How to build leg muscles - exercises and techniques

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2012-01-07

By "legs," I mean the muscles of the thighs and calves. And although leg training is almost always inseparably linked to glute training, I have written a separate article about the glutes. So, let's get started: how to pump up your legs?

The most important exercise is:

I believe you all know this exercise well, so I want to talk about its variations.

I do not recommend doing such squats for those who are coming to the gym for the first time and for those who have not yet mastered the technique of classical squats. Moreover, this variant requires good flexibility in the hip joints. But the advantage is that it allows for better targeting of the inner thigh.

Partial leg extensions in squats. This is a very challenging exercise. Even small weights can quickly overload your thighs to the limit. After all, if you do not rise all the way, the front surface of the thigh has no chance to rest and is always under tension. Performing this exercise after the main leg workouts can provide an additional boost for increasing the size of your thighs.

Due to the almost absent back tilt, more stress is placed on the front surface of the thigh, particularly the quadriceps.

It can be done both without weights (to start) and with a barbell on the shoulders. The technique should be such that, when viewed from the side, the angles at the bottom should resemble those of a regular squat. The leg extended to the side is always straight. This way, you roll from one leg to the other. This exercise perfectly targets the back of the thigh.

This exercise can be confidently considered a fundamental movement for leg muscles among machines. The principle of leg muscle operation is similar to squats with a barbell, with one significant difference. There is no load on the back here. Therefore, this exercise is especially beneficial for those who cannot squat with a bar due to various injuries and spinal conditions.

This exercise, just like squats, loads your back. But a bit less so due to the presence of a backrest. The farther you place your feet forward, the more load will be placed on the front surface of the thigh.

Now a few words about the calves. All exercises for the calves can be divided into two categories. These are standing:

And seated.

In the standing variant, your calf muscle (the gastrocnemius) will be working. In the seated version, primarily the soleus muscle, which is located beneath the gastrocnemius. Hence the conclusion: if you want to build your calves, you need to perform exercises both seated and standing. For example, one workout seated, another standing. Moreover, the calf muscles are very endurance-oriented, and to make them grow, it is necessary to perform many sets of 20 to 30 repetitions per set.

There are many more exercises for leg muscles (especially on machines). However, in this article, I have focused on the basics. Now I want to say a few words about how to combine all this in your workouts. A standard program for comprehensive leg training will be considered.

You can reasonably train your legs twice a week. It is best to start your leg workout with squats. This can be either the classic version or the various variations described above. After that, you can do leg presses. Following this, you can perform a couple of exercises on machines for any part of the thigh (at your discretion). You can finish the workout with an exercise for the calves.

If the first workout was on Monday, you can do the next leg workout on Friday. Squats in the hack squat machine and side rolls will be enough. Calves can be optional. Thus, Monday will be the main workout, and Friday will be supplementary.

As another option, you can use various supersets on the same muscle. For example, do one set of two exercises back-to-back without rest:

And do 3 to 4 such double sets. Then, for example, the next superset:

And so on. But this option is for the more experienced. However, this method can give a powerful boost for the growth of muscle mass.

That's all for today. Subscribe for new articles, and good luck!