Best 4 Dumbbell Exercises For Legs

If you want to build an awesome pair of legs, this dumbbell leg workout will put you well in the right direction!
Legs are often neglected in the gym because of the effort you’ve got to put into training them.
But it’s so important that you do train legs – no matter whether your goals are to build muscle, lose fat and tone up or strengthen your muscles.
Dumbbell exercises for legs target the upper, lower and inner thigh muscles as well as the calf muscles (calves).

1. Goblet Squat

The goblet squat can be a great alternative to squatting with a bar on your back, especially for beginners to learn the squat technique properly.
Having the weight distributed in front of you causes a different challenge, and will also give your abs a blasting.

- Hold the dumbbell with your palms facing up (hence the ‘goblet’ part of the name), with your feet around shoulder-width apart and your chest forwards, shoulders back.
- Keeping a straight back, bend your knees and move your butt back and down, so your weight is through your heels. Aim to get your butt as close to the ground as possible.
- Keep your chest facing forward.
- Tense your abs and push back up through your heels to your starting position.

2. Lunges  For leg and glute development, it is a close competition between Squats and Lunges as to which is the best. Both are great and worth doing in your leg workout. What I can tell you is that if I don’t do one for a few weeks, when I bring it back into the workout it blasts my legs. For that reason I suggest Lunges AND Squats. As for the lunges you can do variations such as: Standing, Walking, Forward, Angled, et cetera.

3. Step-Ups  Here is a great exercise that takes your leg training to A New Level LITERALLY! The Step-Up done properly may be the best Glute Developer. Men may not worry about shaping their glutes as much as ladies do. Ask a woman though and I bet you she tells you, “WE SHOULD!”

4. Calf Raises  Pick up a Dumbbell or Two and get to Raising. Single or double leg variations are both great. Depending on balancing I ssues you can hold one or two dumbbells and work your way down to just bodyweight for a drop set thoroughly burning them out.

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4 Simple But Powerful Men Leg Workouts - Quickly Achieve the Athletic Looking Legs You Want

Want to get big legs? Well maybe not, but you're after the best leg exercises to build and tone your thighs, calves and glutes.

If you're reading this, you are probably on a mission to get in shape, bulk up, get ripped, get shredded or turn some of that superfluous tub into powerful muscle that's both functional and, dare we say it, attractive (to some people, at least).
 You can see why it is important to include leg workouts in your workout routine. 4 of the most effective men leg workouts include:

    Leg Extensions

 If you want to work on your quadriceps and strengthen your thighs then you should be performing leg extensions. To perform leg extensions workout  you are going to have to sit on a leg extension machine and place your foot below the foot pad. Grab a hold of the handle and slowly raise the weights with your legs until your knees are straight. Hold this position briefly and then slowly lower your legs back to the position you started in. You should perform the up and down motion of this exercise slowly so you can get the most out of it.

    Squats

Some people complain that performing squats hurt their knees or their back. However, the only way squats can hurt your knees or your back is if you perform them incorrectly. Your body must maintain a good posture when performing a squat and if you lean too far forward while performing a squat you can damage your lower back. To properly perform a squat you need to stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart. When using a barbell you should hold it firmly with your hands and position it steadily on your upper back with your palms facing forward. Now slowly bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground. You must keep your back straight and both feet flat on the ground. Once you have squatted all the way down you must slowly raise your body back up to the position you started in. Performing squats is one of the most effective leg workouts that will build athletic legs and also work the rest of your body as well.

    Leg Curl

Leg curls are also known as hamstring curls and this leg workout will tone the back of your thigh. To perform the leg curl you should be face down on a leg curl machine. First you must place your feet below the foot pad with your knees slightly off the pad and your ankles touching the foot pad. Grasp the handles of the machine firmly and slowly lift your heels towards your backside. Hold that position for a second and then slowly lower your leg back to the position you started in.

Bodyweight Lunge

  50 reps in as few sets as possible
This is the ultimate workout finisher and typically requires a favoured playlist or some pumping tunes to get you through the burn.
It's super simple: you are going to perform 50 controlled lunges in as few sets as possible.
To perform a lunge, simply step forward with one leg and drop the opposite knee until the shinbone is parallel with the floor.
That's one rep, so return to the starting position and swap legs until you've completed 50. This will hurt.

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High Volume Leg Workout For Monster Gains / bodybuilding110

Want leg size? Willing to do anything? Look no further.

You’re going to hate me. You’re going to wish you had never read this article. And when you sit on the porcelain throne tomorrow, you will curse my name with an agony-drenched voice. Walking up stairs will be painful. Walking down stairs will be painful. Walking to the fridge will be painful. Blinking will be painful.

If this sounds like fun to you, then you’re ready to try this workouts.

Just to give you an idea here was today’s leg workout…

Leg Day Lift 1:  Leg Press (15,15,12,12)

    Set 1: 15 Reps
    Set 2: 15 Reps
    Set 3: 12 Reps
    Set 4: 12 Reps

I also increase the weight for each set.

That means it got heavier and heavier and harder and harder.

Leg Day Lift 2:  Squat (3 x 12)

On this leg day I did…

    Set 1: 12 reps
    Set 2: 12 reps
    Set 3: 12 Reps

Here’s the thing…

… I always am changing up my rep range.

It just keeps it interesting and fun for me.  Go ahead and give this full workout a try for a couple weeks and see what you think.  After that, if you are liking it start to play with your rep ranges.

Leg Day Lift 3:  Leg Curl (4 x 10)

On this leg day I did…

    Set 1: 10 reps
    Set 2: 10 reps
    Set 3: 10 reps
    Set 4: 10 reps.

Hamstrings were burning like crazy.

One thing that I will often do with hamstring curls is to do super low reps.  In like the four or less rep range for many more sets (like 7×3).  The reason I do this is so I can load the weight on.

It is often really hard for guys to get growth in their hamstrings.

