Aerobic exercise is good for your health. It reduces body fat and improves cardiovascular and respiratory function. However, many people focus on it to the exclusion of anaerobic exercise, which has many of its own health benefits, including building stronger muscles and bones and reducing the risk of injury during daily activities. Because your legs are the base of nearly everything you do, performing anaerobic exercises to build your leg strength is especially important. And having great-looking legs is a nice side benefit.
Squat
In "The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding," eight-time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger states that the squat is the ultimate exercise for building leg strength. And if you look at the routines of the world's top bodybuilders as described in the "Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding," you'll find that they tend to agree. To perform a squat, place a barbell a few inches lower than your shoulder height on a squat rack. Step under the barbell, placing it across your traps -- not across your neck. Press it up and step back. Squat down, concentrating on keeping your back straight and your core engaged. Once your thighs are parallel to the floor, stand back up. Perform in sets of eight to 15 reps to stay anaerobic and build muscle.
Deadlift
While many people call the squat the king of lifts, others argue for the deadlift. The squat builds the quadriceps muscles on the front of your thighs, but the deadlift might be the best exercise for building the hamstrings and glutes. Performing both exercises will result in balanced leg strength. "Strength Training Anatomy" explains that the deadlift is also one of the best exercises for building core strength. To perform a deadlift, step up to a barbell on the floor. Squat down to the barbell and grip it with a shoulder-width grip. The outside of your knees should press against the inside of your forearms. Concentrate on keeping your core activated and your back straight. Press through your heels to stand up. Follow the same path back down. Because perfect form is essential for the deadlift, and because it is so draining, it is usually performed in sets of five reps.
Leg Press
Because form is so essential during the squat and deadlift, and because those exercises place a great deal of strain on the lower back, you might not fully exhaust your thighs before you need to stop. That's where the leg press comes in. As Arnold Schwarzenegger explains, it's also a good alternative to those exercises if you have lower back problems. To perform a leg press, sit in a leg press machine. Press the foot plate up and disengage the safety catches. Lower the weight as far as you can without your lower back rolling off the seat. Press the weight back up. You may emphasize the quadriceps with close foot placement lower on the plate, or the hamstrings with a wider foot placement higher on the foot plate. Perform in sets of eight to 15 reps.
Calf Press
Squats and leg press both stress the calves to some degree, but not primarily. If you're trying to build muscle and strength evenly, perform an anaerobic calf exercise. The best way to do this is with a calf press machine. Step on the foot plate and adjust the shoulder pads to your height. Once it's properly adjusted, stand on the balls of your feet. Contract your calves hard at the top. Because the calf muscles are especially tough, you should perform this exercise in the rep range of 10 to 20.
References
- "The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding"; Arnold Schwarzenegger; 1998
- "Strength Training Anatomy, 3rd Ed."; Frederic Delavier; 2010
- "Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding"; Robert Kennedy; 2008
Member Comments