Leg Workout Gym
Legs are one of the most important muscle groups to train for a variety of reasons. For starters, they’re responsible for all of your lower body movements, including walking, running, jumping, and squatting.
The leg muscles also play an important role in stabilizing your knee joint and protecting it from injury. This is especially true as you get older because leg muscle strength may decline over time due to age-related muscle loss.
The following leg exercises can help you build strong legs that can keep up with any activity you want to do. If you’re new to strength training or just want to mix up your workout routine, try these five killer leg workouts at the gym:
Barbell Back Squat
The barbell back squat is a compound exercise that works multiple muscle groups at once. It’s an excellent choice for building lower body strength and size.
How to do it: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell across your upper back with an overhand grip. Push your hips back and bend your knees until your thighs are nearly parallel to the floor. Then thrust your hips forward to return to the starting position.
Romanian Deadlift
The Romanian deadlift is a leg workout staple, and for good reason. The ROMANIAN DEADLIFT works your hamstrings, glutes, back and core muscles! The ROMANIAN DEADLIFT is also one of the best exercises for knee health because it keeps your knees in a less-biased position than other forms of deadlifts.
How to do it: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand by your sides with palms facing inward. Keeping your chest up and core tight, bend at the knees until the weights reach just below your knees. Pause for a beat and return to starting position. Hold onto dumbbells with both hands as you perform this exercise if needed for balance or stability purposes.
Leg Press
The leg press is a great exercise for building muscle in your legs. It targets your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, which are all important muscles for running.
How to do it: Sit on the machine with your feet under the foot pads and hands gripping the handles in front of you. Push through your heels to get the weight moving up and out of the bottom position. Don’t lock out at the top of the movement — keep tension in your quads by trying to squeeze them together as you come back down into the bottom position. Perform 12-15 reps per set on this exercise, resting 30 seconds between sets.
Bulgarian Split Lunge
The Bulgarian split squat is a great way to build strength and balance in the lower body. You can do this exercise with dumbbells or a kettlebell, but the latter will require more attention to the stability of your upper body.
Check out our video guide for how to perform this move:
- Stand about 3 feet away from a bench or step, holding weights in each hand.
- Step back with one foot and lower yourself until your back knee nearly touches the floor (a). Push yourself back up by straightening your front leg and both knees (b). Switch legs after 12 reps total.
Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat
The rear foot elevated split squat is a great exercise to add to your leg workouts. It’s a fairly simple movement that can be done with dumbbells or a barbell.
This exercise is great for building strength in your glutes, quads and hamstrings, while also working your core.
To perform this exercise:
Stand upright holding dumbbells or a barbell in front of your body with your arms extended straight out in front of you.
Step back and place one foot on the bench behind you, keeping the other foot flat on the ground. Your front knee should be bent at a 90-degree angle and your back knee should be aligned over the heel of your rear foot (this is known as an open stance). Keep your torso upright throughout the entire exercise.
Dumbbell Walking Lunges
Walking lunges are one of the most effective leg workouts to build strong and powerful legs. This exercise is great for strengthening the thighs, glutes and calves, while also improving balance and stability.
How To Do Walking Lunges:
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing forward and knees slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell in each hand by your sides or at your chest. Take a big step forward with one leg and slowly lower into a lunge until both knees are bent 90 degrees. Pause for 1 second before stepping back to starting position. That’s 1 rep; do 15 reps on each side for 3 sets total.
Thank you for reading this post about 5 great leg exercises. We hope you can take something from it to use in your own workouts. Let us know what your favorite type of exercise is or which you would like to try next.
