Best Leg Exercise - Squats

Quadriceps Exercise and Workout

The upper leg muscles are the largest and most powerful muscles of the human body. Most if not all sports require intense leg power output. The legs make up about half of our body mass, you just can't avoid training them. Because we use our legs in everyday walking, running, and moving around, they're capable of great endurance, and this is also one of the key reasons why leg training days are so demanding.

Because leg muscle training is so demanding, many beginners tend to overlook leg days, or completely avoid training the legs, and end up with lagging leg muscles. They become disappointed with their leg development. But to develop a symmetrical and proportional body, you can't avoid leg training.

Squat Exercise - The Best Leg Exercise

The squats is power compound exercise that's probably the best exercise to develop the leg mass. Squats will build mass and strength in the legs, and improve your core strength. Full squat exercise is the traditional mass building exercise for the entire lower body with primary target muscles being the quadriceps.

squat exercise

With a barbell placed at an appropriate height on the squat rack, step under it so that the bar rests across the back of your shoulders
Hold the bar for balance and raise it up from the rack and take a step back
Keep your head up and back straight, feet shoulder width apart
Start the exercise by bending your knees and lower yourself until your thighs are just a bit lower than parallel to the floor
From this point, push back up to starting position

Front Squat Exercise

The front squat exercise targets the thighs and develops the outside sweep of the quadriceps.

Start at a rack with a barbell at chest height, position your body so that the barbell is at your chest level and supported by your arm crossed in front of you
Dismount the weight from the rack, and take a step back
Lower your body until the thighs are just below being parallel to the floor and then straighten your legs and knees to the straight position

Sissy Squat Exercise

The sissy squat exercise is an isolation exercise for the lower quadriceps. Although it's a "squat" exercise, it's more similar to a leg extension movement.

Stand upright with your feet a few inches apart, holding onto something for support, like a bench or a piece of exercise equipment
Bend your knees as you rise up on your toes
Slowly lower your body toward the floor backwards, letting your pelvis and knees go forward. Your buttocks should almost touch your heels as you complete the movement
Straighten your legs and flex your thigh muscles hard at the top, for maximum development

Leg Press Exercise

The leg press builds the mass of the thighs. The main advantage of leg press compared to squats is that there's no pressure on your back, and you are able to exercise the leg muscles with very heavy weights.

Seated in the leg press machine, place your feet on the cross piece
Lower the weight as far as possible
Push the weight back up to starting position

Lunges

The lunges develops the front thighs and the glutes.

Stand with or without weights at your sides or on your shoulders
With your feet together to begin, step out with one leg with the heel leading and then bend the leg until your leg form a ninety degree angle
Push yourself back to starting position then repeat with the other leg

Leg Extension Exercise

Leg extension is an isolation exercise that targets the quadriceps muscle.

Sitting in the machine, place your shins underneath the padded weight section.
From the starting position, extend your legs to lift up the weight, keeping yourself firmly on the seat
Then, slowly lower your legs down after you’ve reached a straight leg position.

Best Hamstring Exercise

Stiff Leg Dead Lift (Straight Leg Deadlift)

The straight leg deadlift targets the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back to some extent.
Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart with a barbell on the floor in front of you.
Grab the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder width
Keeping your legs straight, lift the weight up
Keep lifting until you are fully upright.
Bring the weight back down to the starting position.

Leg Curl (Hamstring Curl)

There are two types of leg curl machines. One is lying down, and doing leg curls with both legs, and the other standing, and doing leg curl one leg at a time. Both achieve the same purpose of working the hamstring muscles.

Lie face down on a leg curl machine and hook your heels under the padding
With your legs straight, start curling them up as far as you can until the hamstrings are fully contracted
Lower the weight back to starting position.

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