For me, focusing on a heavier weight really helps.  And the key to hamstrings is the eccentric movement (letting the weight down slowly and controlled).

Leg Day Lift #4:  Reverse Leg Press (3 x 10 each leg)

They will have a very substantial impact on your fitness.

I did…

    Set 1: 10 reps
    Set 2: 10 reps
    Set 3: 10 reps

Reverse leg press is also a great exercise for your upper hamstrings.
It can really give you some thickness throughout the back of your legs if you are placing an emphasis on heavy weights and controlling your reps.

Leg Day Lift 5:  Front Squat (3 x 12)  

I did 3 sets by 12 reps.

By the time I got to my front squats on this particular leg workout day I was absolutely exhausted.

My legs were screaming!

I knew that enough was enough.

One of the reasons I end with front squats is to fully exhaust my quads.

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7 Major Mistakes Limiting Your Calf Size - bodybuilding110

Every trainee I know covets a set of nicely developed calves. If you’re like me, and many other bodybuilders, you’re in constant pursuit of turning your calves into full-blown cows! There are very few muscle groups that I (and many others) have found to be as stubborn to grow as calves. Indeed, the lack of progress in calf development has discouraged many trainees to the point where they reluctantly give up in their pursuit of bigger calves.

Even if you consider yourself to be the owner the world’s worst calf genetics, you can make more progress if you will just avoid making these common calf-training mistakes, as listed below! By avoiding these common mistakes, you can break past any temporary training plateaus you might have, to get you on the road to those developed calves you’ve always wanted.

Here’s the list of 7 common calf training mistakes:

1 Training calves at the end of your workout:

Calves are often neglected or saved for the last part of a leg workout, this is when you’re tired and lack energy. Muscles can’t grow if they receive sub-par training, you must start training them the way you train your back or chest: fresh, from every angle, and to complete exhaustion.

Start your leg training with calves, train them with the same intensity as you do your quads and hamstrings. If you’re trying to hit your upper legs hard and don’t have the energy to do the same with calves, add an extra calf day into your split or add the work to a different workout. The point is to ensure that your calves don’t suffer from lack of attention.

2 Training Calves Once a Week:

Training calves once a week is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Even if you only want to keep one major leg day a week (quads, hamstring, calves), try adding calves onto other workouts throughout the week so your training calves 2-3 times a week and sticking to the 10-15 Rep Range.

While this rep range might be effective for most other parts of your body, calves are a bit different. You need to look at doing 20+ reps preferably closer to 30.  This forces you to use a lighter weight which means better form.

This leads to a better contraction of the calves muscles and a better pump following those 30 reps. It also allows you to overload a muscle that is used to high rep work (remember your calves get a lot of work naturally throughout the day just from walking around.

3 Using Too Heavy Weights:

While lifting heavy is important to building muscle, if the weights are so big that you can’t use proper form then you won’t see much benefit. Symptoms of using too much weight include bouncing the weight at the bottom of reps, or not contracting at the top of reps.

Worse you might end up bringing other leg muscles into the exercise to help move the weight. In addition to reducing your gains training this way will also set you up for possible injury. If you feel pain in your Achilles tendon then you are definitely lifting too much weight.

Similarly, if you are unable to perform standing calf raises without bending your knees, or seated calf raises without using your arms to help the weight up then you need to adjust the resistance downwards.

4 Only Training With Small Weights:

To look on the opposite point of view, you cannot expect results only training with light weight and high reps. Calves are one of the high resistance muscle groups that require overload once in a while to grow. Try something between the two: heavy weight/low reps and low weight/high reps and see which gives you the best results. Most will find a combination of the two gives optimal calve growth.

5 Foot placement:

A lot of people think that you can hit different parts of the calves depending on whether you point your feet inward, straight ahead or outwards. People who turn their feet at extreme angles are actually reducing the effectiveness of the exercise and also putting a lot of stress on the joints and tissues in the knees and ankles.

6 Not isolate and contract the muscles:

In order to get the full benefit of the calf raise you need to emphasis the contraction at the top of the exercise. Focus on flexing hard at the top of each rep and it will make all the difference in your workout.

Once you’ve contracted properly at the top of the rep it doesn’t mean you can drop the weight down to the beginning. Lower the weight slowly and under control and do this for each rep.

Each part of the rep should be under control. Taking your time throughout each rep will increase the amount of time your calves are under tension, even when using the same weights and reps you normally do.

7 Skipping stretching:

You might feel pain, but there is another reason to stretch; it stretches out the fascia, a thin connective tissue “cocoon” around each muscle, which can get very tight and compress the muscle. This creates a compacting effect on the muscle so it cannot expand and grow as effectively.

You also need to fully stretch your calves between sets and immediately after training them. This increases mobility, enlarges the fascia and boosts the pump, which in turn aids recovery and growth.

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8 Exercises to build massive legs

“Did you skip leg day, bro?” Well, you at least thought about it. We all have. But focus on the upper-mirror muscles alone and your spaghetti legs will not only attract some less than welcoming looks during your next workout, but it’ll also leave your single-digit body fat plans stuck in neutral. However, deploy the right below-the-belt moves and you’ll pump blood to your largest muscles, burning up the calories and toning your body from shoulders to calves. That’s right, the route to a six-pack is from below.

So which moves make leg day count the most? Below is PT Ollie Frost’s best lower-body moves that will guarantee maximum muscle growth in the least amount of time. RIP skinny jeans.

Overhead squat

Think you’re a true man? You will be after a few reps of this. An overhead squat will push the limits of your flexibility, stability, balance and strength while also highlighting any weaknesses in your erector spinae, adductors and rhomboids (your hips, essentially) that you may need to work on with the next exercise on this list.

