By Full squats, all the way down, down, down!
My favourite day of the week is LEG DAY! I chose to work my legs twice a week, and have also done so twice a day. There is no right or wrong method, just one that will get you the results you want.
Do you want to make some gains on your legs, or would you prefer to lose fat off them a lot more? Is it more explosive strength? Answering these questions will help you get a lot more information about your intention to train legs, and what goals you want to achieve.
Squats work hand in hand with deadlifts in order to develop and lean out your legs. I can’t quite describe how amazing it is to finish your leg program, knowing that you are slowly working towards those key goals. The inner strength needed to get through the program, makes it all the more worthwhile.
I’m going to share with you some leg day methods which I use, and have served me very well during my training. If you can adapt them into your training program, the results will be outstanding. They have never failed me.
5 rules to stronger, leaner and muscular leg development
- Make sure you squat full range, not partial. Most people don’t have the flexibility to squat deeply, where your butt cheek touches your calves. This is essential if you want to take full advantage of the strength and muscle building capabilities of your leg routine. The neuromuscular demand needed to take the load all the way down exposes the muscle fibers to greater mechanical and neural stimuli to force growth. Start off with a smaller weight, and slowly, build upon that. It is well worth the patience and time needed to spend on this one key aspect of squatting. It’s not ever about the weight you can squat, it’s about the range of motion, which provides the ultimate growth potential.
- Don’t forget to train unilaterally. This means, that you use the one leg at a time motion. A good example of this would be to use one leg at a time on the leg press machine. You can also attempt unilateral movement on a leg extension machine, split squats or lunges. This will reduce a lot of muscular imbalances, strengthen the weaker links, and add more muscular adaptations over the long term. It definitely is something that we all need to do regularly.
- Train towards failure. Training at this level produces some superior results in leg development. Making it a priority to train at a higher volume, will produce a lot more strength, in a shorter amount of time. Attempt to also prioritise heavy lifting, gearing towards failure. Aim for 4–6 sets instead of the more safer, lower numbers.
- Now for deadlifts. This is one of the best exercises you can use on a regular basis. The reason being is that it provides strength and hypertrophy results for all that execute it well. It’s one of the easiest lifts you can attempt, and recruits the highest motor units of muscle. Form must be perfect, because the lower back is heavily involved in this movement. One wrong move can create a lot of issues for your back and hips. Start small, and build when you have the confidence and know how the proper form. Consult you tube or a trainer if you need to.
- Don’t forget your hamstrings. Try low reps using tri-sets for the best activation of muscles. Use the three different positions available for this one, to really target each and every angle. Those angles are neutral, toes out, and toes facing in. You can also choose to flex or point your toes for extra activation. Really smash out those reps, as you will most definitely feel the burning sensation. When you do, keep going!
I do hope that these simple variations can take your leg development to another level. There are so many more alterations you can make, but these are a great place to start, and simple enough to use.