There are many ways to build strength in your legs. When it comes to building strength in your legs, there are a few tried and true exercises that should form the foundation of your leg workout.
Instructions
Build Leg Strength
1. Squat a lot. When it comes to strength training, high weight plus low reps is a solid training method to start with. When it comes to lifting for strength, you should never leave out the squat, dead-lift or bench press. Since we're talking about leg strength, we'll just focus on the squats to start.While it may be tempting to use a Smith Machine - don't. The free weight squat is one of the best overall exercises for your entire body, and should not be substituted in a strength program.Maintain good form and feel free to go heavy, so long as you maintain that form. If needed, have a spotter stand behind you to help you do as many reps as you can. In a strength program, try to stay in the 6-8 rep range. You can go lower, like doing a four rep set or a single rep, but if you are doing more than eight reps, you should increase the weight.Mixing front squats into your regular workout is also a good idea.
2. Use those legs: Heavy leg presses. The leg press can be a great strength exercise because of the ability to load up a lot of weight and perform the exercise relatively safely. Start with a comfortable weight, but gradually increase the amount you are using until you are in that strength rep level of 6-8 reps before failure.Again, proper form is essential. The higher weight you use, the more important this becomes. Keep your back flat against the pads and your glutes firmly on the seat throughout the reps.
3. Don't forget the hamstrings. Your leg is more than your quads, so don't ignore the other major muscles. While your quadriceps extend your leg, the hamstring contracts it.For the hamstring, a great strength exercise is the stiff-legged dead-lift. This is done by lifting a weighted barbell off the floor without bending at the knees. With the stiff-legged dead-lift, proper form is absolutely essential. Do not round your back. Lift the barbell off the floor with your legs straight (but not locked), and raise the barbell until you are in a standing position. Keep your lower back flexed so as to not allow it to round. If you need to stand on a box or a platform to allow for full extension at the bottom of the lift, do so.You can also do some hamstring curls to get them some more work, but the stiff-legged dead-lift is better when it comes to strength.
4. Mix in some supporting exercises. To get the most out of the strength exercises, all of the supporting muscles must be doing their jobs. That means making abductor and adductor work a part of your regular routine, as well as some calf work. Strengthening all of these muscles will allow you to lift more on your squats and leg press, therefore allowing you to better build strength in your legs.
5. Mix it up to keep it fresh. Substituting some exercises occasionally won't hurt your overall goals, but can help keep you mentally fresh. Don't be afraid to do some lunges, either with a barbell or dumbbells, hack squats, leg extensions or some other leg exercises to keep things fresh.
Tags: your legs, stiff-legged dead-lift, strength your, strength your legs, barbell floor