Effective Leg Workouts for Men
Follow this free guide for leg workouts for men, and get a better lower body workout experience.
While on the road to building a stronger, better you it’s very easy and quite common to neglect the lower body area. A lot of exercises focus around strengthening the core and building great arm muscles. But the lower body area should be a key factor in any well rounded workout routine. If avoided for too long, you can begin to see the major differences in upper and lower body proportions. Sometimes it can be harder to add in a leg routine or leg workouts once you’ve built up your upper body muscles and you can often end up undoing some hard work. So just be sure to incorporate these effective leg workouts into your daily regime for a well balanced body and follow this easy guide to leg workouts for men for some great tips.
In order to strengthen and work the muscles in the lower body area you first need to build that muscle. Think of your muscles as Play Doh; you can’t mold new shapes without the mass to do it with. So focus on creating that muscle mass before moving on to the next step. This can be done with starting your leg workouts regime off with the heaviest and hardest leg workouts. Endure as many reps as you can manage and lift or press the heaviest weight you can muster. The key areas to focus on are glutes, hamstrings, calves, and quads. Here are some great moves to get you started:
-Barbell Squat. This involves a barbell across the shoulders as you endure as many leg squats as you can manage.
-Walking/Lunging Dumbbell. With a dumbbell in each hand, take wide strides into lunges.
-Leg Press. This one involves a machine. Select the weight you think you can handle and proceed to do reps of 8-12.
Now that we’ve established how to build the new muscles, next we work on defining them. This consists of a combination of cardio to burn the excess calories, and higher volumes of reps to shape the muscles. Simply decreasing the weight and increasing the volumes won’t necessarily give you the results you need. Often, it’s better to continue the heavy weights but add in fat burning cardio to quickly shape the target areas. Here are some lower body ideas to get you going:
-Leg Press & Squat Combo. This consists of a high volume of reps on the press machine while alternating with squats using a goblet in your hand, held close to the chest.
-Barbell Lunges & Leg Extensions. Hoist that barbell onto your shoulders and repeat at least four sets of lunges. Alternate this with a high volume of leg extensions.
-Lying Leg Curl. End off your leg definition routine with a simple round of leg curl sets. Go until you can’t take it any longer.
It’s pretty much impossible to target one muscle area 100%. Because of the way our bodies are built and the motion in which they move, multiple muscles are used for a single movement. This makes it impossible to focus on part of the leg. However, that’s not to say you can’t emphasize on that area with specific leg exercises. If the volume is targeted to the muscle, then we begin to see results. Although you should incorporate ways to emphasise all four main areas of the legs (quads, glutes, thighs, and calves), here are some tips to get you started on muscle emphasizing in the quad area:
-Hack Squat. This involves the machine. Select your desired weight to lift and proceed to doing at least four sets of reps of about 8-12.
-Leg Press. Again, involves the machine. Select the weight and begin with at least four sets of 8-12 reps.
-Leg Extension. Choose your weight and hop on. Proceed with a minimum of four set of 10-12 reps.
After building new muscles and pushing your lower body to the limit with these great leg workouts for men, it’s time to wrap out your routine with some quick cardio. This gets your heart pumping blood to your tired muscles and also ensures that you’re continually burning calories long after the workout is complete. Here are some key cardio moves to work into your lower body workout.
-Jumping Jacks. Get jumping and test how far you can go. Four sets of 10-12 reps are best.
-Lunges. Without the addition of weights or goblets, freestyle some controlled lunges in sets of at least two.
-Running. Hop on a tread mill or run on the spot for a minimum of ten minutes.
Every body man is different, and so are their bodies. Whatever lower body workout routine you incorporate into your full body workout plan, always make sure that you’re tailoring it for your body. Never push your muscles past muscle failure and don’t proceed if you experience joint pain. And remember, leg exercises are a key factor in any successful workout routine and hopefully this article helps you on the road to great leg workouts!
