Strength Training for Your Legs

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It is actually quite common for those that are beginning to strength training to focus mainly on their upper body and completely ignore their legs. Not only does this have a tendency to leave you a bit unbalanced, but you may not be able to benefit from all that strength training can do for your body. Having strong legs is vital for many people and if you are strength training and really working your chest it will help balance out your body and make it look better.

One of the most common leg exercises to do in strength training are of course squats. This is one of the quickest ways to build up your thighs and see results in a very short period of time, as long as you are doing them properly. However if done improperly, squats can be painful and it is easy to injure your knees. Before you attempt to squats on your own is best to check with a personal trainer and have them show you exactly what you need to do. By taking this step, you can greatly reduce your risk for injury and you can make sure that you will see the results you want.

Squats are not the only thing you can do to build up strength in your legs. While most workouts should include them, there are also many different exercises you can do that will help increase your leg strength. I have found one of the best ways to do this is to focus on the quadriceps. This helps build and strengthen hamstrings if you’re doing them properly you won’t have to worry so much about injuring yourself. The quadriceps are the large muscles at the top of your leg and if worked properly can really give you a nice look to your leg.

To get a full quadricep workout here’s what I usually do. I combine several sets squats, leg presses, and leg extensions. The amount of sets that you do will vary depending on your own personal strength, but it is best to start out small and then work your way up. Ask for the amount of reps a light workout will usually have around 15 to 20 reps for about four different types of exercises. If this is too much for you when you’re first starting out you could scale that back to five to 10 and gradually increase the amount.

Hacks are also a great way to build up like strength as are leg curls, dead lives, and lunges. Try to change it up and try different exercises. When you do, make sure that you are working on all of your leg muscles. With practice you will easily be able to add more reps as your legs get stronger. Although training your legs can be difficult at first, try to stick with it and get through those first few weeks. Once you do start to see results that will keep you inspired and motivated to keep going.

Photo Credit: The Cobras

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This post deals with:

knees, leg extensions, leg presses, leg strength, legs, muscles, quadriceps, squats, strength training, thighs

... and focuses on:

strength training

Posted by Lazy Man on October 9, 2008 in strength training.

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