Leg Press

 First, let’s talk about what many trainers hate about the leg press: It can cause lower-back injury when done incorrectly. And when guys load every last plate in the gym on the sled and try to half-ass a few reps out, with their lower back disengaging from the pad on every rep in part due to woefully inflexible hamstrings and glutes, that’s about as incorrect as you can get. It’s true that it’s one of the most abused exercises in the gym — probably because you can feel like a big shot and handle much more weight than you can on a squat — but used carefully, the leg press can be very beneficial. And just as important, it helps provide variety in what might otherwise be a very squat-centric leg program

Main Areas Targeted: Quadriceps (emphasized with feet lower on platform and closer together), glutes and hamstrings (emphasized with feet higher and wider on platform)

Step-Up

This is arguably one of the more functional exercises on this list. After all, you probably walk up stairs on a fairly regular basis, right? Being a unilateral exercise, it also means a stronger leg can’t compensate for a weaker one, with each leg taking its turn absorbing the full brunt of the motion.

Deadlift

Because you can’t beat the classics. Not only will this lower-body staple build significant size in your legs, but it'll also build a strong posterior chain that will help improve body posture and add inches to your height.

Walking Lunge

Lunges come in more varieties than Taylor Swift breakup songs. You can do stationary lunges in any direction — front, side, backward or any point in between — and have a damn fine exercise on your hands. But walking lunges ultimately made our list because a) they’re slightly more functional since you continually move forward instead of standing still and b) they provide an excellent finisher to any leg workout. No less than eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman used to take a loaded barbell outside and lunge through the Metroflex Gym parking lot in the Texas heat to cap his leg day, which with thighs as big as 36 inches around in his heyday was a sight to behold.

Hack Squat

While the barbell version of the hack squat — picking up a barbell placed behind you — is perfectly acceptable, especially for those training at home, the typical machine-based hack squat you find at most gyms is our choice here. That’s the one that’s plate-loaded and angles your body slightly backward. Within the confines of the machine, you’ll find a bit more safety than you would with the free-weight squat, which becomes more crucial as you tire during a workout. That means hacks are a great mid-workout option, serving as a bridge between squatting and other moves such as the leg press and lunge.

Bulgarian Split Squat

Did Bulgarian strength athletes really use this movement as a training cornerstone? The myths may not match the reality, but the name has stuck to what is, all in all, a pretty solid exercise. That is, if you tweak the common variation (shown here) as proposed by well-known Canadian strength coach Charles Poliquin. He contends that over-elevating the back leg — putting it on a flat bench or even higher — reduces the stability of the front leg, thus limiting your strength potential and putting you at risk for injury while also unnecessarily stressing the spine. His solution? The exercise that lands at No. 5 on our list, a split squat in which you elevate the back leg only 6 inches from the floor.


Barbell squat

How could we leave this one out? The barbell squat, the classic compound cornerstone of all leg moves hikes up your muscle-building T-levels through targeting your larger muscle fibres. To put it simply: any decent leg day deserves this move.

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6 Common Calf Training Mistakes Most Guys With Small Calves Make

If you go to the gym 3-5 times per week and pay close attention to what you eat then chances are you are very conscious of how you look and take a lot of pride in your physique.
I mean let’s be real, you aren’t going to the gym to socialize. Having said that, being around tons of in-shape people all the time can definitely get you feeling insecure.

One are in particularly that most guys struggle with is calves.
If you are like us, calves have always lagged other body parts. After a few years of training our calves still looked small relative to our quads, hamstrings and upper-body muscles.
What made matters worse is that there were guys who barely spent any time in the gym at all yet still had massive calves.
While calf frustration is well-documented the good news is you can definitely train around it.
If you aren’t getting the type of calves growth you want you are probably making one of several common errors.

#1. Not lifting heavy enough

This is by far the most common mistake people make when targeting their calves. Your calves have a lot of work on their hands all throughout your day – remember, they support your entire bodyweight during all physical activities, 24/7. So if you want to challenge these bad boys to grow, you will have to work with some heavier weight.

Failing to do so will prove as insufficient for stimulating hypertrophy and won’t cause significant growth. A good way to start is by performing seated calf raises – this is a highly effective exercises that gives you the opportunity to safely overload the muscles with heavy weight without placing undue stress on your back.

#2. Low volume

We’re not proposing that extremely high volume works best for hypertrophy in every case, but we can guarantee you that by lifting heavy for very few reps you’ll never get where you want to be, given the extended periods of work your calves are subjected to every single day. Your calves are very comfortable with low-intensity work with a short range of motion, so performing calf sessions in that manner won’t push them to grow. So instead of that, give them something they’re not accustomed to and feel free to perform your calf exercises with heavy weight for up to 30 reps per set. That being said, make sure to get a maximum range of motion on each rep and hold each stretch for one second and each contraction for two seconds. After you reach full-rep failure, perform another set of shorter, faster repetitions.

 #3. Lift Heavier

If you are only doing bodyweight exercises for calves you can kiss any potential gain goodbye.
Your calves are used to supporting your bodyweight so in order to get them to grow you will need to add a lot more weight.
Some people compensate by doing tons of reps and while this might give you a pump it’s not hypertrophy-range training and won’t lead to growth.
This is what makes the seated calf raise such an effective exercise.
You are able to overload the muscles with heavy weight, safely.

That way you can lift enough weight to overload the muscles without putting stress on your back.
Most good seated calf raise machines will elevate your feet so that you can drop the heels below parallel. This increased range of motion makes each rep far more effective.

#4. Contract the Muscle

This one should be obvious and applies to all muscle groups yet it never ceases to amaze us how many guys mess this up.
When you are training calves you really need to focus on contracting the muscle. It should feel like the calves are moving that weight!
Don’t rush through each rep – perform each positive and negative portion in a controlled manner. At the top of the exercise squeeze the calves to really emphasize them.
Remember – just because you are lifting heavy weights doesn’t mean you can simply drop the weight down during the negative portion of the lift!

