The legs contain four major muscle groups--the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. When you want to build leg muscle, you need to dissect each one of these parts with weight-training exercises. Compound exercises that involve more than one joint actually work a number of these muscles simultaneously. This leads to a maximal amount of muscle recruitment, and these exercises should be the foundation of your leg routine.
Step 1
Duck under a barbell in a squat rack to do squats. Place your hands on the bar in a wide grip and press the tops of your shoulders into the bar to lift it off the supports. Step back three steps for clearance and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Look forward, keep your back straight and your core tight as you lower your butt down by bending your knees. Stop when your thighs are parallel to the floor, stand back up and repeat. Do not let your knees lock when you stand up.
Step 2
Push a platform up in the air with your legs to do leg presses. Sit on the seat of the leg press machine and recline backward so your back is flat against the backrest. Place your feet shoulder-width apart on the platform and push it up. Flip the safety levers over to the sides and lower the platform down toward your body. Stop when your knees form a 90-degree angle and push the platform back up. Stop just shy of locking your knees and repeat.
Step 3
Stand behind a workout bench with dumbbells at your sides to do step-ups. Step up on the bench with your left foot, then your right foot. Step back down with your left foot, then right foot. Step back up, leading with your right foot and step down leading with your right. Continue stepping in this alternating pattern.
Step 4
Grasp a barbell with a shoulder-width grip to do stiff leg dead-lifts. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and let the bar rest against your thighs. Bend forward at the hips and let the bar hang straight down toward the ground. Stop when you feel a strong contraction in your hamstrings and glutes. Bend back up and repeat.
Step 5
Lie face-down on a leg curl machine to isolate your hamstrings. Hook your lower back legs under the padded lever arm and grab the handles down by the bench. Lift the lever arm up and bring your heels toward your butt. Squeeze for a second, slowly lower the arm back down and repeat. Do not let your hips rise off the bench while you do this exercise, and don't let the resistance completely out when you raise and lower the lever arm.
Step 6
Position the balls of your feet on an aerobic step to do calf raises. Hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands, stand with your feet hip-width apart and let your heels hang over the edge of the step. Lift your heels up in the air by contracting your calf muscles. You should be on your tiptoes at this point. Hold for a second and lower your heels down until your toes are pointing up. Hold this stretched position for a second and repeat.
Tips and Warnings
- Perform four to five sets of all of the exercises and use the heaviest weights you can handle. Do 15 to 20 reps of your calf raises and 10 to 12 reps of the rest of the exercises. Work your legs two to three times a week on nonconsecutive days.
Things You'll Need
- Squat rack
- Barbell
- Leg press
- Bench
- Dumbbells
- Lying leg curl machine
- Aerobic step
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