While on the road to building a stronger, better you it’s very easy and quite common to neglect the lower body area. A lot of exercises focus around strengthening the core and building great arm muscles. But the lower body area should be a key factor in any well rounded workout routine. If avoided for too long, you can begin to see the major differences in upper and lower body proportions. Sometimes it can be harder to add in a leg routine or leg workouts once you’ve built up your upper body muscles and you can often end up undoing some hard work. So just be sure to incorporate these effective leg workouts into your daily regime for a well balanced body and follow this easy guide to leg workouts for men for some great tips.
Build More Leg Mass
In order to strengthen and work the muscles in the lower body area you first need to build that muscle. Think of your muscles as Play Doh; you can’t mold new shapes without the mass to do it with. So focus on creating that muscle mass before moving on to the next step. This can be done with starting your leg workouts regime off with the heaviest and hardest leg workouts. Endure as many reps as you can manage and lift or press the heaviest weight you can muster. The key areas to focus on are glutes, hamstrings, calves, and quads. Here are some great moves to get you started:
-Barbell Squat. This involves a barbell across the shoulders as you endure as many leg squats as you can manage.
-Walking/Lunging Dumbbell. With a dumbbell in each hand, take wide strides into lunges.
-Leg Press. This one involves a machine. Select the weight you think you can handle and proceed to do reps of 8-12.
Leg Definition
Now that we’ve established how to build the new muscles, next we work on defining them. This consists of a combination of cardio to burn the excess calories, and higher volumes of reps to shape the muscles. Simply decreasing the weight and increasing the volumes won’t necessarily give you the results you need. Often, it’s better to continue the heavy weights but add in fat burning cardio to quickly shape the target areas. Here are some lower body ideas to get you going:
-Leg Press & Squat Combo. This consists of a high volume of reps on the press machine while alternating with squats using a goblet in your hand, held close to the chest.
-Barbell Lunges & Leg Extensions. Hoist that barbell onto your shoulders and repeat at least four sets of lunges. Alternate this with a high volume of leg extensions.
-Lying Leg Curl. End off your leg definition routine with a simple round of leg curl sets. Go until you can’t take it any longer.
Emphasize, Not Isolate.
It’s pretty much impossible to target one muscle area 100%. Because of the way our bodies are built and the motion in which they move, multiple muscles are used for a single movement. This makes it impossible to focus on part of the leg. However, that’s not to say you can’t emphasize on that area with specific leg exercises. If the volume is targeted to the muscle, then we begin to see results. Although you should incorporate ways to emphasise all four main areas of the legs (quads, glutes, thighs, and calves), here are some tips to get you started on muscle emphasizing in the quad area:
-Hack Squat. This involves the machine. Select your desired weight to lift and proceed to doing at least four sets of reps of about 8-12.
-Leg Press. Again, involves the machine. Select the weight and begin with at least four sets of 8-12 reps.
-Leg Extension. Choose your weight and hop on. Proceed with a minimum of four set of 10-12 reps.
End On Cardio.
After building new muscles and pushing your lower body to the limit with these great leg workouts for men, it’s time to wrap out your routine with some quick cardio. This gets your heart pumping blood to your tired muscles and also ensures that you’re continually burning calories long after the workout is complete. Here are some key cardio moves to work into your lower body workout.
-Jumping Jacks. Get jumping and test how far you can go. Four sets of 10-12 reps are best.
-Lunges. Without the addition of weights or goblets, freestyle some controlled lunges in sets of at least two.
-Running. Hop on a tread mill or run on the spot for a minimum of ten minutes.
Every body man is different, and so are their bodies. Whatever lower body workout routine you incorporate into your full body workout plan, always make sure that you’re tailoring it for your body. Never push your muscles past muscle failure and don’t proceed if you experience joint pain. And remember, leg exercises are a key factor in any successful workout routine and hopefully this article helps you on the road to great leg workouts!
Tips:
*Always make sure to do adequate warm ups prior to any heavy lifting or workout routine. *Stay hydrated. Drink water and feed your body before, during, and after a workout. *If you experience any joint pain you should consult your doctor immediately.