If you are seriously engaged in yourself, then your program to achieve an ideal body should be properly built, the maximum number of muscles involved with an emphasis on your weak areas. In this article, we will look at how to properly build your legs.
Principles of working with legs
The leg muscles occupy about half of the entire musculature of the body. As a rule, a separate day is always allocated for the legs in the training program, loading this part of the body with both complex exercises and isolating ones.
The training program for the legs should consist of the following steps:
- warm-up;
- basic exercises involving the muscles of the body in the complex;
- isolating exercises that work out individual zones;
- hitch, including stretching exercises.
Please note that leg training will always involve the lower back and abs, as everything is connected in our body. If you want to start working with weights, then first take extra care to strengthen the muscles of the body - add a few exercises on the muscle corset to your program. Basic or complex exercises such as squats, straps, push-ups are aimed at pumping the muscles of the whole body and establishing a connection between the center and the periphery. Improving the whole body can not be fully realized without training the legs, and, conversely, taking care of how to build legs, you at the same time influence your "top". Our body will still strive for harmony, and the muscles of the body will receive additional development.
In exercises, experiment with different legs to see which muscles will be involved specifically in your case. At the same time, do not forget about safety: if you feel excessive tension in the joints or sudden pain, then it is better to stop the exercise. In general, before you pump up your legs at home, the ideal option would be to attend at least one training session with a competent trainer in order to build the right technique for you.
Warm up
Before proceeding directly to the exercises, take care to warm up the muscles and stretch the joints. Your body should feel the transition from a calm to an active regime. Even if you only care about how to build your legs during training, it’s still important to stretch your entire body, including its upper half. Use the following exercises:
- tilts and turns of the head;
- rotation of the shoulders;
- elbow rotation;
- warm up brushes;
- light bends and turns to stretch the body;
- pelvic rotation;
- warming up of the hip joints - rotation of each leg separately;
- knee rotation;
- Ankle warm-up - rotation in the ankles.
Such a warm-up will allow you to gently turn on the joints, and activates blood circulation. Pay special attention to the joints of the legs: if you start the basic exercises without warming up, this can result in injury. The knee joints are especially fragile - they suffer most from squats with heavy weights.
How to build legs for a man
Women and men pay different attention to leveling. As a rule, the male sex is more worried about how the upper body looks, and, accordingly, concentrates on the back, arms and chest. Therefore, in gyms you can often see a funny picture when a strong torso sits on narrow legs.
Strength training for men has its own characteristics. Most often, the stronger sex seeks not so much to lose weight as to build up legs. At home, it can be quite difficult for a man to do this, since additional weights will be needed for muscle growth. If you are a beginner, you can start by working with your own weight, and subsequently acquire dumbbells or even a barbell.
If a man is thinking about how to build his legs at home, it is believed that he should start with squats. To begin with, it is worth doing 20-30 repetitions in 2-3 approaches without inventory, and then add weights. In this case, the more weight you take, the less repetitions should be and the more periods of rest between them. Even if you have already mastered squats with a weight heavy enough for you, still start the exercise with preparatory squats without weights and build it up gradually, approach by approach.
Another popular exercise for men is the bench press. It is performed in gyms on a special simulator: you lie on your back, pressing your lower back against a horizontal surface, and push your weight out with your feet. On the one hand, this exercise allows you to work out the quadriceps well, on the other hand, the main load in it falls on all the same long-suffering knee joints, so include it in your program only if you have no problems with the knees.
How to build legs for a girl
Women always remember how attractive the legs are in the male eyes, and therefore they never forget about lower body workouts. The female body is genetically programmed to accumulate energy reserves “for a rainy day” - the hips and buttocks are a kind of fat depot. Unlike men, who are allowed to limit themselves to one strength training of the lower body, women should devote to leg training at least 2-3 days a week.
Most often, when girls think about how to build legs, they are more concerned about the shape of the buttocks and, at best, the hips. It is important to note that insulating exercises for the buttocks cannot be a substitute for a full leg workout. Ideally, you should pay attention not only to your “loin portion”, but also to all the muscles of the lower extremities, including the legs.
