Sunday, December 14, 2008

Free Weightlifting Routines for Your Legs

By Ricardo d Argence

It doesn't matter if you are a professional bodybuilder, contact sports player, or a regular joe wanting to get into shape, you absolutely should not neglect your legs for multiple reasons. The legs are frequently over looked when exercising, since people usually aim for a larger chest and biceps. While it is important to give your whole body a good workout, your legs are just as important and need to have some focal exercises for your legs. i will explain to you why this is important and necessary to do.

If you have studied on it, you are aware that muscle burns fat. Increasing muscle bulk will increase the quality of your workout. Workouts that feature the legs are especially beneficial, because the concentration of muscles in your legs is very high. Your body is able to work harder with the addition of a few pounds of muscle in your legs.

The amount of mass in your legs allows the release of anabolic hormones, and your legs muscles will provide more of this growth hormone than the smaller muscle areas of your body. The amount of muscle in your leg outweighs your arms easily, so this just makes sense. The reason you want to release these hormones is to stimulate muscle growth.

A person who is skinny on the bottom and built on the top can be hard to look at. Working out your legs provides a balanced body. If you're going to be working out you want every part of your body to look great.

The best way to do a leg workout routine is to push those leg muscles to near failure. 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. This allows you to life the heavy weight again, but not to get so relaxed the anabolic hormones stop getting released.

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. This is not an all-inclusive list, and the number of reps and sets need to be individualized to match you level

Make sure to use caution with any exercise routine, and make sure to consult a trainer for proper form. With some time and work, you will soon be sporting legs that look amazing when you wear shorts. You will not only feel great, but your whole overall performance in sports, workouts, and general activities will be enhanced. - 16003

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