It’s well known that all the best leg exercises for women will contain some element of the squat which is the best exercise for strengthening the lower body. Just by a slight change of position of feet and knees, you dictate the degree of stress on specific muscle groups in your legs, thus getting the wanted result.
Knowing this, you can easily focus on a targeted part of your legs and work on strengthening that part. Each of the following seven exercises focuses on a specific body part.
Find those that fulfill your needs and goals and work out for the next 4-8 weeks until you switch to a different workout program.
Goal 1
Overall Increase Of Legg Muscle Mass
To increase muscle mass, you need to start your workout with the hardest exercises and heaviest weights, targeting the thighs from all sides by maintaining the intensity of the workout at the highest level.
Changing the position of your feet during the leg press will allow you to activate muscle fiber in different parts of your legs in different ways. Placing the feet a bit higher on the footplate will transfer the weight from quads to the back of your legs and glutes because of the larger angle and bigger flexion/extension on the hips.
To avoid limited activation of the glutes and back of the leg, ensure that you do not shorten the depth of the angle you put your knee in while doing the exercise.
As you increase the number of reps, you should decrease the weight proportionally. This workout targets four muscle groups: quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
Exercises:
1. Squat With Barbell
4 sets: 6-8; 6-8; 8-10; 8-10 reps
After the first two sets, lower the weight you are lifting.
2. Legg Press
4 sets: 8-10; 8-10; 10-12; 10-12 reps
Switch between two positions of your feet.
3. Walking Lunges With Dumbbells
3sets: 10, 12, 14 reps per leg.
4. Legg Extension
Three sets: 10 reps.
5. Romanian Deadlift
3 sets: 8, 10, 12 reps.
6. Laying Leg Curl
3 sets: 8, 10, 12 reps.
7. Standing Toe Lift
4 sets: 12, 12, 20 , 20 reps.
Goal 2
Better Leg Muscle Definition
Increasing the number of reps with lower weights simply does not help when it comes to the definition of the leg muscles. In order to keep high metabolism, you still need stimulation to increase and preserve your muscle mass.
That will increase the already high need for oxygen that occurs after the workout which will in the end increase the number of calories you burn. That’s the reason why you do the first exercise of this workout normally while others are done as super sets with more reps, shorter rest periods, and higher weights.
Exercises:
1. Squats On Smith Machine
4 sets: 8-10 reps. Two sets with feet in and two sets with feet out.
2. Superset
Legg press 3 sets: 10-12 reps with no rest
Goblet squat 3 sets: 10-12 reps, rest only if necessary.
3. Superset
Backward lunges on Smith machine 3 sets: 10-12 reps per leg with no rest.
Legg extension 3 sets: 12-15 reps rest only if necessary.
4. Superset
Lying leg extension 4 sets: 10-12 reps no rest
Donkey calf rise 4 sets: 12-15 reps rest only if necessary.
Goal 3
Strength Increase
Doing the squats correctly can be quite a challenge, so the goblet squat is a perfect version of it for a start. The idea of this variation is to completely accept the patterns of the squat before you start using weights while doing it.
This workout is mainly based on the use of machines. As your coordination betters and your muscles strengthen, you will progress to more challenging moves with weights.
Exercises:
Goblet Squat
Four sets: 10-12 reps, rest period of 90 seconds.
Legg Press
Three sets: 10-12 reps, rest period of 90 seconds.
Leg Extension
Three sets: 10-12 reps, rest period of 60 seconds.
Sitting Legg Curl
Three sets: 10-12 reps, rest period of 60 seconds.
Standing Tiptoe
Three sets: 15 reps, rest period of 60 seconds.
Goal 4
Defined Quads
It is tough to isolate just one area of the leg while exercising. However, you can emphasize one area more than the other. In that case, we try to maximize the knee’s range of movement and limit the hips’ movement.
