Exercise Routines For Legs And Thighs

Keeping your legs and thighs in shape requires three types of training: aerobic, strength and flexibility. Aerobic activities such as running and swimming improve the efficiency with which your leg muscles utilize oxygen. Strengthening activities include squats, calf raises and thigh squeezes. Flexibility routines should include quadricep and hamstring stretches, as well as stretches for inner and outer thigh muscles, and the calves.

Basic Structures of Leg

Your upper-thigh's quadriceps and hamstrings are powerful muscle groups. The quads' four muscles -- the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius and vastus medialis -- govern leg stability and impact absorption; the hamstrings work closely with the quads and are also the major propulsion units for walking and running. The inner and outer thigh muscles prevent your legs from collapsing inward or outward and help position and stabilize the knees. The smaller muscles, including your calf and anterior tibialis, also ensure proper leg alignment and function.

Aerobics

The key to aerobic improvement is gradual progression in both duration and intensity. The website Sports Matchmaker describes aerobic training and muscles' roles in the sport of running. An effective routine for beginning runners is a walk-run session lasting 45 minutes, alternating five minutes of walking with five minutes of running, three times a week. During Week Two, maintain the total 45-minute duration, but increase each running portion to 10 minutes. During Week Three, increase each run to 20 minutes. During Week Four, try a continuous 40-minute run. If you prefer swimming, improve aerobic power by flutter-kicking with fins. Fins force your thigh muscles to work harder to overcome multi-directional water resistance.

Strength

The classic squat has few equals. Stand with your feet directly under your hips, lean slightly forward, hold your stomach in and back straight, and slowly lower your body without lifting your heels. Press back upward and repeat 10 times, your goal being to build up to three sets. Calf raises strengthen all your lower leg muscles: From a balanced stance, rise onto the balls of your feet and roll back down. For greater effect, stand on the edge of a step and allow your heels to fall slightly below the step level to start and finish. Work your way up to three sets of 10 calf raises each.

Flexibility

For your hamstrings, lie on your back, raise your legs upward and pull them toward your head, keeping knees straight and hips flat. Contracting your quadriceps will help relax your hamstrings, and looping a towel or exercise band around your raised foot helps manually elongate the stretch's arc. For quadriceps flexibility, stand on one leg, place your non-weight-bearing foot in your hand behind you at butt-level, and while pulling upward with your hand, pull your foot equally hard downward toward the floor. To stretch the inner thigh muscles, perform ballet's plié: Stand with your feet at least 24 inches apart and pointing slightly outward, open your knees wide and gently lower your body. You should feel the stretch the full length of your inner thighs. A good calf stretch involves lightly placing the heel of the stretching leg flat on the floor behind you and flexing the knee of your forward, weight-bearing leg. To stretch your outer thigh, stand on one leg, cross the other in front, and bend at your hips away from the non-weight-bearing leg.

Physiology in Action

Educating yourself about muscle biomechanics and injury prevention will further enhance your progress. The website Sports Matchmaker details several physiological aspects of leg and thigh muscle function, and website Physio Room provides excellent advice about thigh muscle strains and their causes and treatments.