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Pretty much everyone who works out wants strong, sculpted legs.
Not only are tight and toned legs aesthetically pleasing, the strength that comes with them acts as the foundation of every movement we perform, even outside of the gym.
In our quest for lean and powerful legs, many of us do countless sets of machine-based exercises like hamstring curls and leg extensions.
But these exercises don’t measure up to the exercises I’m going to show you today, which are referred to as functional training exercises.
Functional training exercises mimic movements you perform in the real world, and also recruit several major muscles groups at once.
That’s the key to achieving strong and sculpted legs, as these movements (especially when performed with heavy weight) have been shown to increase growth hormone, burn fat for up to 48 hours following your workout, build serious muscle, and increase sports performance (1, 2, 3).
Below I’ll show you the top weight training exercises to strengthen legs – which will also sculpt and tone every inch of your lower body.
Deadlifts are unparalleled in their ability to improve leg strength, sculpt the glutes and hamstrings, upper thighs, and even strengthen the lower back and core.
As if that weren’t enough, deadlifts also improve posture along with grip and upper body strength.
It’s also a safe and easy exercise, requiring only a barbell weight, dumbbell or kettlebell.
How to Deadlift:
Proper form is crucial while deadlifting. A popular mistake many make, especially when they start to become fatigued, is rounding the lower spine.
It’s important to avoid this and keep the spine in a straight neutral position, otherwise you run the risk of harming your spinal discs.
Also, don’t be afraid to add a decent amount of weight to your deadlifts. Beginners should start with a weight they can lift for roughly 6 to 8 repetitions.
Lateral lunges target the calves, glutes, and hamstrings, as well as the inner thighs. Add dumbbells to this exercise for extra burn.
How to Perform Lateral Lunges:
Hip thrusts are one of the best exercises for sculpting the glutes and the backside. They can often be lost in the shadows of squats, deadlifts, and lunges, but are truly an exercise everyone looking to sculpt the back of their legs should perform.
Not only are they superb glute sculptors, they can even improve your deadlifts and squats due to fuller extension in the hips (which maximizes the engagement of the glutes).
How to Perform the Hip Thrust:
Oh, the squat. Considered one of the best exercises to strengthen the legs due to its ability to work the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and even the calves, it’s a foundational leg exercise no one should pass up.
How to Squat:
As with deadlifts, proper form is required to get the most out of your squats. One of the most common mistakes while squatting is extending the knees over the toes, which can cause strain on the knee joints and tendons.
Use a barbell to squat heavy weight, or hold dumbbells at your sides if you don’t have access to one.
Front squats are a challenging variation of the traditional squat in that you are now holding weight in front of your shoulders, rather than behind.
This placement leads to wonderful quadricep and glute development (some even consider it superior for glute sculpting) as it allows for more squat depth. You can use a barbell for this exercise or hold a kettle bell in front of your chest.
How to Perform Front Squats:
This challenging variation of the traditional lunge will have your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves feeling a burn like no other.
Be sure to keep your knees behind your toes at all times to avoid straining the knees.
How to Perform the Forward-Backward Lunge:
Sumo squats target that tricky inner thigh region, also referred to as the adductor muscles, as well as the glutes.
How to Sumo Squat:
Perform sumo squats either using a barbell or holding dumbbells or kettlebells in each hand between the legs.
The Bulgarian lunge, also referred to as a split squat, is another variation of the traditional lunge in that, rather than alternating legs, tension remains in one leg while performing reps.
The Bulgarian lunge requires a great deal of balance, as one foot is propped on a bench behind you. This is great for strengthening the smaller stabilizer muscles in the core as well as the legs.
Be sure that, as with any lunge, to keep your knees behind your toes (at about a 90-degree angle) at all times to protect the knees.
How to Perform the Bulgarian Dumbbell Lunge:
This exercise engages both glutes and a number of stabilizer muscles. It also works the upper body and core by challenging your balance.
How to Perform the Squat with Leg Lift and Diagonal Raise:
The lunge-step up combo engages the glutes and upper hamstrings, while also working the stability muscles and getting your heart rate up.
How to Perform Lunge Step Ups:
Walking dumbbell lunges are perfect for sculpting the entire leg, but also get your heart rate up while engaging your core stabilizer muscles.
How to Perform the Walking Dumbbell Lunge:
Note that holding the dumbbells above your head (or just holding one with both hands) requires a good deal of balance. If this is too much and you find your form is slipping, try holding lighter dumbbells by your sides during the lunges.
Many are familiar with the bridge exercise. The leg push-off goes a step further, using elevation and a single-leg approach to heighten the burn. These are excellent for targeting the glutes and upper hamstrings.
How to Perform Leg Push-Offs:
Curtsy squats put the burn in your outer thigh and glutes, while also challenging your balance for full-body muscle recruitment.
How to Curtsy Squat:
The beauty of these exercises to strengthen leg muscles lies not only in their ability to sculpt and strengthen legs in record time, but also in the fact that they don’t require fancy gym equipment.
Regularly incorporating these into your routine will do wonders for building strength. Plus, the fact that they’re functional exercises will whittle away excess fat by revving your heart rate and increasing your metabolic rate.
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