We love leg exercises don't we? It's funny, a lot of people don't like 'legs day' when doing weight training. It's probably because these exercises are usually quite tough, and tiring to do, rather than anything else. The reason that the best leg exercises are so hard to do is because they're often compound exercises, and because the muscles in the legs, and gluteal muscles are large, they take a lot of energy from you.
If you're thinking of the best leg exercises as being something you hate, and should avoid, you need to change your way of thinking. Hard to do they might be, but these exercises are likely to give you a really great workout, improving your functional strength, because they are compound exercises.
Take for example the deadlift - this is going to involve the legs obviously, but also the forearms for gripping the bar, the shoulders, the core to stabilize the body, and particularly the hamstrings and back. This means that the best leg exercises can also be the best back exercises too, which saves you time, burns a massive amount of calories, and also allows your muscle to build in a way that is useful to your functional, day-to-day strength.
Next, let us look at another classic - the squat. This exercise is obviously going to work the legs again, the core, including the back and the shoulders. Again, this is another really great exercise to save time, burn calories, and build muscle in a lot of useful places.
Let us also look at the lunge - if using weights, this is obviously going to work the legs, the gluteal muscles, the forearms for gripping, the shoulders to a lesser degree, and the core and back again. Here is another excellent example of an exercise that will build muscle, burn a lot of calories, and hence fat, and get you through your workout that much quicker.
If you take each of these exercises, and have only a short rest between each one - say ninety to one hundred and twenty seconds, you will find that the intensity of the work will increase tremendously, as will your results, due to the increase in calorie consumption. You could also try to superset say the deadlift and a lunge for example - this would be another great way to increase the intensity and calorie burning, which will lead to great fat burning potential, and a much shorter workout.
Another idea here could be to include one of the bigger exercises, such as the deadlift, or squat, in with some upper body workout - in this way, you won't dread the exercise as much, and you will also benefit from an increase in calorie consumption, and fat burning potential on other days too.
It is unfortunate that many people neglect the legs because they find them boring, or too hard - and miss out of the calorie burning, and fat burn potential. It is also important to note, that someone with a very large upper body, but relatively thin legs looks a little strange - don't do it! For me, the biggest benefit is that these exercises are great at building up your functional strength. Having improved functional strength should mean that day to day activities are much easier, and tire you out a lot less, resulting in your having more energy to enjoy life with. Finally improved functional strength can mean that you are able to do things that you previously would not even attempt - things such as moving heavy objects, for example if you are renovating a house or tidying up your garden. You really need to take a different outlook on legs - they benefit you in so many ways, and you should look forward to making them stronger.
For more information on the best leg exercises and the best back exercises, please see David Johnston's site BodyPlusFitness.com. Here you will find exercises, and tips that will really help you to achieve your lean muscle building goals, and get the results that you will be proud of.
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