Developing Long, Lean Legs

The legs are perhaps one of the most difficult parts of the body to work because there are so many muscles involved and working legs can take up a good portion of your gym time.

The front of the legs above the knees is normally referenced as the Quadriceps or Quads muscles. This breaks down into many more muscles but, in the interest of keeping things simple, we will just refer to them as the Quads.

The back of your legs above the knees are known as the Hamstrings or Hams. The back leg muscles also break down into various muscle groups.

The calves make up the back of your legs below the knees and are comprised of the Soleus, Gastronemius, and the Peroneus Brevis. We will just refer to all these muscles as the calves.

The front of the legs below the knees also has muscles, but we do not need to get into details to know how to exercise these muscles.

Since the leg muscles are large muscle groups, they respond differently than small muscles groups. Large muscle groups such as the legs, when broken down effectively in a workout, take longer to repair and recover from the tiny microscopic tears inflicted upon them from intense workouts. Due to this fact, legs must be rested at least two to three days before working them again in order to repair effectively.

The first exercise is lunges. This works the legs and the Glutes. Stand with legs about hip width apart and toes pointing forward. Take a step forward with one leg more than a strides length. The back leg should be resting on the balls of the feet. Keep the torso erect, eyes and head straight and hands on hips. Lower the body until the thighs are perpendicular to the floor. Do not go beyond 90 degrees. You should feel most of the weight on the back leg when moving down. Come back up and repeat about three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions. You may increase the resistance by holding dumbbells. Make sure the knees of the front leg do not move past your toes. You should be moving in a straight line up and down. Switch legs.

To work the hams, lay, stomach down on a flexi-ball. Allow one leg to rest on the ground. Bend the other knee so that the bottom of your foot is facing the ceiling. Pretend to be supporting a pizza box on the foot. Begin by curling the leg in towards your rear end and then back. To make this harder, add leg weights. You can also do this lying stomach-down on the floor or standing up and curling the leg up toward the rear end. Keep you toes pointing toward the shin as much as possible. This exercise can be performed using a resistance band.

To work calves, grab a phone book or step. Stand with just the balls of your feet on the phone book and the rest of the foot off. Slowly lower the back of the feet then lift up so that your heels are elevated above the toes. Hold for a count of two then continue alternating with lowering and raising the heels, holding for two seconds every time you are elevated. If your feet cramp up, try resting more of the feet on the phone book.

There are many exercises for legs that would take up an entire book. The leg exercises listed are intended to be convenient to do at home or while away from home, without access to the gym.

Remember to warm your muscles first by jogging in place or running and then stretch before exercising. Give your legs adequate recovery time and pay special attention to proper form to prevent injury to the knees, hips, and back.