Building Stronger Legs

If one of the goals of your workout program is to really increase the strength of the lower body, there are a few important tips that you should always be being mindful of.

Leg strength is something that is often overlooked by many people simply because they dislike training their legs in general. There’s no question that leg training does tend to be intense, but if you want to build a solid foundation that will help you out in every activity you do, leg training will be a must.

Let’s look at some of the top things that you should keep in mind in order to build up stronger legs.

Squat Heavy

The very first thing that you should make sure you’re doing is squatting heavy. No other exercise is going to work the leg muscles like the squat, so this is a must to add into your workout routine.
Squats, when performed heavy, not only will burn up a high amount of calories while you perform them, but will also cause a surge of testosterone release through the body. If you want to gain strength and size, squats are perfect for this.

Be sure when squatting that you do move through the full range of motion all the way down however as this is what will best ensure that you call the glutes into play.

Add Sufficient Variety

Second, the next important thing that you must remember is to add sufficient variety in the program plan. Just like your upper body muscles, if the legs are not getting enough of a variety of stressors placed upon them, eventually they will adapt and fail to growth that much stronger.

Instead, try varying the exercises that you choose from week to week. While squats may always be a mainstay, some other good alternatives include deadlifts, step-ups, leg presses, lunges, and split squats.

Each will work the legs to a considerable extent and help to really boost up your total strength level.

Work Across A Few Rep Ranges

Third, when it comes to planning out your program, also make sure that you’re working through a variety of different rep ranges. While you will see the greatest strength gains using the 5-8 rep range, don’t be afraid to take some exercises slightly higher than this.

It will cause a higher amount of fatigue in the muscle tissue, which will then have to be dealt with and can increase the total results that you see.

Try working in the lower rep ranges for the most powerful exercises of squats and deadlifts and then taking any lunges, step-ups, or single leg split squats you perform into the higher rep range. This will give enough variability to provide maximum development and muscle definition.

Be Sure To Provide Enough Rest

Finally, the last important tip that you absolutely must keep in mind if you are to see good results from your leg training regime is that you are getting enough rest as well. Those who do not take the time to get sufficient rest are never going to grow stronger and may actually become overtrained very quickly.

Remember, the legs are going to be working whenever you do your cardio training as well, so be sure to consider the complete picture of the entire program when planning out how often you will be doing your leg training.

If you are training legs heavy twice per week and then also training with interval sprints two or three times per week, this is very likely going to become far too much for the legs to handle.

Always make sure that you have a day of rest prior to your leg training as well as after leg training has been completed and that will make sure that you have the recovery that you need to make good progress.

If you can be sure to follow these tips as you go about planning and carrying out your leg training, you will see great strength gains in the lower body that not only complete your body but also help to prevent injuries as you go about any other activities or sports that you participate in.