Leg Workouts – The Only Reason That Shouldn’t Make Your Knees Weak
If you want to level up your fitness with exercises for your hind limbs we will guide you through that. With our perfect expert guidance, we will help you to increase your leg endurance within a very short time.
Sounds interesting? Let’s start the journey!
What are leg workouts?
Leg workouts are a group of exercises that when performed stimulates the leg muscles to grow and strengthen with time. Not only does it burn the excess amount of fat in your thighs and lower waist but also gives them symmetric shape making your whole body look proportionate. It would not be a pleasing sight to see an individual having a bulky upper body with lean legs and a slender mid-portion with heavier thighs and thick legs making the physique look slightly warped. To embark on the journey of flaunting a fit body with strong muscular legs you may have to undergo leg training with the best leg workouts.
Recent Article: Best Bodybuilding Program
The leg muscle workout plan
If you are planning to head out to the beach during summer, wear shorts and display your pair of well-built legs you need to follow a well-structured leg exercise regime. The best leg workouts are classified in this article and include both leg workouts for men and leg workouts for women. But before we begin our discussion on best leg workouts we need to find an answer.
How many muscles are there in our legs?
Human anatomy explains that legs have several muscles and a perfect leg day workout should aim at wear, tear, and build-up of those muscles. These are quads, hamstrings, and calves and they, in turn, have several sub-categories.
Which exercises to choose?
Depending on the kind of shape and tone you want to give to your legs your choice of exercises may vary. If you are a beginner and have a limited idea on how to get into the perfect athletic figure with robust legs then you should start leg workouts at the gym with a personalized trainer who can suit your needs.
Leg workouts with dumbbells are one of the commonest forms of leg exercises at home or at the gym. These stellar dumbbell leg exercises can be a regime for leg workouts for men and leg workouts for women. You need to grab a dumbbell and follow the plan to get runway-worthy legs. For these workouts, it is necessary to have a bench and dumbbells.
Recent Article: Workout For Abs
Plan
Before you start your leg workouts, a few minutes should be devoted to warm up your body. For dumbbell, goblet squats the feet should be widely separated more than your shoulder length, and toes should be outward. The dumbbell should be grasped close to your chest like a goblet. You have to gradually lower your hips with your back upright. The knees should be bent until the thighs become parallel to the floor. The lower back arch should remain for two seconds and constant breathing is necessary to hold the position. To get back to the starting position you should push through the heels and exhale. It helps in building your quads.
Sets and Reps:
3 sets with 10 reps for beginners
5 sets with 10 reps for advanced
Lunges (forward and reverse) should be one of the leg workouts with dumbbells that you might do after squats. Standing straight holding the dumbbells to your sides you need to take a step forward for your left leg and bend your right knee until it almost touches the ground while you breathe in. To return to your starting position push in through the heels of your left leg and gradually bring the right knee to position while you breathe out. The torso should remain upright during this process. The left leg works at that time. The legs should be switched and the same process to be followed to complete one set.
Sets and Reps:
3 sets with 10 reps for beginners
5 sets with 10 reps for advanced
You can also try dumbbell step up and for this exercise, you have to stand near a bench with dumbbells in your hands to your sides. The left leg on which you will be working should be on the bench. Push through the heel of the left leg to lift the right leg from the ground until the feet are in the same position. The right leg should remain hanging. Then you should lower your back to reach the starting position, switch the legs and start over to complete one set.
Recent Article: Complete Bodyweight Exercise Guide
Sets and Reps:
3 sets with 10 reps for beginners
4 sets with 10 reps for beginners
5 sets with 10 reps for advanced
To attempt another leg workout at a gym or at home using dumbbells you can try the stiff-legged dumbbell deadlift. You need to stand with legs should width apart and clutching your dumbbells in front of your thighs with your palms facing your body. With your knees fixed, you should lower the dumbbells along your legs, bending your waist as you reach your feet. This exercise will hit your hamstrings and soon after you feel the stretch, pause, and revert to the starting position while exhaling and pushing the hips in.
