Building strong leg muscles boosts your metabolism, strengthens the bones and connective tissues in your legs, reduces your risk of injury and adds explosive power for many running-related sports. While your gym may be filled with complicated weight machines, you can build muscle in your legs using only dumbbells and a barbell in the free weight room. By exercising your legs with free weights, you give your core abdominal, lower back and hip muscles a workout as they work to stabilize your body.
Step 1
Start by performing a set of squats, a compound exercise that works your glutes, quads, hamstrings, lower back and hips at the same time. Place a barbell at shoulder-height on a rack, and stand beneath it with the barbell resting across the backs of your shoulders at the base of your neck. Slowly drop your hips down and back, lowering your torso until your thighs are parallel with the floor, keeping your knees behind your toes. Push through your heels to return to the starting position, and repeat.
Step 2
Work your calves, hamstrings, glutes and quads with dumbbell lunges, another compound exercise. Stand with your feet staggered with the front foot 2 to 3 feet in front of the other, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your torso upright, drop your hips toward the floor until your front thigh is parallel with the floor and your front knee sits above your toes. Push back up into the starting position and repeat with each leg.
Step 3
Isolate your calves with barbell calf raises. Stand beneath a barbell on a rack, allowing the weight to rest across the backs of your shoulders. With your feet shoulder-width apart, slowly shift your weight onto the balls of your feet while lifting your heels off the floor. Return your heels to the floor in a smooth and controlled motion and repeat.
Step 4
Increase the amount of weight by 5 to 10 percent whenever you can perform a full set of 12 repetitions without cheating or breaking form. Regularly increasing the resistance ensures your muscles will be adequately stressed to stimulate new muscle growth.
Step 5
Work out your legs twice a week with a full two days' rest between each workout to give your muscles time to recover.
Tips and Warnings
- Perform each exercise with enough weight to tire out your muscles in a single set of eight to 12 repetitions. You know you're using enough weight if the last rep of each exercise is difficult to perform with proper technique. Switch up your routine every four weeks to force your muscles to continually adapt to new stresses. Find a workout partner to keep your motivation up.
- Performing exercises like squats and lunges with improper form can lead to injury. Seek the assistance of a trainer or workout partner to spot you during the exercise.
Things You'll Need
- Dumbbells
- Barbell
- Power rack
