The main muscles in the lower body are the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings and calves. The best exercises for the lower body are compound exercises that work more than one muscle at a time. Compound exercises allow you to recruit more overall muscle fibers and build size and strength faster than isolation exercises. However, isolation exercises are also an important part of every lower body workout.
Leg Presses
Leg presses are done on a leg press machine. These exercises target the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus, quadriceps and hamstrings. The calf muscles also get called into play to stabilize the lower legs. To do these, sit on the seat of the machine, place your feet on the platform and move it up and down by bending your knees. When lowering the platform, stop when your knees are bent 90 degrees. When pushing up, stop just short of locking your knees. If your knees go past your toes when lowering the platform, move your feet up higher.
Walking Lunges
Walking lunges require a set of dumbbells and they work the glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves and adductor magnus--an inner thigh muscle. To do lunges, hold the dumbbells at your sides and take long steps forward as you lower yourself down toward the ground with each step. When lowering, get your back knee as close to the floor as possible without touching it and bend your front knee 90 degrees. Do not let your front knee go past your toes as this can place too much stress on your knee joint.
Squat Variations
Conventional squats work the same muscles as lunges except they are done with a barbell or dumbbells. To use a barbell, place it across the top of your shoulders and hold it with a wide grip. Keeping your back straight, core tight and feet shoulder-width apart, lower yourself down by bending your knees, and then stand back up. Perform the exercise with dumbbells by holding them at your sides.
To zero in on your glutes and inner thighs, perform sumo squats. Perform these the same way as conventional squats, except place your feet in a wide stance and turn your toes 45 degrees to the sides. When using dumbbells, hold them right in between your thighs with your palms facing each other or just hold one dumbbell vertically.
Isolation Exercises
Leg extensions isolate the quadriceps on the front of the thighs and leg curls isolate the hamstrings on the back of the thighs. Both of these exercises are done on machines. To use a leg extension machine, sit on the seat, place your lower shins under the padded lever arm and move it up and down by bending your knees. When raising it up, do not lock out your knees.
To do leg curls, lay face-down on the leg curl machine with your calves hooked under the padded lever arm. Slowly raise and lower the arm by bending your knees. The same rule applies--do not lock out your knees when you lower the arm.
Calf Raises
Calf raises work the gastrocnemius, which is the top part of the calves, and the soleus which is the bottom part. To do these, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and lift and lower your heels to and from the ground. To increase the resistance, hold dumbbells at your sides, place a barbell across your shoulders or do your raises on one foot.
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