Sets and Reps:
3 sets with 10 reps for beginners
4 sets with 10 reps for beginners
5 sets with 10 reps for advanced
Can you do leg workout using other equipment?
Leg extension using a leg extension machine is an exercise for the quads. You need to sit on the machine with your hands holding the sidebars and feet under the pad pointing outwards. At the start, the upper and lower legs are at right angles to one another. The weight is chosen and the legs are stretched. Next, it is required to raise the legs. Using the quadriceps extend your legs as much as you can while you exhale and make sure that your body remains fixated on the seat. Slowly the weight is lowered back to the starting position until the upper and lower legs are at 90° to each other.
Sets and Reps:
3 sets with 20 reps
You can alternatively build your hamstrings using a hamstring curl. For that you to sit on a curl machine face down, with your thighs facing the upper pad and heels under the lower pad. Bend your knee to pull the upper pad down as far as possible and then bring it back to position.
Sets and Reps:
3 sets with 20 reps 90 seconds rest
An ideal leg day workout is incomplete without a barbell side lunge. For this, you need equipment called barbell present in gyms. Leg workout at the gym using a barbell can be done using the following steps. Gym enthusiasts need to lift a barbell on their shoulders and stand straight with a shoulder gap between their feet. The leg to work on should be stepped to the side and bent at the knee to gradually lower the straight body along the hip. The other leg should be kept straight while the working leg is lowered. Once the step is complete the same can be done with the other leg after coming back to the starting position.
Related Article: Top 8 Tips To Gain Muscle Without Fat
Sets and Reps:
3 sets with 10 reps
A question may pop up in your mind – how to perform leg workout at home?
The answer is affirmative and there are several ways in which at-home leg workouts can be done by fitness enthusiasts.
What are the requisites for such workouts?
You might be wondering. Since it is a leg workout at home we understand that having too many types of equipment is very difficult. Most beginners simply have a treadmill and some intermediate level fitness buffs probably have dumbbells at home. You can either procure these for leg workouts or read our article on conducting leg workouts at home.
Walking lunge is an exercise for the leg which is basically lunges without any weights. It may seem easy for advanced level hunks but it’s achievable for beginners who plan to start leg workouts at home. Lunge forward as far as you can with either leg while the other one almost touches the floor at your knee. The heel of your foot forward would give you the force to return to position and prepare for the next lunge. This workout can be done at home in any open space without the use of weights and help strengthen your leg muscles.
Sets and Reps:
3 sets with 20 reps 60 seconds rest
One of the most familiar forms of leg workouts is running on a treadmill. If you have a treadmill at home, all you have to do is a sprint on it at full speed for a period ranging from 10-20 minutes. It works on the muscles of your entire hind region and gives you toned, strong, and flexible legs.
Sets and Reps:
20 minutes once or 10 minutes twice.
Diet for leg muscles
Leg muscles cannot be built if you only focus on a rigorous workout and forget to take an apposite meal. These muscle workout plans are brutal and you need to follow a strict diet. Fiber-rich carbohydrates like bananas, oats, brown rice, quinoa, berries could be a pre-workout meal. Low-fat protein like animal protein, soy can be consumed to repair the weary muscles and build them. Half of the calories should come from whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat milk. The diet should not contain greater than 30% fat. Examples of some best-suited leg workout meals are turkey swiss sandwiches, grilled chicken with salad, tuna sandwich, etc. A calorie calculator and a guide to moderate on the efficacy of all these processes would ensure rewarding changes with time.
FAQs
- What are leg workouts?
Leg workouts are a group of exercises that when performed stimulates the leg muscles to grow and strengthen with time
- How many types of muscles are there in the legs?
These are quads, hamstrings, and calves and they, in turn, have several sub-categories.
- What are some of the common forms of leg workouts?
Leg workouts with dumbbells are one of the commonest forms of leg exercises at home or at the gym.
Related Article: Build Your Muscles, Bones And Overall Strength By Weight Training Schedule