A well-trained body should be complete. However, you often see many athletes only training the show muscles, such as chest, shoulders, and arms. The back is often forgotten or simply added as an afterthought, but there is one part that most athletes neglect to train or barely train: the legs!
If you want to see all leg exercises, check out the following links for:
- Quadriceps exercises
- Hamstrings exercises
- Calf exercises
Table of Contents
Leg training
When you see them on the beach, the bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts who don’t train their legs are easy to spot. The top looks like they could be on the cover of Men’s Health, but their legs look like they’ve been in a cast for a long time.
The commonly used term for these guys (because they are usually men) is ‘bar bodies’, meaning they only train the muscles that look good when they wear a small shirt at the bar.
I’m not blessed with big muscular legs myself, but that’s not because I’m not trying! However, I have the disadvantage of being very tall, and my legs are proportionally even longer. I train them very hard and very heavy.
The Barbell Squat
The barbell squat (knee bending) – or simply: the squat – is the exercise for the legs. Although you normally do squats for your quadriceps, this is an exercise that trains your entire body. Especially the muscles in your lower body are completely tensed. Don’t be surprised if after a heavy squat session, the next day you have trouble sitting down because your buttocks hurt so much.
Not everyone is built to perform squats well. Squats require a certain degree of flexibility and balance, and especially smaller people with short legs will get the most out of this exercise. They can usually perform squats with their feet flat on the ground.
Taller people – like me – usually have more difficulty with the proper execution of the squat movement. This is mainly because the length works against you when trying to balance a heavy barbell on your neck while bending your knees.
Tall people also tend to lean forward too much, causing most of the tension to be felt in the lower back and buttocks.
Things to watch out for while squatting:
- Keep the bar high on your neck
- Try not to put your hands too far apart. Keeping your hands close together tightens your back and keeps you more upright during squats
- Place your feet shoulder-width apart maximum. There is no fixed rule for the distance between your feet; you have to find the best position for your body type
- Go down to at least ninety degrees (thighs parallel to the ground) and if possible even a little lower. This also strengthens the tendons of your muscles
- Go down slowly, and try not to ‘bounce’ when you’re at the bottom to make it easier to come up. Try to pause at the bottom before going back up
The Leg Press
Training your legs properly is almost impossible without using equipment. There are many types, but the most important one for your quadriceps is the leg press. The leg press is also a good exercise for tall people, because you don’t have the problem of balancing a barbell here.
Things to watch out for during the leg press exercise:
- Use an incline or a seated leg press. A vertical leg press (where you lie under the machine) is not recommended due to the pressure building up in your head
- Place your feet as far forward on the board as possible, so you can go down deep without letting your buttocks slide forward
- Go down until your buttocks come forward and your lower back comes off the seat. That’s just too deep. Now that you know how deep you can go, you should stop just before reaching that position during your training. When you feel your lower back come off, you should stop
- Don’t straighten your legs all the way until your knees lock. Keep your legs slightly bent. This prevents your knees from taking a hard hit with each repetition
The Front Squat
The front squat is a variation of the normal barbell squat. The difference is that the barbell is not placed on the neck but in front on the shoulders.
The front squat mainly targets the quadriceps at the bottom, near your knees. If you can maintain good balance, you can go much further down than with a barbell squat, which gives the muscles extra tension.
If you have trouble with your balance or if you can’t hold the bar properly on your shoulders and chest, then the Smith Machine is the solution. Here, you only have to focus on holding the bar ; your balance is always good.
With the Smith Machine, make sure your feet are slightly further forward than with a normal squat, because otherwise you’ll put too much strain on your back (the bar doesn’t move with the movement of your upper body).
As a final exercise for big legs, I mention:
The Hack Squat
The hack squat is also performed on a machine. Originally, this exercise was done with a barbell held behind your back, but that is a very uncomfortable position. The machine is much better suited for this.
Like the front squat, the hack squat mainly targets the quadriceps at the bottom, but you have to make sure to go deep.
Try to go down to at least ninety degrees. The execution is more important than the weight. Once you master the exercise, you’ll get stronger quite quickly.
Also, with the hack squat, place your feet as far forward on the board as possible, and stop when your lower back comes off the backrest.
So, there you have them: the four most intensive and best exercises for the development of your quadriceps. Yes, there are more exercises, but your leg training should really focus around these exercises.
Here’s an example quadriceps workout, where you normally do two or three of these exercises to provide the necessary variety:
- Warm up with leg extensions and stretching
- Squats: 2 warm-up sets, 4 sets of 12 to 6 repetitions
- Leg Presses: 4 sets of 12 to 6 repetitions
- Front Squats: 3 sets of 12 to 6 repetitions
