Total Leg Workout | Physical activities slideshows | Well Being center

Lunges Are a Great Strength Builder, and They're Good For Flexibility, Too

Lunges are a versatile, portable exercise - they can be done forwards, backwards, to the sides and require no equipment. Instead, the speed of a lunge is what gives it its edge. Faster movements require more force, and they also involve more type II fiber activation, resulting in increased strength and some increase in muscle size. Additionally they're fairly simple. A lunge is simply a long step. When you accelerate into a lunge, your posterior chain drives you forward and when you deccelerate your quadriceps provide the power. Try a lunge workout that involves lunging in all directions, and work on straightening your back leg to get a hip flexor stretch at the same time.

Sources & Links

Important notification about information and brand names used in this slideshow!
Photo courtesy of www.localfitness.com.au by Wikimedia Commons : commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Personal_Training_Outdoors_-_Lunges.jpg
www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/thighs/exercises/hot-legs-exercises/
http://www.askmen.com/top_10/fitness/2_fitness_list.html
http://www.buff-dudes.com/5-best-legs-exercises-buff-dudes-workout/
http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/leg-workout-1?fullpage=true
http://jaypar7.hubpages.com/hub/10BestExercisesForYourLegs

Deadlifts For Strength In The Legs and Hips - and More

Deadlifts may be the most whole-body exercise there is. They certainly involve the legs. Typically we'd say that while squats are knee dominant, deadlifts are hip dominant, but a lot of that depends on your individual motion patterns. What's certain is that deadlifts are powered by the glutes to a large extend and that they'll build hamstrings of iron too. Additionally, while deadlifts are exhausting to the central nervous system, they also have massive carryover. Train the deadlift and watch as you get stronger - which means you can work harder at the other exercises in this slideshow!

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Photo courtesy of adrian valenzuela by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/adrianv/8707529607/

Single Leg Squats Build the Leg Stabilizers; Try Them For a Challenge

Single leg squats are great for building the stabilizing muscles in the hips and knees, and they give you the opportunity to test yourself out to see if you have nay major imbalances. If you can do 3 single-leg squats on one side but none on the other side, it's a fair bet that you've got a muscular imbalance that's going to get worse unless you do something about it. The easiest single leg squat variation to perform is a skater squat. Kneel like a soldier taking aim, with one leg behind you and one in front. Stand up on the front leg, then return to position. Don't let the back leg help you - try lifting the back leg off the floor before you stand!

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Photo courtesy of supperhotgirl2 by Photobucket : media.photobucket.com/user/supperhotgirl2/media/Workouts/leg-squat.gif.html?filters[term]=one%20leg%20squat&filters[primary]=images&filters[secondary]=videos&sort=1&o=1

Goblet Squats: Fix Your Squat And Get a Workout At The Same Time

Goblet squats are fairly simple, but that doesn't mean they're not effective. The beauty of a goblet squat is that you can't do it wrong, and the better you do it, the easier it is. This is the squat fixer, and it's a great exercise in its own right. Take a dumbbell and hold one end of it in both hands under your chin, with your elbows down. Your arms and hands should look like a goblet, hence the name. Now squat, making sure to bring your arms between your knees. Holding a good curve in your back and maintaining a good line of force with the dumbbell will force you to squat better, and a better squat means better legs.

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Leg Curls Strengthen Your Hamstrings and Protect Your Legs

Leg curls can get a bad rep, but actually they're a pretty good way to target your hamstrings. Most leg curl machines are of two types. You'll either lie face down and curl a weight up towards your glutes, or stand and curl one leg and then the other. Both are good, and you should use the leg curl to learn how to make your hamstrings fire as well as to add volume after deadlifts or to pre-fatigue before them. Machines like this shouldn't be your staple movements, but they're going to help make your legs strong enough to do the big moves that will really get your pins in shape!

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Photo courtesy of Sergio Savarese by Wikimedia Commons : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amanda_Fran%C3%A7ozo_At_The_Runner_Sports-5.jpg

Calf Raises Will Help Stretch and Strengthen Your calf Muscles

The calves are all too often neglected in leg training programs. And that's a shame, because calves are an important part of your legs, making a big difference to gait, power transfer and your ability to sprint and jump. One good way to train your calves is to run barefoot; another is skipping. But if your calves are already in bad shape, and you try either of these, you're going to have a very sore set of legs. Additionally, calf raises give you a bit more control, and an opportunity to stretch. The best way to do them is on a block. A stair in your house, a curbstone or a step in the gym will all work fine. Stand with the balls of your feet and your toes on the block and lower yourself as low as you can go. When you get there, hold it a second then push yourself back up to as high as you can go. This is especially beneficial to women who regularly wear high heels, since that can lead to a shortening of the calf muscles and achilles tendons.

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Split Squats: A Squat Variation With Some Hip Flexors

Split squats might be better than squats. Yeah, I said it! Split squats are good for building flexibility, increasing the health of your hip flexors and strengthening the legs. Because the loading is greater on the legs - because one leg takes, if not all the load, at least three quarters of it - split squats can help you train your legs while letting your lower back rest a bit, and the lower back is notoriously easy to overtrain. Stan with your instep on a knee-high object behind you, and lower your hips between the two legs - you shouldn't be lowering yourself onto your front foot, but behind it. Keep your back erect. Once you can do 10 to 15 either side, try adding weight in the form of dumbbells.

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High Step Ups Hit Your Glutes and Hamstrings, Stabilizers and Hips Too

Step ups are a great exercise. They're one of those that far too many people think are too easy for them - but just try a couple of sets of high step ups and tell me they're easy! A high step up is subjective - A step at mid thigh level to you counts as high, and hits the glutes and hamstrings well. The mistake that people make with these is to let the back leg help. Try this simple fix: pull your toes and the ball of your back foot off the floor and straighten the leg right out. Now only your front leg can move you. Easy, right?

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Photo courtesy of www.localfitness.com.au by Wikimedia Commons : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Step_Group_Fitness_Class.JPG

Skipping Is A Great Way To Build Leg Strength And Fitness

Jump rope, or skipping, is a very effective, yet simple, way to train your legs. You'll see results in your calves first, especially if your calves are weak - to stretch them out, try doing the calf raises we talked about a few slides back. But as you progress to skipping faster and doing one-leg and double under skipping, you'll see your legs in general improving. Skipping's popular with all kids of athletes for a good reason. It's a great warm-up, a great cool-down, great cardio, you can get volume, power and speed training - all with a piece of rope.

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Cycling - A Classic Way To Build Strong Legs And Travel At The Same Time

Cycling is a good way to strengthen the legs, especially the quadriceps. While cycling in the gym is good, the best form of exercise you can get on a bike it to ride an actual bike, especially somewhere hilly. When you change position - standing up on the pedals to ride up a steep hill, or sitting back to ride down one - you're using the muscles of your legs in different ways. And if you're thinking about the ride, not the workout, you'll do more, too. If you are cycling in a gym, try to vary the resistance, to get more strength demands on your legs as well as some cardio.