Exercises for Legs that Work

In the anatomy of the human body, your calves hamstrings and quadriceps are all grouped under you lower body. Having great legs is a characteristic that is desired for both men and women alike. In the gym, people now spend long hours paying sole attention to the development of their legs. Sadly most of their enthusiasm is misinformed as 45 minutes should be most time used in any workout.When your workout happens to exceed this time frame, you cease to achieve positive results. Instead of the positive benefits of your exercise, your body begins to act against you. The reason is simple—after 45 minutes your body runs out of healthy fuel and begins to look for alternate sources. This unfortunately ends up to be the muscle which you have built. It is advised that you do your leg exercises in less than 45 minutes, and no more than twice per week.

When you go the gym, rigorously work your muscles, and then eat as soon as possible. For the best results after a rigourous workout, ensure that you eat within the hour after your exercise program. If you wait longer than 90 minutes, your body will begin feeding off of it’s own muscle, cancelling out any effort that you have put forth. Instead of building muscle, you will end up losing muscle.

For the best results in developing your lower body, the following leg exercises can be used

Squats – The benefits of this exercise lies in the fact that it effectively works your hamstrings, quadriceps and buttocks.There are not many exercises that guaranty visible leg muscle results like this one. To get the best results of the exercise, you will need to make sure that your shoulders are relaxed with your knees slightly inclined and your stomach muscles taunt whilst standing with your feet at hip width. Keep your head and neck straight, and your back in natural alignment. Slowly squat down to bend the knees at a 90 degree angle. If you cannot go all the way down, then just try to go as far as you can. Important: Do not lean forward. This is because,by doing so, you will put too much force on your knees. Your knee joints and lower back can very easily be hurt in the process. And so, you should ensure that your posture is straight at all times. Gently bend as you would , if a stool was placed behind you to sit. Pause and do a one count before gently raising your frame back to a standing position. Never let your knees go past your toes. Depending on how many reps you intend, continue repeating the process until the number is reached . 

Romanian Deadlift – If you want to target the hamstrings and glutes more effectively then a great leg exercise is the romanian deadlift..To execute this exercise choose either a barbell or set of dumbells and hold with a little wider than shoulder grip.Make sure the knees are slightly bent and push back your hips maintaining a straight back . Push your hips forward to slowly raise the bar making sure your back remains completely straight. The movement should not be fast but controlled.. The arms should remain straight..  As you stand up fully then lower the bar again pushing back the hips and bending the knees.At the start of this movement breathe in deeply.You should keep your breath in as the bar is lowered then exhale on the upward movement. Always start with light weights and if not sure seek professional advice..

Calve Raises – These exercises will require that you adopt the following position—feet spread at shoulder length and hands rested on your hips. Keep your head and neck straight, and focus on maintaining good posture throughout the exercise. Slowly raise your heels until you feel a real squeeze in your calf muscles. Squeeze after a one count and then, just as slowly drop your frame. Do this until you have exhausted the stated number of reps.

From reading these routines, it is obvious to see that leg exercises are not extremely easy, however you should at all times be careful of your movement. Toning the muscle in your legs should not be a problem just as long as you do not overdo it, eat directly before and after your workouts, and lift a reasonable amount of weight.