Building Killer Legs

How can you tell a serious bodybuilder? Most people train chest and arms and walk around with matchstick legs. If you are serious about building a truly spectacular physique your legs must be worked to the limit. Not only will this add more weight to your frame, training legs properly will increase anabolic hormone levels and make you look like a true bodybuilder.

Training legs with full intensity is extremely hard – it hurts like hell, but if you’re serious about building a muscular physique you must incorporate full leg training into your regime.

Outlined are some leg exercises to help you build your solid foundation.

Squats: THE leg growth exercise

If you want to build huge quads, glutes and hamstrings you will have to squat with perfect form and heavy weights. When building muscle mass you have to leave your ego at the door of the gym – take the weight off the bar and learn perfect form. Anyone can squat 150 – 200kg when they go down 2 inches, but look at their legs, tiny huh? Who would have guessed!

Correct Squat Form:
Start with a weight on the bar that will give a bit of resistance to your squat so you can feel the movement.

Place the bar on your back and shoulders – not your neck and place you feet shoulder width or slightly wider than shoulder width apart.

Keep your chest up and outwards – this will also create a slight concave arch in your back. Don’t arch the other way; this will place strain on your back.

The Squat:
Lower yourself down in a CONTROLLED manner, don’t let gravity help you down or just fall. Lower yourself like you are going to sit in a chair with your bum sticking out and the most important thing – lower yourself all the way down to parallel, or even arse to floor if you can. Lowering all the way down is a must! This will stimulate every single muscle fibre and give you a deep, deep stretch in your legs.

Going Up:
Don’t bounce the weight up or use momentum to lift yourself upwards.

Feel your leg muscles squeeze and contract to lift the weight all the way up in a controlled movement

Squats should be the staple of your leg regime, perform them first and with 3 – 5 sets. Be sure to do 2 – 4 warm up sets beforehand to prevent injury and increase blood flow to the large leg area. The squat is a lift where you can add some serious weight, but remember that form is more important than weight; make sure your form is always correct before adding the iron.

Stiff Leg Deadlift (or leg curl machine)

The hamstrings need to be worked if you are to fully develop your legs. Stiff leg deadlifts (SLDL) should be performed with perfect form.

Keeping your foot stance quite narrow, as you lower the bar do not lower your bum to the floor like a regular deadlift.

Bend from the hips, keeping a slight bend in your knees.

When lifting upwards concentrate on using your hamstrings to lift the weight.

Lunges

Place a barbell on your shoulders and take a large step forward with one leg.

Bend all the way down until your opposing knee is just above the floor.

Push off your forward leg to return to the starting position.

You can perform this exercise one leg at a time or alternate between each leg, or you can ‘walk’ with the bar up and down a free area in your gym – if you do this correctly you’ll be crying for your mum after the set has finished!

Go heavy with this exercise and perform about 10 – 15 reps per leg.

Leg Extensions

More of an isolation movement, leg extensions will really pump your quads and if you perform the exercise perfectly you will have trouble walking afterwards.

Keep the rep range in the 10 – 15 range

Really squeeze the quads to lift the weight, concentrate fully on using your quads here and keep form really strict,

Again squeeze the quads at the top of the exercise for a count of 1

Always use a slow controlled motion 

Using these basic exercises will really spark new growth in your legs. You should put aside one whole workout for your legs, as they are such a big muscle group.

Train with good form – start light to get your form down, but pile on as much weight as you can whilst keeping your form and rep ranges – this will make your legs grow.

Focus heavily on your muscle contraction when performing your exercises; this will concentrate all stress on the specific muscle.

Sample leg workout

Squats (2 – 3 warm up sets) 3 x 7 – 10
SLDL (1 warm up set) 3 x 8 – 10
Lunges 2 x 10 – 12
Leg Extensions 3 x 10 – 15
Calf raises 3 x 15 – 20

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