#5. Add a Second Calves Day

While once per week might be sufficient for other muscle groups, your calves are used to getting a lot of work throughout your day to day life.
As a result, simply working them once per week might not be enough to stimulate them.
If you are like most guys you probably work your calves on leg day. While this is certainly one way to approach it, you have to keep in mind that your calves are already pre-exhausted from other exercises such as squats, leg extensions and leg curls. As a result you don’t have as much energy to really work the calves. Given that your calves can handle a lot of punishment why not add in a second calves day? This gives you an opportunity to work them after an unrelated muscle group such as back. The result is that you will be able to overload them more effectively and hopefully encourage more growth!

#6. Low testosterone levels

Are you keeping an eye on your T levels? Because if you’re not, that might prevent you from building the body of your dreams, as well as hindering your calves development. There are a number of things you can do to boost your testosterone levels naturally, and some of the best ways include adding more heavy compound movements to your routine, improving your diet by adding testosterone-enhancing food choices, and of course, taking a high quality testosterone boosting supplement. Elevating your T levels will have a great effect on your overall performance and gains, so don’t think twice about this one – even if your testosterone production is solid at the moment, it won’t hurt to stimulate it even further!

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5 of the Best Exercises for a Calves Workout

Have you ever seen the guys at the gym who have jacked upper bodies and bulging quads, but twigs below the knees? It’s clear they skimp on the calves exercises in their workouts. It can be easy to make these smaller muscles an afterthought, but strong calves don’t only help to balance out your appearance, they’re also key to gaining power and explosiveness both inside and outside the gym.

“Your calf muscles help propel you forward and up in explosive movements,” says Cody Braun, Openfit fitness specialist. This makes them very useful for sprinting and plyometrics, and any activity that requires leg propulsion or foot stabilization upon landing, like cycling, running, volleyball, or basketball.

Tight calf muscles can limit your ankle mobility and potentially increase the likelihood of injuries like shin splints, plantar fasciitis, or Achilles tendonitis. That’s why it’s crucial to regularly train your calves, Braun says. To help you get started, we compiled a list of the best exercises and stretches for a comprehensive calves workout that can be done anywhere, even at home.

Calf Anatomy

“The two main muscles you’re trying to build when doing calf exercises are the soleus and the gastrocnemius,” Braun says. The gastrocnemius is the main muscle you see when looking at someone’s calves — it will be thick and well-defined if it’s highly developed. The soleus, in contrast, isn’t outwardly visible — it’s situated deep beneath the gastrocnemius. Both muscles work together to help flex your foot, but only the gastrocnemius plays a role in knee flexion (bending your knee).

Though the gastrocnemius is primarily responsible for the outward appearance and size of your calves, it’s important to engage and exercise both parts of the muscles, since each has a unique function. “The gastrocnemius contributes to jumping, acceleration, and explosive speed and power,” says William P. Kelley, C.S.C.S., ACT, while the soleus contributes to walking and running endurance. That’s because the soleus has a very high density of Type 1, or “slow twitch,” muscle fibers, he explains. Type 1 muscle fibers have slow contraction times and a high resistance to fatigue, which is helpful since your legs get a lot of action carrying your body from once place to another.

The Role of Genetics in Calf Development

You probably know someone who has massive, sharply defined calf muscles, yet rarely exercises. Meanwhile, you’ve been training your calves three times a week and still only see minimal results. What gives?

“Genetics play a role in your muscle makeup and size due to the allocation of Type I and Type II muscle fibers,” Kelley explains. While Type I fibers are more resistant to fatigue, they tend to have a lower growth potential than Type II, “fast twitch,” muscle fibers.

Everyone has a different percentage of Type I and Type II muscle fibers, meaning “someone with a genetic predisposition to Type II fibers may have a greater growth potential than someone who is more Type I dominant,” Kelley says.

If you weren’t born with naturally thick, shapely calves, don’t stress. “[Genetic makeup] does not prevent anyone from increasing calf strength and size,” Braun says, it might just require more work. The right workout routine, diet, and recovery plan can help you build stronger, more athletic calves no matter where you’re starting from.

8 of the Best Exercises and Stretches for a Calves Workout

Below are eight simple, but effective moves to help strengthen and stretch your calves. The best part? These calf exercises are easy to do at home. All you need is a jump rope, a pair of dumbbells, and a bench or chair.

Try incorporating these calf exercises into your workouts a couple times a week, Kelley says. But if you adhere to a demanding cardio routine, this amount may vary. “For example, a distance runner may need to resistance train calves less frequently to avoid overtraining,” he explains.

Standing Barbell Calf Raise

Stand upright with a barbell supported on your upper back. With your toes pointing forwards, raise your heels off the floor and contract your calves. Slowly return to the starting position.

Single Dumbbell Calf Raise

Put a weight plate on the floor and rest your toes on it whilst sitting on a bench. Place a dumbbell on your knee, your right hand holding the handle whilst your left hand holds the top. Lift up your toes as high as possible. Pause, then lower it back onto the weight and repeat.

Seated Calf Raise (Leg Press Machine)

Sit down at the leg press machine and rest your feet so just your toes are resting at the bottom of the platform. Push back as far as you can while keeping your feet against the platform. Return under control to the start position and repeat.

Farmer's Walk (On Tiptoes)

Grab a pair of dumbbells (or kettlebells) and hold them by your sides. Walk forward – on your tip toes – taking short, quick steps. At first, go for a lighter weight in order to maintain balance. Go for the given distance, as fast as possible.

Box Jump

Set yourself a comfortable distance from the box with feet shoulder width apart. Drop quickly into a quarter squat, swing your arms and explode upwards to jump onto the box. Land as softly as possible. Now step backwards off the box under control.

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A Best Muscle Building Program for Huge Legs

If you have been around the Iron Game for a while, there is one name that comes instantly to mind when people discuss leg training. That name is Tom Platz. �The Golden Eagle� is widely regarded as having the most massively muscular legs in the history of bodybuilding. His thighs measured a whopping 35 inches and were shredded to the bone. Tom�s muscle building program that created those unforgettable wheels revolved around one exercise and one exercise only; the barbell squat. If you want to add some serious mass to your legs you had better familiarize yourself with this exercise in a hurry. 

