By I value the importance of leg development as it’s one of my weaker links, requiring a lot of hard work!
Oh how I love leg day. There is no better day for legs then on the first day of the weekend (Saturday). Why you may ask? Well, for starters, there is no one at the time I arrive (it’s 4am) and the whole gym floor is free for me to hog any machine I desire to really kill it on leg day! I hope you all have that kind of intention and ‘go for the kill’ attitude when it comes to weight training. It will really push you to get those awesome results.
Here are my ultimate favourite leg exercise. I have attempted to find images thanks to google. Please note, as a female, I smash the glutes, that’s why a lot of these exercises are more for the booty development. Here goes..
My top 4 leg exercises with some secret variations
ONE. The humble squat with these variations – Only arse to grass counts (see above image for how low you need to go. Decrease the weight and build up strength)
– Elevated heel squats my ultimate favourite all time variation
– Plie squats (think of the ballerina stance, although this requires some flexibility)
– Narrow stance squat – Killer quat variation. It tricks you in the beginning because you don’t feel it. Wait till rep 7 and then say hello!
– Split squats with bar, or using the cables
TWO. Deadlift. There are a few alternatives outlined below for you.
– Hex bar deadlift – best for beginners who need the reminder of proper technique. The bar forces you to hold proper form throughout the movement
– Romanian deadlift (great for the glutes ad gluteal fold)
– Good mornings – You can do these seated or standing. Engage your abdominals as you perform this movement.
THREE. Walking lunges with dumbbells. You really need to make sure your body is straight, and that your back leg almost touches the ground. This needs to needs to be a deep lunge.
FOUR. Hack squats are really effective in engaging the glute & quads I love this angle as there is less stress placed on my back (rather than the upright hack squat). Play around with the height of your feet, as well as how narrow and wide they are. These variations all make a difference to the development of your legs. Make sure you go as low as you possibly can without locking the machine. The image above is perfect
Use these as part of your leg development sessions, and really focus on your form and range of movement. It does not matter if you can only squat 30kg using the arse to grass method. Long term, you will progress a lot faster, and also really get a wonderful shape from using the muscles to their full potential. This is all about setting a proper foundation for training to make the best impact on your body composition as well as eliminating the risk of injury.