Top ten killer exercises for your legs
Many athletes and bodybuilders face problem of weak legs. Your leg might be in proper shape but does it have proper strength. Many beginners focus on their upper body ignoring their legs completely. This can cause a serious problem to your posture. If you are determined to develop perfect shape then you have to focus on every muscle from head to toe.
Our legs are composed of several muscles with quads, calves and gluteus as the major one. We have listed some best exercises that will help you in strengthening your legs. These exercises hit several muscles of the body instead of isolation to target the whole body.
Squats
No doubt, squats are the king of leg exercises. The reason is simple, it is the most challenging exercise with limited leg movement. It hits all the major muscles of your legs.
Just stand straight with barbell on your back. Bend your legs keeping your back neutral. Normally 90 degrees is the limit but you should bend until you can’t keep your spine straight, then move back to initial position. Choose weight through which you can perform 8-12 reps.
Leg press
Leg presses are best to obtain powerful knee joint. Leg press train hamstrings of thighs and calves.
This exercise is not that simple as it looks. Choose adjustable weight and remember to keep your upper body static while you push weight sitting on the seat.
Walking lunge
Walking lunges helps to stretch your hips as well as knees. It extends your upper leg muscles.
To perform this, just grab two dumbbells of normal weights and then step forward until your knee-joint makes 90 degrees. Keep your upper body absolutely straight in all this process.
Dumbbell Split squats
Trainers always recommend to train single leg at one time and split squats are best for that. Although it is difficult due to complex balancing, it promises powerful quads and strong calves.
Stand straight with dumbbells in your both hands. Bend one leg backwards and place it on the bench. Now bring down your body by bending the other leg but keep your upper body straight. Then return to initial position without getting support of first leg.
Deadlift
Deadlifts are best if you are focusing on whole body. It targets back and leg muscles together. It also gives you strong forearms.
Bend down a little and Grab the bar with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Stay close to bar and bend your knees a little bit. Take a deep breath, make your back straight and bent to an angle. Exhale as you stand with the weight making your back vertically straight. Again bend over and return the weight to floor keeping your back neutral.
Front squats
Front squats are similar to classical squats. The only difference is that we place barbell on front rather than back. We do this to give more pressure to quads.
Olympic weightlifting
Olympic weightlifting is a popular sports and a great exercise. It needs nerves of steel to pick lift a heavy weight with complex techniques. According to research, A powerlifting course improves your squats by 18%.
Barbell hip thrusts
Barbell hip thrusts hit your knee flexors and also train hip extensors. This exercise is slightly complex and is not recommended to absolute beginners.
Place your back on the bench and bend your knees to 90 degrees. Place barbell on your thighs and move it up and down using your hip muscles.
Dumbbell side lunge
Stand straight with a pair of dumbbells in your hand. Take a step out towards side as wide as you can by extending one leg and bending the other leg. Keep your upper body neutral.
Leg curls
Leg curls are best for hamstrings but it is an isolation exercise, means you can only train your hamstrings or calves through it. It improves your lower leg muscles.
Sit on the seat and place your legs on the pad. Adjust the weight and try to lift the pad without moving your thighs. Extend your lower leg with weight and then return it to initial state.