The #1 Exercise to Build Massive Legs

Tom’s muscle building program that created those unforgettable wheels revolved around one exercise and one exercise only; the barbell squat.

If you want to add some serious mass to your legs you had better familiarize yourself with this exercise in a hurry.

Since the quads typically have a very wide variance of muscle fiber types you can use a great range of reps in your quest to build pillar sized legs.

Often times, Tom and other lifters with notoriously huge legs, would go as high as fifty reps per set on squats.

When I was young and painfully skinny, high rep squats were one of the most effective discoveries I ever made and helped me and my brother pack on size faster than anything we had ever tried to date.

The old 20 rep squat programs from the golden era of the Iron Game made a massive man of many a skinny boy.

For over 15 years I have used high rep squats with hundreds of clients, and without fail they have always gained enormous amounts of size and strength; not to mention several inches of raw mass on their thighs.

Although high rep squatting leads to massive and rapid gains, I usually recommend starting with a few heavy sets in the 4-8 range first.

Sometimes I even add in a set of 10-15 after the heavy sets, and finally finish with one all out set of 20 (and sometimes 30-50).

When you use this rep scheme you ensure that you hit all fiber types and stimulate the greatest amount of muscle growth possible.

Another note that needs to be added here is that high rep squats shouldn’t be done until you have mastered squat technique with several months of low rep training.

You need to build the strength, coordination, endurance and stability needed to safely complete picture perfect low rep sets of squats first before you can move on to the high rep sets

Beginners should squat three times per week, intermediates twice and advanced lifters should probably only squat once every 5-10 days, depending on a variety of factors and how much running and other extra curricular activities you participate in

When putting together your muscle building program, be sure that squats are the focus of your lower body training; if not the only thing you do.

Once you have mastered “the king of all exercises” you can then begin to think about adding in stuff like lunges, step ups and glute ham raises.

Until then, and until you have gained significant size and strength from a steady diet of squats, I expect you to be spending a lot of time in the power rack.

Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as humanly possible. He has trained thousands of clients during his 14 years as a professional fitness coach, including more than 500 athletes from over 20 different sports. Jason has written hundreds of articles for numerous top rated training magazines and websites and has authored four fitness books. He is also the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building.

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Brutal Leg Best Workout Routine

Training legs is one of those things that just plain sucks. It takes a few years under the bar to learn to love training legs, but once you do it becomes your favorite day in the gym. Until then, it’s a necessary evil that you just happen to put up with because you don’t want to be turned into an Internet meme about skipping leg day.

I get it. We’ve all been there. The love of picking hundreds of pounds off the floor or placing it directly on top of your spinal column is a learned behavior. It makes sense to hate training legs, if you think about.

But still, we do it. We just happen to spin our wheels most of the time. Which is something we’re sick and tired of. We say it’s time we start building big wheels, and we’ve got the plan to make it happen.

We’re starting with the big compound movements and slowly working our way down. The routine is a mix of methods using time under tension, all out strength, hypertrophy rep ranges, and burn out sets. Done right, and you should have trouble sitting down to take a shit and Facebook stalk over the next couple of days.

 I find this particular leg workout routine a perfect remedy for those of you who have stubborn legs. Try this routine for 6 to 8 weeks and I guarantee your legs will have no choice but to grow.

The workout routine is set up for both, low strength repetitions and high repetitions.

There are four main exercises for the quadriceps. The weight will not be as heavy as your used to using but the intensity will increase dramatically.

Now, if you're just starting out, I don't recommend you try this leg workout because it will devestate your legs and lay you up for a week. In fact, don't try this workout until you've been training legs constantly for about 6 months. It may look simple but trust me, on that 3rd or 4th set of 50 repetitions on the leg press, you'll be screaming.

Go to building muscle 101's beginner and intermediate weight training routines if you are a beginner to working out. Click here.

I suggest you train hamstrings on a different day because you'll be in no shape to do anything after you've completed this leg workout routine.

This is a very high intense workout so be prepared to work hard!

The following split routine is an ideal program for this type of leg workout routine. You need to work the legs hard and give them plenty of time to rest.

An ideal split for this type of leg workout routine is as follows: 

Day 1: Monday       Chest / Triceps / Abs
Day 2: Tuesday       Cardio
Day 3: Wednesday  Leg Workout (Front Thighs)
Day 4: Thrusday      Rest
Day 5: Friday     Shoulders / Hamstrings / Abs
Day 6: Saturday        Back / Biceps / Calves
Day 7: Sunday     Rest

Repeat cycle after day 7.
The Workout

Warm up on stationary bike: 5 to 10 minutes

Exercise 1: Leg Extensions 

1 set of 20- Warm up
1 set of 15
1 set of 12
1 set of 12

Increase the weight with each set but remember to keep the repetitions strict. You want to squeeze at the top of the exercise. This is your warm up exercise.

Exercise 2: Squats

1 set of 20- Warm up
1 set of 12- 60% of max
1 set of 10- 70% of max
1 set of 8- 80% of max
1 set of 6 to 8- 85% of max
1 set of 20- Reduce weight to 60% of max
1 set of 20- Same as above

For the first three work sets, rest for about 50 seconds in between sets. For the last two sets, rest for about 1 1/2 minutes.

Exercise 3: Leg Press

4 sets of 50 repetitions

Use anywhere from 40% to 60% or your max leg press. I suggest you start out with 40 to 50%. This is a very tough part of the leg routine and remember to breath throughout the exercise. It's not a race so keep you reps smooth and controlled. Try not to lock your legs out on the top part of the movement. Keep your head straight and level and concentrate hard.

This exercise will really test your will and drive to get big legs. Remember, complete these sets in proper form and after 6 weeks, your legs will start to grow. Keep going! 

