so that some of his early posing shots were done standing in water, with his calves hidden from view.

To rectify the situation, he started training his calves six days a week, for 30-45 minutes at a time. Two years later, Arnold’s calves had gone from an embarrassing weak point to one of his best body parts.

While there are benefits to training legs and shoulders together, there are also some drawbacks to consider.

The first is that training legs is brutally hard work. Training the large muscle groups in your hips, thighs and lower back requires a lot of effort, both physical and mental.

A lower body workout comprising exercises like squats, leg presses and deadlifts can sap your energy. A lot of people will have run out of steam by the time it comes to training shoulders, which limits their potential for growth.

Another drawback is that combining legs and shoulders in the same session can lead to longer workouts. Leg exercises alone can be time-consuming due to the number of sets and exercises involved.

Adding shoulder exercises on top of that can extend the length of your workout. This isn’t ideal if you have a limited amount of time to train, or if you just prefer shorter, more focused training sessions.

Depending on the way your training split is structured, training legs and shoulders together also has the potential to mess around with your recovery from one workout to the next.

For example, let’s say you’re following a 6-day push/pull/legs split, and doing heavy pressing exercises on both push day and leg day. This can be too much for some people to recover from, as well as taking a toll on your shoulders and elbows.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with training a muscle group four times a week, you do need to pay careful attention to both exercise selection as well as your overall volume of training when doing so.

When It Makes Sense to Train Shoulders and Legs Together

Where it makes the most sense to train shoulders and legs together is if your shoulders are lagging behind the rest of your body and you want to give them some extra attention.

That is, if your shoulders aren’t growing quickly enough, and you want to bring them up to speed with the rest of your body, working them alongside the legs is one way to go about doing so.

My preferred approach to targeting a slow-to-grow muscle group is to increase your training volume. And by training volume, I’m talking about the number of sets you do for a particular muscle over the course of a week.

There are two main ways to go about doing so:

• You can do more sets for that muscle in each workout.
• You can train that muscle more often.

The approach you use to stimulate growth in a lagging body part depends a lot on what your current workout routine looks like.

If your volume per workout is relatively low, and you’re already hitting a muscle 2-3 times a week, then you can just add a few more sets to each workout.

But if you’re already doing a lot of volume in each workout, then doing more isn’t necessarily going to make your muscles grow any faster. 

That’s because there’s an upper limit on the amount of stimulation your muscles can respond to in any given workout.

In this case, you’re better off increasing your training frequency, and working that muscle more often.

Here’s how to do it, using shoulders as an example.

Legs and Shoulders Workout Routines

Here are three workout splits that incorporate a leg and shoulder workout.

3-Day Split

With the 3-day workout split, the shoulders are trained three times a week – as part of an upper body workout, alongside the legs, and as part of a full-body workout.

• Monday: Upper Body
• Wednesday: Legs/Shoulders
• Friday: Full-Body

4-Day Split

This is a modified upper/lower split, with the shoulders worked four times a week. Compared to the 3-day routine, the extra training day makes this a better fit for intermediate lifters.

• Monday: Upper Body
• Tuesday: Legs/Shoulders
• Wednesday: Off
• Thursday: Upper Body
• Friday: Legs/Shoulders
• Saturday: Off
• Sunday: Off

5-Day Split

The 5-day split is a modified push/pull/legs split, with some extra work for the shoulders on leg day.

Training five days a week allows for a higher volume of training, making this workout split more suitable for lifters in the late intermediate and advanced stages of training.

There’s always a rest day after the leg and shoulder workout, to give the delts some extra recovery time before the next push workout.

Week 1

• Monday: Push
• Tuesday: Pull
• Wednesday: Legs/Shoulders
• Thursday: Off
• Friday: Push
• Saturday: Pull
• Sunday: Off

Week 2

• Monday: Legs/Shoulders
• Tuesday: Off
• Wednesday: Push
• Thursday: Pull
• Friday: Legs/Shoulders
• Saturday: Off
• Sunday: Push

Week 3

• Monday: Pull
• Tuesday: Legs/Shoulders
• Wednesday: Off
• Thursday: Push
• Friday: Pull
• Saturday: Legs/Shoulders
• Sunday: Off

After three weeks the program repeats itself, and the push workout ends up back on Monday.

Because you’re not training on set days of the week, you do need a flexible schedule to pull this one off.

How to Structure a Leg and Shoulder Workout

How should you structure a leg and shoulder workout, including exercise selection, rep ranges, and rest periods?