No need to be afraid to “siphon” your legs. Exercising with your own weight rarely leads to pumping. On the contrary, training these large muscle groups leads to burning more calories. The best option, how to pump up legs at home for a girl, is to use low weight and a large number of repetitions in exercises. The same squats and lunges, mixing-raising legs, lifting the legs from a supine position, buttock bridges will do.
Squats
They are one of the complex exercises that allow you to use not only the muscles of the legs, but also include the body, muscles of the press and pelvis.
It is better for beginners to use a wide stance as a starting position and to squat not too deep - until the level until your hips are parallel to the floor. The following important conditions must be observed:
- Do not fall through the lower back and do not protrude the pelvis back;
- turn on the abdominal muscles, retract the abdomen, and tuck the pelvis forward a little;
- the knees should remain in line with the socks;
- the back is not rounded;
- the weight remains on the heels - they should not be torn off the floor.
Deep squats can be included in the program only after you master the classic version of the exercise. If you have weak knee joints or lumbar spine, it is best to stay on the option when the hips are parallel to the floor.
Another option for exercise can be sumo squats, in which the position of the feet is much wider than the shoulders. The load in these squats is redistributed from the quadriceps to the inner and back muscles of the thighs, and the knee joints and lower back are out of the risk zone. For these reasons, this exercise is most often used by girls who want both to build leg muscles and protect themselves from unnecessary injuries.
For sumo squats, weights can also be used, but keep in mind that due to the unusual setting of the legs, it is recommended to take less weight than if you used in regular squats.
Lunges
You should not focus only on strength training and think only about how to build legs. Do not forget about working with balance and add to the program such exercises that you need to perform while standing on one leg. Even better if they combine both balance and power load. Lunges are one of these basic exercises that involve the buttocks and thigh muscles. The execution technique is as follows:
- starting position - standing, the pelvis tucked forward, the press is on;
- take a step forward with your right foot, the knee does not extend beyond the heel line and remains at an angle of 90 degrees;
- the knee of the hind leg does not fall to the floor, but lingers a few centimeters from it;
- push off the floor and return the housing to its original position;
- repeat the exercise on the left side.
This exercise is especially good for both pumping up the legs of a girl and strengthening stretching. In addition, if squats are contraindicated for any physiological reasons, you can try replacing them with lunges - the knee joints will be less involved.
Lunges can also be performed in the direction of the back and side. You can also “walk” lunges a small distance. And if you want to get even more load, you can pick up weights. As a rule, women perform this exercise with small dumbbells, and a barbell lunge is one of the standard programs in the gym for men.
You can complicate ordinary lunges using the additional support for the hind leg. This technique is called “Bulgarian lunges”. The toe of the hind leg rests on a chair or bench, and the entire load focuses on the front. This technique allows you to deepen the stretch, and further develops balance and coordination. The main minus, again, is the creation of an excessive load on the knee of the front leg. Therefore, use Bulgarian lunges only on healthy legs.
Deadlift
Deadlift is a classic exercise in bodybuilding. There are several techniques for its implementation - differences in some nuances determine which muscles will work. Here we consider deadlift or deadlift.
If you look at the technique of this exercise from the side, the beginner will think, “What does the leg have to do with it?” - when doing traction, the legs do not move at all. But this is the essence of deadlift: you lower and raise the bar, helping yourself not with your arms or back muscles, but pushing yourself with your thigh muscles.
The order of the exercise is as follows:
- initial position - feet shoulder-width apart, feet parallel to each other, back straightened, look ahead, hold the barbell with a grip from above on arms extended downward;
- with a straight body, you begin to fall down, sliding the bar along the legs - approximately to the middle of the lower leg, while taking the pelvis slightly back;
- the knees can be soft (the joint does not snap), but try not to bend them - your legs are straightened by 98-99%;
- rise back, trying to get the impulse of movement to start from the hips;
- do not straighten up to the end - stay in a slight bend forward so as not to turn off the leg muscles from work;
- repeat several times.
If you perform the exercise by bending your knees, then it will turn from deadlift to normal classical, which means that it will be less involved in the legs, and the load on the back will increase.
