What's a Good Leg Workout?

Of course this is dependent upon your experience level and what exercises you have been doing in the past 6-8 weeks. I thought I would post a workout that will help you change up your leg routines. This will probably be quite different from your regular routine so your body’s response to it should be extremely positive. In other words this will help you blast through a plateau if you’ve hit one. I’ve added a brief description with the reasoning behind each exercise to hopefully get you thinking like a personal trainer.

Perform each exercise slowly and deliberately to avoid injuries. This is also just an example leg routine, it is not tailored to any individual specifically. This is not a beginner routine, if you are unsure if this is the right routine for you or have never performed these exercises consult a professional fitness trainer prior to following this.

Leg Extensions
3 sets 20 reps each – only rest 1 minute in between. Really watch the rest period and make sure you hit the 20 reps. If the weight is too much to get to 20, drop it down and finish them out.
This is considered a pre-exhaust exercise. Most people when training legs over-utilize their quadriceps muscles. This is natural, your quads are the biggest muscle group in your body and therefore are able to a tremendous amount of work. By tiring them prior to your other exercises, it will force your other muscle groups to be more active

Squat
3 sets 8-12 reps each – the rest period here should be around 2 minutes. If you have unresolved back issues, a leg press can be substituted here.
Squats are considered one of the best exercises around for you. They are extremely functional. With the weight on your shoulders you are essentially training every muscle in your body, along with building bone density. With that said they are one of the more difficult exercises to perform correctly. If you haven’t done them before you should consult a professional. If you are unable to do this motion comfortably, ask a trainer what stretches and exercises you can do to make this motion possible.

Leg Curl
3 sets 20 reps each – only rest 1 minute in between. This is the same principal used with the leg extensions. Your hamstring muscle group is actually made up of 3 muscles. Your biceps femoris acts much like your quads do in the above example. We tire them here and force the other muscles to become more active in our more functional exercise.

Straight Leg Hip Extensions
3 sets 8-12 reps each – rest period here is again around 2 minutes. These are sometimes called Stiff leg dead-lifts. Similar to squats this exercise is extremely functional, but also difficult to perform correctly. I would again advise you get professional help until you are comfortable with the form.