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Insider Tips For Building Your Ultimate Legs
Let's be honest, leg
training is the worst part of exercising. It is not fun, it makes you feel
miserable for days, and every six weeks you need to find new exercises because
the old ones have lost their effectiveness. However, skipping leg day is not a
great solution, unless you want to have tiny legs and huge biceps. Although leg
day can hardly be turned into a fun activity, there are some ways you can speed
up your progress and build your ultimate legs.
Start with squats
If the first thing
you do when you get to the gym on a leg day is rounds of leg presses, you are
not the only one. Although a lot of builders follow this routine, it doesn't
mean it is the most effective one. Actually, you should start your leg days
with good old squats. Since you haven't worked out yet your energy levels are
high and your overall fatigue is low. Therefore, it is the perfect time for an
exercise that engages most of your muscles and delivers the biggest anabolic
punch. Did you know that doing squats with weights in socks can help you feel
more grounded and help you engage more muscles? Make sure you pack a pair of durable and comfortable socks when you hit the
gym and try this workout without your shoes on. The most important thing about
doing your squats is making sure that your technique is perfect, otherwise you
will just be wasting your time. If you cannot figure out on your own whether
you are making some mistakes, ask someone in the gym (someone experienced, not
a rookie) to check out your form.
Go deep
Speaking of squats,
it is important that you aim to get deeper squats every time. If you just
descend a couple of inches and then quickly pop back up, in time you will
create a strength imbalance between the quads and glutes. In case you are not
able to get low, make sure you are warming up properly. Your muscles and joints
need to be ready for action, and they cannot be without a good pre-workout
warmup.
Make planned changes
You cannot follow the
same routine month after month and expect great results. Your workouts need to
constantly change if you want to see some progress, but do not just make random
adjustments. Instead, find a good program
that offers planned stages of varying intensity and volume. Even if you finish
it in a month or two, you can do the whole thing all over again, but this time
with heavier weights.
Focus!
If
you want to give your 100% and get the best workout possible, you need to be
mentally present all the time. If your mind is all over the place and you are
thinking about your work of family problems while training, you won't achieve
the effect you otherwise would. Therefore, focus on your every movement and you
will make sure that you are working as hard as you can and maximize the
benefits of each training session.
Get creative
We have already
mentioned that doing more of the same workout time after time is a recipe for a
disaster. If you are looking for a way to make your old exercises effective
again, there are several slight changes that can make all the difference. For
example, instead of placing the bar on your shoulders, move it to your upper
chest so you bring your center of gravity forward. You can also place your feet
closer together or wider apart in order to engage different muscles.
We hope that these
simple tricks will help you make the most of your leg day and achieve your bodybuilding goal.