Toe lifts
If you wondered how to pump your calves, then include socks lifts in the training program. This exercise not only develops a sense of balance and coordination, but also makes caviar stronger. As in other exercises, do not forget about the correct posture and the center included in the work. If at the same time you stand on a small elevation, it will turn out to complicate the exercise with an additional stretch: rise on your toes, and then stretch your heels to the floor.
Men can perform this exercise with extra weight, for example, holding the barbell behind their back in the area of the shoulder blades or picking up a dumbbell in their hands. In some cases, women can also use weights. But if you want to leave your legs thin more than pump up your calves, you can not use weight when lifting on your socks.
Donkey exercise
If you want to bring someone from your home to your workouts, you can try starting with Donkey. This fun exercise will allow you to pump up your calf at home, and have fun. Despite the comic nature of the exercise, Arnold Schwarzenegger used it in his training.
To complete the Donkey, you will need a high horizontal support (for example, a window sill, table, back of a sofa or chair). You become one step away from her and, leaning with a straight back, lean your forearms on the surface. Ideally, you should stand on a small (15-20 cm) elevation in order to be able to stretch your heels down.
The role of the partner is to create additional burdens. Its task is to sit on your pelvis so that the load is felt not by the lower back, but namely the legs and, in particular, the calf muscles - you rise on your toes, while feeling the weight of the partner. At the top of the movement, you can linger for 1-2 seconds.
If having a partner on your back makes you uncomfortable, but the thought of how to pump your calves does not leave you, then ask someone to put a load on your pelvis and gently hold it while you stand on your toes. This type of exercise is suitable for more shy people.
Exercise “Swallow”
If you only think about how to quickly build up your legs at home, then you may not pay attention to the exercise “Swallow” - because it is not designed to quickly gain muscle mass. But on the other hand, the swallow, known to everyone since physical education lessons, will allow to develop body coordination, concentration of mind and work out both legs alternately.
At first it will be difficult to maintain balance - you can start with small approaches literally 2-3 seconds long. Ideally, the horizontal “head-foot” should be parallel to the floor, and the pelvis looks clearly down, not turning to the side. If it’s hard for you, start making the swallow differently - stretch from the top of the head to the heel and lean forward while maintaining traction - the leg will be bent back. Try to get as close as possible to the “body parallel to the floor” position, without losing traction. Hands can be directed to the side or forward. At the initial stage, you can hold your hands on the support.
As you master the exercises, you can combine work on balance with power load - for this, turn your swallow into a variation of traction on one leg, picking up dumbbells of the right size.
In cases where the burden is large enough, the hind leg does not lift off the floor at all, but instead stands on the toe - this option is suitable for men.
Lying exercises
If you are thinking about how to pump up your legs at home, but you have a weak back, start with exercises while lying down. So your spine will be stabilized as much as possible, and leg muscles and abs will be included in the work. Note that during all exercises, the lower back should not be off the floor.
From a supine position, you can perform the following movements:
- mixing and raising straight legs at an angle of 90 degrees;
- mixing and breeding of bent legs;
- leg lifts (one at a time and together);
- half bridge.
From the supine position, you can perform leg lifts vertically, horizontal swings, straight leg rotation along the maximum possible trajectory.
Stretching and relaxing
A prerequisite for effective leg training is the subsequent stretching. In your desire to quickly build your legs, you should not forget about the importance of rest - your muscles need to be given time to recover. Stretching helps improve blood circulation, which means supplying the muscles with essential nutrients, which generally affects your progress. In addition, regular stretching allows the body to remain relaxed and flexible, preventing muscle stiffness from working with “iron”.
The principle of any stretch is to direct the muscle fibers in the opposite direction than when they usually perform work. For example, the back muscles of the thigh are responsible for bending the knee, so their extension will be actively felt when the leg is extended.
Lifestyle
The condition of the muscles of the legs is largely determined by their involvement and involvement in the work. For the legs to have a beautiful shape, training alone in the gym is not enough - you need to move. Long walks, dancing, running or swimming will not let you get bored either by your legs or your mind. In addition, additional movement is simply necessary if you want to lose weight. , - .
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