Exercise 4: Hack Squats

3 sets of 12

At this stage, your legs should feel like spaghetti. Use about 60% of you max hack squat and do this exercise slowly. Really concentrate on the movement.

That's it! If you can manage to keep your dinner down, congratulations. Remember to drink alot of water and it will be important for you to consume a protein/carb drink immediately after this workout routine. Try this drink here:

• 1 ½ cups of skim milk;
• ½ cup of ice cubes;
• 1 tablespoon of honey;
• 1 nine inch banana;
• 2 scoops of whey protein isolate (or weight gainer if trying to gain weight);
• 3 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt

Simply blend everything in a blender and you have a very powerful muscle building drink.

You may not feel like eating but try and get some fast acting carbs into your system as soon as the workout routine is done. This way, you have enough energy to make it home! Also, it will help get the recovery process going in order to start building those legs. 

Use this workout routine when you need to jump start your leg growth.

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Get Bigger, huge Legs With The Barbell Squat

Usually, a suitable dose of back squats can build some muscle all over a new trainer. After few months of suitable squat training, it is a great feeling of satisfaction to see first layers of muscle growing on your legs. Squat training can deliver a good dose of muscle.

If that is the only exercise you are doing, then this sort of quick and one time progress will stop at some point. You need new training routines to keep the momentum. Muscle building is related to your hormonal reactions. Weightlifting ( Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting ) can certainly do the job.

So you want huge legs. Get ready to lift some serious freaking weights. i warn you. Hard work is ahead. Are you ready for the journey? Are you sure?

You start slow, very slow with back squats and master this lift. That is a great starter program. Add “front squats” to hit your quadriceps harder. Master this one too. Give it time.

Then add (deadlift” varieties. To get thicker legs you need to get stronger. To get stronger you need to force the issue. Deadlifts, combined with squats will deliver the needed punch. Sumo deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts ( hamstrings) , wide grip deadlifts, will help a lot.

Next, you add “Power Cleans” and Olympic lifts to add even more effects. Clean and jerk training will hit your entire body to include thickening of your legs. Squat snatch training is very effective.

Don't stop there. Mix all this with farmers walks, tire flipping, climbing to get even better results.

For the recent study, published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 10 male subjects performed squats and leg presses; in both instances, they did six sets of 10 reps at 80 percent of their one-rep maximum. After squatting, the guys had 200% more GH in their systems than when they did the leg press. Even one hour later, the squatter’s GH levels were still elevated 100% more, demonstrating a lasting effect that would translate to more muscle building over time.

 Because the squat involves more overall muscle, including stabilizers that are not needed on a leg-press machine, it is a much more efficient exercise, putting your muscle fibers under loading that’s impossible to replicate with the press. Essentially, if you could only do one leg exercise and you really crave results, you'd better choose the squat.

That said, an even better solution is to use both in your leg routine, along with an array of ancillary exercises that bolster your gains from all angles, from the quadriceps to the hamstrings through the glutes. The following workout — which can be done once a week (or once every 4–5 days on a more aggressive bodybuilding split) — puts the squat and leg press into action as the one-two punch at the top of your workout.

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The Best Perfect Quad-Training Program

Your quads might not be in need of work as much as your glutes and hamstrings — but that doesn't mean that you should totally ignore the front side of your upper legs to completely focus on your posterior.

Even though quads are sometimes an accessory or afterthought for leg days, the muscles are still a major key to a strong, shapely lower body. Hammering the group with a specialized workout can do wonders for your gains — especially if you've been avoiding the types of moves that typically address the lower body.

If you’ve suffered from knee pain for any length of time, you start to avoid the exercises that cause this pain: moves like squatting, lunging, running, and jumping.

Over time, this doesn’t help your knees. You just get weaker and your quads get smaller. The result is actually more knee pain and diminished performance!

Even if you don’t suffer from knee pain, building quads of the gods is one of the best ways to prevent knee pain. The quads work as key decelerators that absorb shock from your knees when landing from a jump or lunge or when quickly changing direction on the court or field.

From an aesthetics standpoint, an impressive set of quads is a complete game-changer. For some quadspiration, check out this photo of legendary bodybuilder Tom Platz, who was known for having the greatest quads in history.

Quadrophenic

When developing a training program for your quads, it’s useful to examine the programming used by athletes with traditionally quad-dominant sports: cycling, speedskating, skiing and Olympic weightlifting.

For cyclists, skiers and speedskaters, their crazy quad development comes from high training volume and extended time under tension, which leads to incredible muscular endurance and, yes, thighs that could crush a coconut. For Olympic lifters, a freakishly high volume of front squats monopolizes their training schedule, since the power clean and the clean-and-jerk require excellent front-squat capacity because it is an essential base component of both those lifts. Moreover, Olympic-lifting shoes have an elevated heel, which forces the knees over the toes while keeping an upright torso, causing even greater reliance on the quadriceps.

With all this in mind, here is the perfect quad-training program: a hybrid of strength and hypertrophy work that uses the front squat for volume and the remainder of the moves for growth, shape and endurance. Consider this your absolute permission to be quad dominant.

The Quad-Dominance Workout


Exercise

	Sets	Reps
A1 Front Squat	8	3
B1 Rear-Leg Elevated Split Squat	4	10   (each leg)
B2 Leg Extension	4	15
C 10-Minute Leg Press EMOM (every minute on the minute): At the top of every minute, perform 10 reps of a leg press at 60 to 70 percent of your max and rest any remaining time. Continue in this manner for 10 minutes.

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The 6 Effective Leg Building Exercises Which No One Does

Pretty much everyone who works out wants strong, sculpted legs.

Not only are tight and toned legs aesthetically pleasing, the strength that comes with them acts as the foundation of every movement we perform, even outside of the gym.

In our quest for lean and powerful legs, many of us do countless sets of machine-based exercises like hamstring curls and leg extensions.

