The 5 best leg exercises? The muscles in your legs consist of the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. In addition to the legs, the gluteal muscles of your buttocks are often included for your lower body. The best exercises to train these muscle groups? Read our top 5 exercises.
Barbell Squat
The squat, known as “kniebuiging” in Dutch, is the most effective compound exercise and is therefore also called the king of all fitness exercises. It helps you build strength not only in your lower body but also in your upper body. With the squat, you primarily train the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. When you stand upright, the hips are extended, and the abdominal muscles help stabilize your upper body.
Stiff Leg Deadlift
The Stiff Leg deadlift, also known as the Romanian Deadlift, is a compound exercise that intensely targets multiple muscles in your legs and back. This exercise is often performed with a barbell, but alternative variations can be done with dumbbells, kettlebells, or pulley cables. The execution remains the same in all variations. With the Stiff Leg Deadlift, you primarily target the muscles in your back and legs.
Leg Press
The leg press is performed on a seated leg press machine, which is common in various fitness centers and health clubs. With the leg press, you train several muscles in the lower body, such as the quadriceps. Essentially, you sit with your knees bent and both feet on a platform, pushing the weight away with your legs using that platform. Keep your legs shoulder-width apart and do not place your feet too low on the platform.
Leg Curl
To isolate the hamstrings in your thighs, the Leg Curl is a very effective exercise. The Leg Curl can be performed both sitting and lying down. Here, we’ll cover the lying variation, also known as the lying leg curl. The hamstrings, or posterior thigh muscle, is the collective term for three muscles at the back of the thigh: the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus.
Leg Extension
The leg extension machine is a machine that allows you to isolate the quadriceps. The quadriceps are the muscles at the front of your thighs. Officially called the quadriceps femoris muscle or four-headed thigh muscle, it is a four-headed skeletal muscle on the front of the thigh. You can train the quadriceps in various ways, such as squats and leg press exercises.
