Weight Training Tips and Articles

Leg Weight Training Workouts

January 7, 2008 on 4:18 am | In Weight Training Exercises, Quadriceps, Legs, Calves, Hamstrings |

  There are many weight trainers out there who focus primarily on training their upper bodies and neglect leg weight training. However, for overall muscular development you must train your legs if you follow a weight training routine. If you do weight training workouts for your legs you should even gain more muscle strength and size in your upper body. For overall leg development you need to focus on training all of the major muscle groups of the legs - the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves.

  The quadriceps are the muscles that make up the front of the upper legs from the groin area to the knees. The best quadriceps weight training exercise is the squat. In fact, the squat may be the best overall weight training exercise you can do. As long as you don’t have knee or lower back problems you should always start your leg workout with squats. If you have problems squatting you should do hack squats on a hack squat machine. Leg presses are also good for the quadriceps but won’t build your leg muscles as fast as squats. After you do your major quadricep exercises you should do a few sets of lunges. You can do lunges with either a barbell or dumbbells. They’re great for building the muscles just above the knees. Finsh your quadriceps weight training workout with some sets of leg extensions.

  The hamstrings are the muscles on the back of the thighs. They will get some work from your quadricep exercises but you still need to do some direct training for them to keep a balance between the muscles in front and behind the legs. Stiff-legged deadlifts are a great weight training exercise for the hamstrings. Good mornings are an exercise you don’t see performed often, but they are also great for building the hamstring muscles. Finish your hamstring workout with leg curls.

  The calves are the muscles of the lower legs below the knees. Calf training can be done on a standing calf machine, a seated calf machine, or a leg press machine. Keep your reps high when you train your calf muscles and try to get a nice stretch and contraction on every rep possible before finishing a set with some bouncing reps. If you run or jog you’ll help build your calves as well.

  If you follow a weight training split routine you should give your leg training its own workout. This way you’ll be less likely to not train them and you’ll be able to hit them with a lot of intensity.