Sunday, December 14, 2008

Weight Training Routines, Legs

By Ricardo d Argence

No matter if you are a professional bodybuilder, a contact sports player, or just a simple person who is working on getting their body in shape, it is always important that you do not neglect your legs for a great number of reasons. Some folks forget about their legs when working out and focus on the bigger arms and chest. There are very good reasons to exercise your legs along with the rest of your body.

If you have read at all, you know that muscle burns fat. Gaining muscle weight helps your overall workout, and your legs have a very high concentration of muscle. By building your leg muscles, you are increasing your body's ability to work harder by simply adding a few pounds of muscle to your legs.

The mass contained in your legs will release your anabolic hormones. Also, the muscles in your legs will produce more growth hormone than a smaller muscle area in your body. The amount of muscle in your leg outweighs your arms easily, so this just makes sense. You want to relase hormones to aid in the development of muscles.

For the sake of appearance, who wants to see somebody bulky on the top and thin at the bottom? Working out your legs provides a balanced body. You want to look great all over when exercising.

If you push yourself to leg failure is considered to be one of the best way to work out your legs. This will in the long run help you build more muscle in your legs. Perform 8 to 12 reps per set, doing 2-4 sets per exercise. It's advisable to work each major muscle with 2-5 different exercises (depending on your tolerance level and workout experience). It is imperative to rest between sets. Rest 45-60 seconds between each set so that your muscles can recover. What this allows is for you to get back to lifting heavier weights again without the release of anabolic hormones from stopping.

There are a lot of exercises to help you strengthen your legs. Once you have selected the goals for your legs (lean and strong, or muscled up for strength), you will be able to select the right exercises. When working your legs it is important to warm up by running or some other form of cardio for at least five minutes. This prevents injuries by warming up your joints.

Exercises you can do include leg extensions, power cleans, squats, Romanian dead-lifts, hamstring curls, and calf rises, seated and standing. However, this list is not all-inclusive. Therefore, the amount of reps and sets should tailored to match your level.

Be sure to always consult a trainer for instruction on proper form, and exercise caution with any workout. You too, can sport legs that look amazing when you wear shorts with time and work. You will not just have a wonderful feeling, but your total performance in sports, exercise and basic activities will improve. - 16650

About the Author: