When you think about quarterback performance, your lower body is the foundation of throwing performance. Whether you’re in the pocket, off-platform, or throwing on the run, the force you generate from your legs, hips, and trunk drives the arm.
In this blog we’ll cover:
Every throw begins with the ground. Your legs push into the ground, your hips rotate, your trunk drives, and your arm finishes the motion. Without a strong, stable base and effective leg and hip power, your arm ends up doing too much work, which often leads to lost velocity, poor mechanics, and increased injury risk.
So, yes… your legs matter. But more than just being strong, you need to be able to generate force fast, transfer it via the hips/trunk into the arm, and do so bilaterally (both legs), unilaterally (one leg), and in rotational/diagonal planes (just like your throw).
When your program hits all three domains, you’re giving your lower body the strength, stability and “throw‐ready” power system it needs.
A staple bilateral strength lift. Great for building overall leg and hip strength.
Why it matters: Develops glutes, quads, hamstrings to help with pushing off, planting, and initiating the throw.
Caveats for QBs: Focus on depth, control and trunk stability. If your mechanics are screwed up (e.g., excessive forward lean or poor hip/trunk alignment), you might be building strength that doesn’t transfer well.
Variation tip: Use box squats, pause squats or tempo squats to improve control.
Bilateral again, but shifts emphasis more toward quads and upright trunk.
Why it matters: For quarterbacks, maintaining a good upright posture while generating leg drive is important (you don’t always lean forward like a lineman). Front squats can help reinforce that trunk control while building strength.
Caveats: Requires mobility (especially wrist/thoracic) and can be taxing. Use loads appropriate to your training phase.
A simpler bilateral/near‐unilateral hybrid.
Why it matters: It’s great for younger QBs or less experienced lifters to build leg strength with less technical demand. Also encourages good upright posture and core control.
Application: Use for introductory phases or warm-ups before heavy squats.
These are unilateral (one leg at a time).
Why it matters: As a quarterback you’re not always squatting down with both legs evenly. You step, you plant, you scramble. Unilateral training improves stability, balance, and single‐leg drive (which leads to better force transfer to the throw).
Iso pin holds: Holding the bottom of a lunge (with pin/rack) under time tension builds stability and control.
Application tip: Use these mid‐week when volume is moderate; emphasize slow descent, hold in bottom, drive up explosively.
Hip-dominant bilateral strength.
Why it matters: The hip hinge is critical for transferring force from the ground into the trunk and arm. RDLs build hamstring/glute strength and teach good hinge mechanics.
Application: Use moderate load, focus on slowing the eccentric (lowering) and exploding up. Pause at top to ensure full glute contraction.
Isolation of glutes in a more horizontal posture.
Why it matters: Strong glutes help you level up your hip drive, stability when planting, and thus your ability to generate and transfer force into the throw. Unilateral hip thrusts further build one‐leg stability and control (critical when you’re dropping back and stepping).
Application: Use higher reps for hypertrophy or moderate reps for strength. For unilateral, maybe 3 sets of 6-8 each leg.
Another bilateral compound strength lift. The hex bar variation allows more upright torso, which might be more applicable for QBs.
Why it matters: Building total body strength, including the posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, lower back), which is essential for stabilizing and generating force. The hex bar variation can reduce lower back shear and allow better carryover for upright athletes.
Caveats: Technique must be right. If your lower back is weak or form is poor, you risk injury. Also, volume should be managed during throwing/season phases to avoid overloading.
Here’s a simple framework you can use (off-season / in-season) to build your lower‐body strength/power system.
