Here's how to develop strong, well-balanced legs and a firm, muscular toosh
The biggest muscles in your body are in your legs and backside
(glutes). In fact, these areas contain half of your total muscle mass,
but do you give them half of your workout time? Too many gym-goers
relegate legs to occasional workout sessions, which explains why you see
so many chicken legs on the beach. But what's the point of having
bulging biceps and a huge chest if they sit atop a pair of sparrow
stalks? Your bum is equally important - a Men's Fitness survey
discovered that the part of a man that women most liked to stare at is
their behind, so you've no excuse for ignoring your glutes either.
What's more, if you want to build big muscles in your upper half, you
need to work the muscles of your lower half. The reason is that the leg
muscles are so large that training them creates a huge hormonal surge
in your body that affects all your muscles, which means doing squats can
actually help you to build your biceps.
The main muscles on the front of your thighs are the quadriceps. As
the name suggests, they are made up of four heads that help to
straighten your knee and stabilise your kneecap. On the back of your
thighs the hamstrings are mainly concerned with extending your hips and
flexing your knee. Together, your quads and hams work with your glutes
every time you go from a sitting to a standing position.
To build muscle mass on your legs, no exercise is more effective than
the squat. This move forces you to move heavy weights while stabilising
your body and involves a huge number of lower-body muscle fibres. For
many people the squat can seem tricky, but it's worth practising to
ensure perfect form. Once you've got it down, it will form the
cornerstone of your muscle-building workouts. Using a Smith machine can
help to stabilise your body if you are worried about maintaining good
form with heavy weights, but it should not be seen as a replacement for
good squat technique.
Having said that, you should do as wide a variety of leg exercises as
possible to keep your muscles guessing - and growing. With that in
mind, here are ten moves that will help you get muscly legs and a tight
derriere. We've also come up with variations of each to stop you getting
bored.
Best leg exercises