But these exercises don’t measure up to the exercises I’m going to show you today, which are referred to as functional training exercises.

Functional training exercises mimic movements you perform in the real world, and also recruit several major muscles groups at once.

That’s the key to achieving strong and sculpted legs, as these movements (especially when performed with heavy weight) have been shown to increase growth hormone, burn fat for up to 48 hours following your workout, build serious muscle, and increase sports performance.

Below I’ll show you the top weight training exercises to strengthen legs – which will also sculpt and tone every inch of your lower body. 

Exercise 1 : Deadlifts

Deadlifts are unparalleled in their ability to improve leg strength, sculpt the glutes and hamstrings, upper thighs, and even strengthen the lower back and core.

As if that weren’t enough, deadlifts also improve posture along with grip and upper body strength.

It’s also a safe and easy exercise, requiring only a barbell weight, dumbbell or kettlebell.

How to Deadlift:

Proper form is crucial while deadlifting. A popular mistake many make, especially when they start to become fatigued, is rounding the lower spine. 

Exercise 2 : Platz Hack Squats

The legendary Tom Platz had one of the nastiest legs in the bodybuilding history. He came up with this variation of the hack squats. The Platz hack squats target your outer quad sweep and the teardrop in your quads.

Stand with your heels joined together and your toes pointing outwards. Perform a squat while pushing your knees down and forward. Your heels will come off the base as you squat. As you start pressing up, push onto the outer part of your feet. Doing this will transfer the tension onto the outer quad sweep.

 Exercise 3 : Sissy Squats

Sissy squats have been around since the 1960s, but chances are you’re hearing about them for the first time. Don’t let the name of the exercise fool you. The sissy squats are a great finisher and will fill your quads with lactic acid.

If you’re performing this exercise for the first time, hold onto a squat rack around the hip level or slightly higher. Take a shoulder-width stance and slowly start to lower yourself by bending your knees and pushing them down and forward.

Your back will fall backward while you’re on the descent. Your heels will come off the ground as your knees go down. At the bottom of the movement, your quads should be at least parallel to the floor. Return to the starting position and repeat for reps. 

Exercise 4 : Hip Thrusts

Hip thrusts are one of the best exercises for sculpting the glutes and the backside. They can often be lost in the shadows of squats, deadlifts, and lunges, but are truly an exercise everyone looking to sculpt the back of their legs should perform.

Not only are they superb glute sculptors, they can even improve your deadlifts and squats due to fuller extension in the hips (which maximizes the engagement of the glutes).

Exercise 5 : Step-Up

This is arguably one of the more functional exercises on this list. After all, you probably walk up stairs on a fairly regular basis, right? Being a unilateral exercise, it also means a stronger leg can’t compensate for a weaker one, with each leg taking its turn absorbing the full brunt of the motion.

Main Areas Targeted: Quadriceps, glutes

Strengths: The step-up comes in all sorts of variations and can be adjusted to challenge beginners and advanced athletes alike. To provide the resistance, you can hold a barbell, dumbbells or kettlebells (either at your sides or racked at shoulder level), wear a weight vest or just go with your own bodyweight. Step up onto a platform ranging from a height halfway up your shin to where your thigh is parallel to the floor in the start position. Not only does this develop power through the glutes, hips and thighs, but it also helps you practice balance and jumping force, which is helpful if you’re in a sport that requires vertical hops.

Exercise 6 :Walking Lunges

Walking dumbbell lunges are perfect for sculpting the entire leg, but also get your heart rate up while engaging your core stabilizer muscles.

How to Perform the Walking Dumbbell Lunge:

Note that holding the dumbbells above your head (or just holding one with both hands) requires a good deal of balance. If this is too much and you find your form is slipping, try holding lighter dumbbells by your sides during the lunges.

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Build Monster Legs & Glutes With This Best Workout!

Bulging, carved quads are like flashing neon signs announcing that you are a cyclist, and you’ve come to kick some ass. And those diamond-cut cannons are more than just aesthetically pleasing in your spandex. The four muscles collectively called the “quads” are the primary movers when you push through the pedal stroke, so stronger quads equals more watts.
There is a reason that the squat is considered the king of all exercises.
Achieving a four-plate squat takes hard work, dedication, and an incredible amount of effort. And more than that, a big squat requires a massive amount of lower body strength, a heap of persistence, and a whole lot of mental toughness to boot.
Furthermore, find me someone with a big squat and I will show you a person with a monster pair of wheels.

1. Start With A Free-Weight Squat Variation

Squats are the obvious place to begin your leg-day thrashing. Why? Let us count the ways. Squats are the most challenging leg movement, you can move the most weight with them, they recruit all the lower-body musculature (and more core and upper body than you might think), and they’ve been shown to spike muscle-building hormone release better than any other movement.

Squats are actually a family of exercises that combine hip and knee extension, and there are any number of variations, all of which have their own value. Some differ by bar placement, others by type of equipment used, and still others by foot position.
Yes, you could start your leg day with front squats or a single-leg squat variation. But for this mass-building routine, we’re going with the high-bar back squat, in which the barbell sits atop the upper traps. This version is preferred by most bodybuilders because it hits the lower-body musculature fairly evenly, and because you can move more weight with it than most other variations.
The most common recommendation is to squat at least to a point at which your thighs are about parallel to the floor, but honestly, that’s relative to each individual and their flexibility. No matter how deep you go, it’s paramount that your spine remains neutral and never rounds,  which can put dangerous forces on the discs.

The solution: Work on your flexibility; tightness in your hip flexors and calves can also affect the depth of your squats. That, along with tightening up your technique will pay off big time—as long as the form is good, a deeper squat is always a better squat.

Make It Monster

Do multiple warm-up sets, pyramiding up in weight each time, but never come close to failure in warm-ups. Most workouts designate the 8- to 12-rep range as the proper muscle-building zone, but in the first few working sets of your workout, when your strength levels are highest, opt for the heavier loads. So instead of choosing a weight at which you fail at about 8 reps, go slightly heavier for sets of about 6. This gives you a slightly better strength-building stimulus.

