1. Move to Gain Muscle Mass
Take advantage of the various machines at the gym to help build stronger leg muscles. Climbing machines and the stair master give your hamstrings and glutes a great work out. The treadmill is your friend if you're looking to work on lower body strength and endurance. Walking and running on an incline build your leg muscles and condition you for other activities.
2. Strength Train for Stronger Legs
You need to lift weights to build up muscles in your legs. Choose a compound exercise like a hack squat to work multiple areas of you leg at one time, or a simpler movement like a hamstring curl or leg extension on a machine. No matter what muscle you're working, lift heavy to build muscle. Lift a weight that's heavy enough for you to begin failing out around eight reps. Never work the same muscle out two days in a row. Give your body a good 48 hours of rest in between workouts in order for the muscle to repair itself.
3. Shock Your Body to Build Muscle
Switch your work out up regularly to see results. When you change a variable in your routine, it shocks your body into new muscle growth. You can change your routine by switching the exercises that you're doing, the number of sets you do, the order of what you're doing or the length of your rest period. Change the cardio exercise that you do as well as your weight routine. If you've gotten comfortable on the treadmill, switch to the stair master for a couple of weeks. Doing the same things repeatedly eventually slow the results that you see. As a general rule of thumb, if your workout feels too easy, it probably is.
4. Benefits to Building Stronger Leg Muscles
Building stronger leg muscles isn't just for someone who's looking to get sexy legs. That's a bonus to the actual benefits of building up your strength. Strong legs help you with balance, speed and endurance; whether you're hiking, biking or running, you can cover a greater distance as you build more muscle in your legs. Strong leg muscles also protect you from injury. Your knees are less likely to give out during a run or other strenuous activity once you have built stronger leg muscles.
5. Stretch to Lengthen and Strengthen Your Leg Muscles
A solid exercise routine includes a healthy dose of stretching. Your leg muscles build up faster and stronger if you give them a good stretch after your work out. Stretched, flexible muscles are a lot more resistant to injury than tight, overworked muscles. Stretch out after your workout, while your muscles are still warm. This also helps to promote healing and reduce post work out soreness. Focus your stretching to your quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes and inner thighs after your leg work out.
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