Dana Linn Bailey still treats leg day as if she’s in full contest prep—so what’s your excuse? The former Ms. Olympia hammers her quads from the first set of squats to the final cardio-blasting finisher. She builds her session around heel-elevated moves, deep knee bend, and smart exercise choices that let her push heavy while keeping stress off her joints. And if you’re not doing anything similar to enhance your lower body, now that your 2026 training is in full swing, you’re leaving gains on the table.
“If you ever listen to any coach or trainer or influencer that says your knees shouldn’t go beyond your toes, unfollow them right away,” the Olympia champion says. “Your knees are allowed to go beyond your toes.” That cue sets the tone for the workout: more knee travel, more shin angle, more quad.
Bailey opens with safety bar squats on a heel wedge for a reason. Her primary objective on quad day is to drive as much tension as possible into the front of the thigh while limiting the bottlenecks that often hold lifters back—shoulder discomfort, poor mobility, and unstable positions. The safety bar takes stress off her shoulders and upper back, allowing her to load the movement heavily without fighting the bar position. “If you have a shoulder injury and back-loaded squats hurt, use a safety bar,” she says, framing the tool not as a crutch but as a way to train hard without pain.
The heel wedge has an equally important role. It shifts her center of gravity forward, encouraging greater knee travel and a more upright torso—exactly the alignment she wants to maximize quad recruitment. “Anytime you front load yourself like a front squat, it’s going to make you stay more upright. The more upright you are, versus hinged at the hips, is going to be a little more quad,” she explains.
By choosing a squat variation that demands this upright posture, Bailey is deliberately steering the work away from her hips and glutes and into her thighs. This isn’t a general leg day; it’s a quad-priority session, and her exercise order reflects that. She starts with a heavy, compound movement that challenges strength, core stability, and total-body control, pre-fatiguing the quads before moving into more stable patterns like leg press, lunges, and leg extensions. She follows that sequence—high-skill squats first, then guided, machine-based work—to push intensity while still managing fatigue and form.
From there, she moves to a leg press variation, starting with higher reps and tapering down before a brutal drop set. Foot position stays simple: if you’re not sure, go with a middle to slightly lower stance on the sled to keep the tension on your quads.
Next up is a landmine goblet reverse lunge with the heels elevated. The front-loaded position keeps your torso tall while the wedge drives the front knee forward, turning each rep into a balance of strength and conditioning. As Bailey notes, if you can cruise from one leg to the other without pausing, you probably didn’t go heavy enough.
She follows with a leg extension and heel-elevated goblet squat superset, leaning back on the extensions to load the quads in a stretched position and then finishing them off with deep, upright squats. To cap it all, a four-minute Tabata pairing the assault bike with squats or squat jumps pushes your legs and lungs to the edge. “This is for anyone that has anything left in them,” she says.
Dana Linn Bailey’s Legday Workout
Exercise: Safety Bar Squat (heels elevated)
Sets: 3
Reps: 6
DLB Tips: Stay upright, brace your core hard, and let your knees travel forward over your toes to load the quads.
Exercise: Leg Press (more upright version)
Sets: 4
Reps: 12, 10, 8, 8
DLB Tips: Use a middle to slightly lower foot position to make it more quad dominant. If you’re feeling strong, finish with a nasty dropset.
Exercise: Landmine Goblet Reverse Lunge (heels elevated)
Sets: 3
Reps: 10-12
DLB Tips: Front load the weight, stay tall, and drive the front knee forward—remember: If you can go leg-to-leg without resting, you’re not heavy enough.
Exercise: Leg Extension to
Heel-Elevated Goblet Squat (Superset)
Sets: 3
Reps: 10-12 (each)
DLB Tips: Lean back on extensions for a bigger quad stretch; on goblet squats, think “knees forward, chest tall” every rep.
Exercise: Tabata Finisher
Assault Bike + Bodyweight Squats (or Squat Jumps)
Sets: 4 min.
Reps: Up to 8 rounds
DLB Tips: Go all out for 20 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest. If jumps become too challenging, switch to regular squats mid-round.