One of the ways to achieve this is to change the position of the feet while doing the exercises on the machines. The front squat (with the barbell on your chest) defines quads more than the back squat (with the barbell behind your head).
This workout routine targets quads and glutes, so if you want, you can add exercises for calves and hamstrings. As you increase the number of reps, you should decrease the weights you lift.
Exercises:
1. Front Squat
4 sets: 6-8; 6-8; 8-10; 12 reps (after first two sets lower the weight)
2. Hack Squat
Three sets: 8, 10, 12 reps (keep feet on the footplate waist wide)
3. Hack Squat
Three sets: 6 heavy partial reps
4. Leg Press
Three sets: 8, 10, 12 reps (keep your feet on the footplate)
5. Leg Extension
Three sets: 10, 10, 12 reps
Goal 5
Defined Glutes
As opposed to quad workouts where the goal was to limit the hip movement, here we want to maximize them. We do this by choosing the exercises and the position of the feet, which allow you to work the glutes through the entire range of the movement.
Go as deep as you can in the squat. As the number of reps increases, decrease the weight. If you wish, you can add exercises for calves and hamstrings to make the workout more complete.
Exercises:
1. Sumo Squat
4sets: 6-8; 6-8; 8-10; 12 reps (after first two sets lower the weight)
2. Legg Press
Three sets: 8, 10, 12 reps (keep your feet high on the footplate)
3. Butt Blaster Machine
3 sets: 8, 10, 12 reps
4. Romanian Deadlift
4 sets: 8, 8, 12, 12 reps
Goal 6
Defined Hamstrings
Hamstrings are a very important muscle group that supports the knee. There are a lot of exercises for this area that can be done laying down, standing, or sitting. Keep in mind that you also activate hamstrings with hip movement, and that includes Romanian deadlift.
People very often mistake the Romanian deadlift with other forms of the deadlift, which affect the lower back more. In Romanian deadlift, the weights never touch the floor, and this exercise is very effective in activating the upper part of the hamstrings.
You also activate hamstrings with deep squats in which you control the speed of going down. If you decide to train quads and hamstrings on separate days, make sure you have at least 48 hours in between to recover fully.
Exercises:
1. Romanian Deadlift On Smith Machine
Four sets: 6-8; 6-8; 8-10; 12 reps (after first two sets lower the weight)
2. Standing Leg Curl With One Leg
Three sets: 8, 10, 12 reps
Goal 7
Pre-Exhaust Leg Workout
Pre-Exhaust leg workout starts with targeting quads with just one joint movement. By the time you get to more complex exercises, your quads will already be close to failure, but the glutes and hamstrings will still be rested.
This is an advanced form of training, and it is good when you must go above routine and stagnation. Even tho you will be much stronger in leg extension, which usually happens at the end of the workout, keep the reps relatively high to avoid overworking the knees.
When quads are tired, everything else will seem hard, so feel free to lower the weights as needed. Chose weights that allow you to reach failure in the desired number of reps.
Exercises:
1. Legg Extension
Five sets: 8-10 reps
2. Squat On Smith Machine
4 sets: 8-10; 8-10; 10-12; 12 reps (after first two sets lower the weights)
3. Hack Squat
Three sets: 10 reps
4. Lunges With Dumbbells
Three sets: 12 reps per leg
Conclusion
Just the thought of “today is the leg day” makes you feel exhausted. Trust me, most of us feel the same, but when it comes to the best leg exercises, there is a large number of variations.
Almost all of these exercises in their bases contain some form of squat, which is the best exercise for the lower part of the body. By changing the position of the feet and knees, you dictate the degree of strain on different muscle groups in your legs; that way, you get the desired results.
By knowing this, you can easily affect the targeted part and focus on strengthening the weaker areas. Each of these exercises has different effects on your muscles. Find the ones that fulfill your needs and go for it.
As for the pain in your legs, it’s up to you to deal with it the best way you can. Stay focused, don’t give up, and you will see the results in no time.
