Dana Linn Bailey is a professional bodybuilder who took the YouTube fitness crowd by storm with her lifts and numerous accolades.
Her leg workouts are among the best on YouTube, and for a good reason, too: her routine is intense, super-effective, and designed to help build strong, muscular legs.
By popular demand from my clients and readers, I spent a week looking through her leg routine and nailing down her workout and diet principles.
Here’s what I found.
Quick Summary
- Dana Linn Bailey’s leg workout combines heavy-weight, low-volume lifts with moderately heavy, high-rep work.
- She finishes her leg workout with unilateral exercises to help take care of any muscle imbalances.
- Her diet plan is fairly straightforward: eating healthy, avoiding junk, and getting in her daily protein intake.
Dana Linn Bailey Stats
- Date of birth: May 30, 1980 (42 years old)
- Height: 5’5” (165 cm)
- Weight: 125–135 lbs. (56.7–61.2 kg)
- Breast: 31 inches (78.7 cm)
- Waist: 24 inches (61 cm)
- Hips: 33 inches (84 cm)
Dana Linn Bailey’s Leg Workout Routine
Dana Linn Baily’s leg workout is a combination of heavy-weight, low-volume lifts with moderately heavy, high-rep work.
Additionally, she includes a mix of isolation and compound moves and combines regular sets with supersets.
Leg Training Principles
Dana’s leg workout is designed to be intense and not for the faint of heart.
She believes in pushing herself to the limit and constantly challenging her body to grow and improve.
She uses heavy weights and low reps to build strength and muscle mass [1].
But she also combines low-weight, high-volume work.
Dana adds super sets in between her leg exercises to achieve muscle failure so she can achieve maximum hypertrophy [2].
Finally, Dana adds unilateral work to correct any muscle imbalances she feels in her legs.
In addition to her leg workout, Bailey also incorporates other exercises into her routine, including cardio, weight training, and plyometrics.
She mixes up her routine regularly to keep her body from plateauing.
Here’s what her leg day looks like:
Warm-up with leg extensions (using very light weight): 1 set x 45 reps
- This consists of 15 reps for the top half of the movement, 15 reps for the bottom, and 15 reps with the full range of motion.
Safety Squat Bar: (using 90% of 5-rep max)
- Starts with 4 sets x 5 reps
- Additional 4 sets x 5 reps with 90% of the heaviest weight used in the previous 4 sets
Superset I: 4 sets of leg press with calf raises (both on a leg press machine)
- Leg press: 20 reps (last 8 reps should lead to failure)
- Calf raises: 10–12 reps
Weighted walking lunges: 1 set x AMRAP (as many reps as possible)
Superset II: 4 sets of trap bar deadlifts with squat jumps
- Trap bar deadlift: 8–12 reps
- Squat jump (weighted or bodyweight): 30 seconds or 15–20 reps
Superset III: 1 set of single leg extensions and Bulgarian split squats
- Single leg extension: 10–12 reps (worked at different angles)
- Bulgarian split squats: 8–12 reps
“It saves me time when I superset because I like so many different exercises that it's hard for me to choose.”
- Dana Linn Bailey, IFBB Pro Fitness & Figure Competitor
Other celebrity leg workouts:
Diet Routine
Dana eats five high-protein meals a day. Her approach to meals centers around eating healthy, nutrient-dense foods instead of calorie restriction.
Here’s what her diet plan looks like:
- Meal #1 (breakfast): 1 whole egg, 1 cup egg white, oatmeal with fruits, and almond milk.
- Meal #2 (snack): Greek yogurt with almonds.
- Meal #3 (lunch): Grilled chicken breast with white rice.
- Meal #4 (dinner): Tuna, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.
- Meal #5 (snack): Rice cakes, low-sugar cereal, almond butter, and her favorite whey protein.
Diet Principles
Bailey’s diet principles are straightforward: eat clean and whole foods, and avoid processed foods and sugar.
She believes in eating frequently throughout the day to keep her metabolism running and her energy levels high.
In addition to her diet, Bailey also emphasizes the importance of staying hydrated.
She drinks plenty of water throughout the day to keep her body functioning at its best.
Does Dana Linn Bailey Take Any Supplements?
Yes, Dana Linn Bailey takes supplements. She takes them to support her workout and diet routine.
However, Bailey is also careful about the supplements she uses and only takes high-quality, tested ones from reputable sources.
She also emphasizes that supplements should never replace a healthy diet and exercise routine.
Based on her YouTube videos, here’s a list of what she takes:
- Fat burner
- Immunity booster
- Gut health supplement
- Hormone balance supplement
- Nootropics
- Pre-workout
- Whey protein isolate
Related posts:
Train Your Legs the Dana Linn Bailey Way
I personally tried Dana Linn Bailey’s leg workout with a group of friends and realized that it drains your legs for everything they have.
If you plan on using her routine, I would highly recommend taking one of the high-quality pre-workouts we tested before punishing your legs:
These supplements will help you push through the toughest workouts and allow you to get in those extra reps that really count.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7927075/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31895290/
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