2. Do Another Squat Variation, Adjusting The Intensity And Angle

No, it’s not time to start doing machines yet. In this workout, you won’t even go near a machine until the end of your training session.
We’re still looking at knee- and hip-extension movements, and your best choice is probably one that matches up best with your personal weaknesses. Most recreational lifters come up a little short with quad development, so the front squat is the on-deck hitter in this routine.

The simple change of moving the bar from behind your head to the front changes how the load is distributed over the lower-body musculature. It emphasises the quads over the glutes and hams, which means you’ll have to lighten the load. The movement also requires that you maintain a more vertical position, which can be kinder to your back while also enabling you to squat deeper.
Make It Monster

Because you’ve already done serious strength work for sets of 6, consider a lighter weight that can be done for sets of 10-12. You’ll work some different muscles, but also give some of the same ones a slightly different stimulus.

3. Add A Heavy Posterior-Chain Movement

 The classic deadlift is weightlifting at its best. A simple, effective move that should have a spot in the workout line-up of anyone who has a weights routine. The exercise strengthens muscles throughout your posterior chain – all the muscles that run down the back of your body from your neck to your heels.

That focus on the back of your body makes the deadlift especially important because, in all aspects of life, people have a natural tendency to ignore what they cannot see. When it comes to your muscles that tendency often results in people spending hours in the gym beefing up their pecs and biceps while ignoring their back muscles and triceps. And when you shift to the lower body, this tendency leads to people forgetting all about their hamstrings – which, as you’ve probably already guessed, is a big mistake. The hamstrings are vital for impressive leaping, and rapid acceleration and deceleration, not to mention the fact that you won’t be able rack up a respectable barbell squat without strong hammies.

Fortunately you can address any such by adding the Romanian deadlift to your workouts. This variation on the standard deadlift places even more focus on the hamstrings than the original exercise, building their flexibility, strength and power.

The Romanian deadlift is also a move you can do anywhere, because you don’t need to use very heavy weights for it to be effective. While using the gym’s barbell is the simplest way to do the Romanian deadlift, you can swap out free weights for anything heavy if working out at home. Not having to lift huge weights is not only convenient, but also means there’s less risk of putting your back under undue pressure, which can be a problem with the standard deadlift.

Make It Monster

Once you master the form, you should be able to push some very good weight with these. After warm-ups, shoot for 2 heavy sets of 8 reps and 2 back-off sets of 12 reps.

4. Include A Unilateral Movement To Work Each Leg Individually

Now that you’ve got the heavy bilateral work out of the way, it’s time to work each of your legs individually. The Bulgarian split squat, where you stabilise your rear leg on a bench behind you, is an ideal choice. Elevating your rear leg forces the front thigh, especially the quad, to pick up more of the workload, while also torching the glute of that leg. If the balance component is too difficult at first, you can substitute split squats or lunges. In a pinch, you can do these on the Smith machine.

Don’t let the fact that you can’t load these up like back squats fool you into thinking this is a weak movement.

Make It Monster

You can’t use much weight on this movement, even if you didn’t precede it with the other squats. Shoot for 3 sets of 10 reps, alternating sides.

5. Add Volume As You Train For The Pump

You won’t build great legs with machines alone, which is why the leg press isn’t very high on the list. But machines are ideal at increasing your training volume later in your workout, when your thighs are fried and you have trouble maintaining balance and good form.

What’s more, you can adjust your foot position to change the focus. Higher on the sled hits the glutes and hams more, while lower on the sled shifts more of the focus to the quads. Likewise, the deeper you go, the more the hams and glutes have to work.
Since this portion of the workout is when you’re looking to deliver a serious pump to your muscles, drop sets make far more sense here than, say, with back squats. The pump promotes hypertrophy by driving blood into the tissue, a different growth mechanism than the tension generated by those heavy squat sets early in your routine.

Make It Monster

Ready your mind and embrace the assault on your thighs. Do 3 sets of 10-12 reps, doing a double drop on your last set to magnify the burn.

6. Finish The Hamstrings With A Single-Joint Movement

The hamstrings are antagonists to the quads, so you want to ensure they’re getting plenty of work to match what you’ve been doing for the front side of your body.

A leg-curl movement, which better emphasises the lower half of the hamstrings above the knee, is also a nice complement to the upper-hams-focused RDL. It’s a pump movement of the first order as well, making it a perfect finisher.

Make It Monster

Finish off this monster leg workout with 3 sets of hamstring curls, doing a double drop on the last set like you did with the leg press.

The Monster Leg Workout

• Warm-up sets are not included; do as many as you need, but never take warm-ups to muscle failure.
• Choose a weight that allows you to approach muscle failure by the target rep listed. Rest as needed, but try to decrease the amount of rest you need over time.
• On exercises 5 and 6, do a double drop-set on your final set. That is, once you reach initial muscle failure, quickly reduce the load by about 25 percent and continue the set.
• Once you reach failure again, do another 25 percent drop and do as many reps as you can.
• On the first week of this program, do just 2 sets of the first two exercises to control the degree of muscle soreness, and stop all sets of all movements about a rep short of muscle failure. As you progress, adjust the volume and exercise selection as necessary to ensure you remain within your abilities.

Monster Leg Workout

1.Barbell Full Squat

• 3 sets, 6 Reps

2.Front Barbell Squat

• 3 sets, 10-12 Reps

3.Romanian Deadlift

• 4 sets, 8 Reps
• 2 sets, 12 Reps

4.One Leg Barbell Squat

• 3 sets, 8-10 Reps

5.Leg Press

• 3 sets, 10-12 Reps (Double Dropset on Last Set)

6.Lying Leg Curls

• 3 sets, 8-10 Reps (Double Dropset on Last Set)

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