Best Exercises to Add to Your Leg Day Routine

Building leg muscle is just as important as the rest of your body. Why? Would you like to be walking around with a perfect physique on top and a not-so-great physique on the bottom? The truth is that no one wants to have chicken legs, and many people enjoy their leg day routine. But ensuring you have the right exercises for all your leg muscles is the key to getting the lean muscular legs you’ve been dreaming of.

Muscles to Work During Leg Day

Several groups of muscles make up your legs. Therefore, including all of them in your workouts will ensure a good leg day.

The first group is the quadriceps. This is the strongest muscle group. It is also known to have the leanest muscles of your legs. It is referred to as the quadricep because it consists of four muscles at the front of your thigh. Their primary function is to extend the knee, helping the leg to straighten. Each muscle in the quadriceps actually has its own name as well. It includes the vastus lateralis, the vastus medialis, the vastus intermedius, and, last but not least, the rectus femoris.

Next in form and function is the hamstring. This area consists of three muscles and is at the back of the thigh. Rather than aiding with leg straightening like the quadriceps, the hamstrings are in charge of hip and knee movement. This set of muscles starts just under the gluteus maximus and goes all the way to the tibia of the knee. For the hamstring, there are three known muscle groups. These groups include the bicep femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus.

Last but not least, we have the muscle group known as the calf muscles. Again, like the others, it consists of three different muscle groups: the gastrocnemius, the soleus, and the plantaris. The calf muscles aid in the movement of your knees, ankles, feet, and toes. When done right, you can develop all of these muscles simultaneously through a well-thought-out leg day workout. This is where we can help.

4 Leg Day Exercises You Need

As mentioned, the development of all of the leg muscles is pivotal. Not only does it help to keep everything at the same level, but It is also a way to build a better-looking physique. Have you ever walked into the gym and seen a man or woman entirely built up in their upper body only to have chicken legs? It’s not a pretty sight. However, by adding these four exercises to your leg day workout, you are more likely to develop well-rounded muscles all around.

1. Barbell Full Squat

The main focus of the barbell full squat is to add strength and size to your quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings. You’ll need to have exceptional core and back strength to do them correctly. This variation of leg exercise is the most common “starter” for leg day. It is performed by carrying a barbell with your choice of weight on your upper back. While it is balanced on your upper back, you lower yourself into a seated position and then return to a regular standing position. All the while, you must consciously maintain good posture to work the correct muscles. This will also make it less likely that you will sustain an injury.

Most individuals just starting out tend to do between one and two sets of twenty. This works the muscles in a way that won’t strain them. However, if you’re more of a seasoned lifter adding these to your leg day workout, you can actually increase the set amount to between three and five. Either way, taking a sixty-second break between sets is recommended.

1. Leg Extensions

Leg extensions, when added to your leg day workout, are meant to work your quadriceps. They are primarily done on a machine known as a lever machine. Basically, you’ll sit down and place your legs behind the padded bar of the lever machine. Once you set your weight, you’ll begin lifting the bar until your legs are fully extended and then lowering them back to a ninety-degree angle. One of the most complex parts of this exercise is maintaining control on the way down. This means you’ll need to take special care and not just let your legs drop once you reach your full extension. Unlike the barbell full squats that hone in on many lower body regions, the leg extensions primarily focus on the front of your thigh.

If you’re a first-timer with this leg day exercise, you’ll probably want to take it slow. In other words, you can start at three sets of twelve. You’ll want to keep it reduced and not overdo it on the weight. This will ensure you get the best possible workout without straining yourself. Just maintain focus and control while completing this exercise.

1. Barbell Lunges

Barbell lunges are completed much like the barbell full squats. This is to say that you’ll want to balance your barbell across your upper back as you did with the barbell full squats. The difference is in the movement. Rather than going straight down into a squat, you have two options. You can do walking lunges, or you can lunge in place.

To do this, you’ll want to step out while balancing the barbell and maintaining your posture. Then, you’ll bend at the knee, ensuring that your knee does not surpass your toes and that you have stepped out far enough that you can get to a ninety-degree angle at your knee. Basically, your upper leg and lower leg are creating a ninety-degree angle.

The best rule of thumb for a person just starting out with barbell lunges is to run about two to three sets. Each of these sets would be between ten and twelve repetitions. This will give your body time to adjust to the exercise and up your leg day workout. Now, as a seasoned bodybuilder, you can increase your sets to three to four depending on the weight as well as perform twelve to fifteen repetitions. Don’t forget to take a break between sets for about sixty seconds as well. This will give your body a minor break before beginning again.

1. Standing Calf Raises

If it’s not perfectly obvious, the standing calf raises give your calves a good workout. They are pretty simple compared to the other leg day exercises mentioned above. However, that doesn’t make it any less critical.

When completing the standing calf raises, you’ll need a platform. This can be a riser if you’re at the gym or if you’re stuck at home; it can be one of your steps. You’ll want to place the balls of your feet on the riser while your heels dangle off the back of the step. This is a game of balance as well as a leg day exercise, so you’ll need to keep your focus. Once on the step and your balance is set, you’ll raise up on your toes and then lower yourself back down in a trained manner. You don’t want to lower yourself too quickly because then you risk injury. When lowering, you’ll want to go slightly lower than the stair or riser until you feel a bit of a stretch.

Unlike the others, you can do this one of two ways. You can either do timed sets, holding your calf raise and then lowering yourself or doing continuous repetitions until you hit ten. Either way works, as it gives your calves a good workout. Now, if you decide to do the repetitions instead of the timed variation, you won’t want to exceed 10 repetitions to a set. You’lll also want to resetbetween your sets for forty-fivee to sixty seconds.

You can either do timed sets, holding your calf raise and then lowering yourself or doing continuous repetitions until you hit ten.

Healing Peptides for a More Effective Leg Day

Of course, sometimes injury can happen. Even when you know you are doing the exercises right. You can cause strain, whether that be to soft tissue like tendons or other areas of the body. This is where peptides come in. Peptides are typically produced naturally within the body. However, synthetic variations exist expressly to help you heal faster when you experience injury. Some of these peptides include BPC 157 and TB 500. They work by helping to create the foundation for healing.

So, will you be the one at the gym with the chicken legs? Or are you ready to add these exercises to your leg day workout routine? Adding them can give you the proper muscle definition in the right areas and even possibly prevent injury over time—nothing like strength training to save the day. And even when strength training doesn’t help to avoid injury, there are peptides to help you get back to it just like that.

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