Let’s take the example of a lifter following a 4-day upper/lower split, which involves training the upper body and lower body twice a week.

On the upper body days, you’d train your chest, back, biceps and triceps as normal.

You’d also do one compound exercise for your shoulder muscles, be it the dumbbell shoulder press, barbell press, machine press or whatever.

Then, on both leg days (quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves and lower back), you throw in some high-rep work for your deltoids and traps.

This way, your shoulders are being trained four days a week rather than just twice.

Here’s what it looks like:

• Monday: Upper Body
• Tuesday: Legs + Shoulders Workout A
• Wednesday: Off
• Thursday: Upper Body
• Friday: Legs + Shoulders Workout B
• Saturday: Off
• Sunday: Off

Because the work you’re doing for your shoulder muscles isn’t going to be too taxing, you can often do it while you’re resting between sets of leg exercises.

For example, you might do a set of heavy squats, before resting for a minute or so. 

Then, you pick up a light dumbbell and do 15-20 reps of lateral raises, face pulls or bent over lateral raises.

Again, rest briefly before moving on to your next set of squats. Do the same thing again, training your deltoids between sets of squats.

On the next exercise, be it the leg press, leg curl, or whatever, you repeat the process for your traps, doing some high-rep sets of dumbbell shrugs, barbell bent shrugs, Wendler rows or Y-raises.

Legs and Shoulders Workout A

• A1 Squat 3 sets x 5-8 reps
• A2 Lateral Raise 3 sets x 15-20 reps
• B1 Leg Extension 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• B2 Bent Over Lateral Raise 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• C1 Leg Curl 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• C2 Dumbbell Shrugs 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Standing Calf Raise 4 sets x 15-20 reps

Legs and Shoulders Workout B

• A1 Romanian Deadlift 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• A2 Cable Face Pulls 3 sets x 15-20 reps
• B1 Leg Press 3 sets x 8-12 reps
• B2 Lateral Raise 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• C1 Leg Curl 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• C2 Barbell Bent Shrugs 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Standing Calf Raise 4 sets x 5-8 reps

Remember, there are no overhead pressing movements in either workout, because those exercises are being done on upper body days.

Shoulders and Legs Workout Routine: Best Exercises

If you want to put together your own shoulders and legs workout routine, here are the exercises that I think work best.

Leg Exercises

• Squat
• Front Squat
• Leg Press
• Leg Curl (Seated or Lying)
• Leg Extension
• Walking Lunges
• Bulgarian Split Squat
• Romanian Deadlift
• Standing Calf Raise
• Seated Calf Raise
• Calf Press
• Donkey Calf Raise

Shoulder Exercises

• Overhead Press (Dumbbell, Barbell or Machine)
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise
• Cable Lateral Raise
• Bent Over Lateral Raise
• Reverse Pec Deck Flyes
• Face Pulls
• Dumbbell Shrug
• Barbell Bent Shrug
• Wendler Row
• Y-Raise

Why no front raises? Front raises are an effective exercise for working the anterior, or front deltoids. However, the front delts are worked heavily during both horizontal pressing (i.e. bench press, incline dumbbell press) and overhead pressing movements, so typically don’t need any additional work.

The Problem with Shoulder and Leg Combo Exercises

The fact you’re training the shoulders and legs together doesn’t mean you should be doing exercises that target both areas of the body at the same time.

In fact, trying to get an effective workout for your shoulders and legs with exercises that work both areas at the same time, such as the barbell front squat to overhead press or dumbbell squat to overhead press, is one of the least effective ways to train for muscle growth.

Why is that?

Most people can squat with a much heavier weight than they can press over their head. If you select a weight that’s suitable for overhead pressing, that weight is going to be too light for squatting.

On the flip side, if you choose a weight that’s heavy enough to challenge your legs during a squat, that weight will likely be too heavy to press over your head.

Rather than using exercises that work both the shoulders and legs simultaneously, you’re much better off focusing on one area of the body at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should you train legs or shoulders first?

In most cases, I’d suggest training your legs first. Legs are hard work, and I much prefer to get them out of the way first. However, there’s no good reason why you can’t train shoulders first. Unless you’re doing a lot of heavy overhead lifting, hitting the shoulders first shouldn’t have an adverse effect on your leg workout.

Is it okay to do legs and upper body?

Yes, training your legs and upper body is a feature of full-body workout routines, which work just fine for muscle growth. A push/pull workout routine also involves training certain upper body muscles along with the legs. That is, a push day workout hits your quads, chest, shoulders and triceps, while a pull day workout trains the hamstrings, back and biceps.