Leg Workout

Leg Workout - Monday 

Developing well build legs requires hitting the legs from a variety of angles. This might be the most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to exercising the legs. If you simply do one exercise for the legs every time you go to the gym you will get to a point where your progress will begin to plateau. 

You might gain some mass at first but your legs will only be developed in certain areas and underdeveloped in others. For instance, if you just use the leg extension machine every time you hit legs, you will develop killer quads but at the same time, your hamstrings will be relatively weaker.

It is also critical that you work your legs until failure. This is where I see most new gym goers go wrong. They may simply do 5 squats and then re-rack without even breaking a sweat. Then they might pace around, and then do a few more squats before calling quits. 

You can’t expect to make any significant gains simply by exercising like this. In order to really develop your legs, you need to push your self to muscle failure every time you workout. If that means coming close to collapsing after every squat set then that’s how it should be. You can only expect to achieve good growth by pushing your self to failure. If this sounds too intense for you then I'm sorry. If you want the most growth this is what you need to do.

Lastly, you need to incorporate good variation when working out your legs. What I mean by this is that you should not be going to the gym week by week and doing the same exercises in the same order with the same weight every single time. 

Every time you go to the gym you need to make sure that you switch up your routine. You can do this by changing up the exercises or the way you do the exercises. For instance one week instead of doing 8 reps until failure 3 times you instead do a drop set. This variation keeps your muscles from adjusting and becoming resistant to growth. 

In addition, feel free to check out this new guide I put together on the two hours a week workout. 

Squats- 4 sets of 8-10 reps.

To do the squat, keep your feet about shoulder width apart with your toes slightly pointed out and not forward. As you bring your head under the bar, grab on with your hands and keep your elbows tucked to the sides. Slowly lower your body down while supporting the weight and once your thighs are about parallel with the ground, force your body back to the upright position. Be sure to prevent your knees from going past your toes when you go down. For more information on how to do squats click here. 

Dumbbell lunge- 4 sets of 8-10 reps each leg

Grab two dumbbells and hold them at your sides. Put one foot forward and keep the other behind so that you enter into a lunge position. Slowly lower your self to the ground by bending the front knee and lower yourself down until the back knee nearly touches the ground. Do this for 8-10 reps and then switch legs. For more information on how to do lunges click here. 

Stiff leg deadlift- 4 sets of 8-10 reps

Keep a barbell firmly in your hands in front of you. Keep your feet relatively close together with about six inches in between them with your toes facing forward. Make sure that your legs are slightly bent so that you can get a full stretch across your hamstrings. With your back flat, slowly bend at the waist until you cant bend any more without arching your back. From there lift back up to the starting position. For more information on how to do stiff leg deadlifts click here. 

Leg extensions- 4 sets of 8-10 reps

At the leg extension machine make sure that you adjust your seat so that it fits your body comfortably. Make sure that the lever is positioned midway up to your knee. While securing your butt in place raise the lever into its upright position and hold it there for a second or two before letting it down. For more information on how to do leg extensions click here.

Calf raises- 4 sets of 8-10 reps

Grab some dumbbells for some extra resistance on this one. While facing forward with your toes straight ahead, slowly lift up your body by hoisting yourself up on your tippy toes. This movement should be done while focusing on using the calves to do all the work. From the peak position slowly lower yourself back down. For more information on how to do calf raises click here.