Tag: Legs
Squats: The Ultimate Mass-Building Exercise
Everything you need to know about this lower body building exercise.
If you’ve seen the movie Generation Iron or hung around this site for a few minutes, you should already understand that if you truly want to build a lean, muscular and powerful physique then you absolutely MUST train legs. You must train them intensely and consistently if you want to build a legendary physique that others will envy. Fortunately, there’s a single exercise that is the be all and end all to not only lower body development, but the entire body in the squat.
Whether you’re trying to shed fat or build muscle, no other exercise works better at targeting and developing the quads, hamstrings, and glutes in one single solitary movement. Most leg exercises target one muscle in the upper leg. Leg extensions hit the quads. Leg curls isolate hamstrings. But nothing secretes more testosterone and growth hormone than squats. They target the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, even hips and lower back for a really nice and effective exercise able to build real strength and size.
Squats will also help you shed fat. How, you ask? Well, in order to burn body fat we must remember the three important keys: cardio, diet, and maintaining fat-burning muscle. The legs hold most of the body’s musculature. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn when you’re resting. Squats truly develop and work the entire body. Squats have long held the title of being a total body exercise, the king of all exercises, and one that has become a staple in many lifters routines.
Let’s take a look at the squat and see what makes this exercise so great. We’ll talk about what it is, what muscles get worked, the benefits of it, and how best to perform it so you see only the best gains possible as you look to boost your overall health and performance.
What Is The Squat?
Squats are a fantastic compound exercise used to build muscle and improve power while also working for a host of other benefits. What you will find is an exercise with tons of variations that can impact you in a variety of ways. Used with a barbell, this strength building exercise has become a staple in many lifters’ routines and is one of the big three lifts associated with powerlifting.
Related: A Definitive Guide To Improving Your Squat
Muscles Worked
Squats will work those lower body muscles so you see great gains, however, what you will find is that your quads will get a lot of action. Other top muscle groups worked include your hamstrings, glutes, calves, hips, lower back, and core, since this is needed to enhance stability and offer support as you drive through your feet.
Benefits Of Squats
The benefits of squats can help take your gains to the next level and knowing what these can do for you can go a long way when looking to optimize your strength and performance.
Benefits of squats include:
Stronger lower body: Build those muscles in your lower body and work to capitalize on strength while increasing size (1).
More power: Given the power and explosiveness required with this movement, you will find this can increase sport specific and functional movements when it comes to needing the right amount of power (2).
Improve stability: With this lift, you will improve stability and get the most out of balance while feeling supported (3).
Help with posture: Squats can help with posture by working to improve your spine alignment and giving you great gains when it comes to overall support and stability.
Plenty of variations: Squats have tons of variations that you can try that will work to offer variety in your workouts while still increasing strength and size.
Related: How To Alleviate Lower Back Pain After Squats
How To Perform Them
Knowing how best to perform this exercise is important as you look to capitalize on form so you see the best gains possible. With the right form, your greatly reduce your risk of injury and unwanted soreness.
Here are the steps for performing squats:
Begin with your feet shoulder width apart. Make sure the bar is resting on the top of your shoulder blades and not the top of your spine. Your hands should be slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
As you brace your core, maintain a neutral spine and bend at the knee, giving yourself stability before unracking.
Unrack the bar and when ready, lower to the ground. Keep your weight centered and heels on the floor.
Keeping solid form, push up to the starting position, driving through your feet to get the most out of your power.
Repeat for your desired number of sets and reps.
Key Points to Remember
Keep time under tension. Don’t rush the exercise. You want to soak up the pain and soak up the burn so that the muscles can get hit efficiently and effectively.
Keep the lower back straight and look straight ahead. Looking up or down will cause rounding in the back which can lead to injury.
Squat till your thighs are parallel or slightly below parallel and ensure that your knees are kept behind your toes to ensure that stress is kept away from your knees.
Wrap Up
Squats are one of those exercises that you need to see in your routine in order to get the most out of your training and performance. With the right number of sets and reps, and this placed strategically into your routine, you will find this exercise is one to take advantage of as you seek the best for your gains.
Editor’s Note: Some of this information above was shared with us by Geo Chang, a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutritionist whose mission is to educate and empower his clients to live healthier and happier lives. Geo has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition/ Biochemistry and is RD eligible. Geo Has maintained a thriving practice in New York City and brings the triple threat of education, experience, and passion to health & fitness for his clients.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Kubo, K.; et al. (2019). “Effects of squat training with different depths on lower limb muscle volumes”. (source)
Chiu, L.; et al. (2011). “A Teaching Progression for Squatting Exercises”. (source)
Chandler, T.; et al. (1989). “The effect of the squat exercise on knee stability”. (source)
5 Rules of Building Monstrous Calves For Lower Body Gains
Build those monstrous calves with these 5 rules.
If you were to make a list of the most undertrained and overlooked muscles, calves would probably end up at the top spot. Most people have toothpick calves because they treat them as accessory muscles. And even those who partake in something like leg day may often skip the calf work altogether. And while in the moment this may seem fine, over time it will obviously hurt you.
You need to train your calves like you train all your other muscles. You should know about the unsaid rules of training calves. Calves can be one of the most stubborn muscles to develop and you need to be ruthless with them if you want them to grow. That’s just the honest truth and being prepared for whatever comes your way when training calves is imperative if you wish to actually see growth.
But you may be wondering how best to actually build those monstrous calves. With so many workouts, it may seem like a no brainer, but it isn’t necessarily the exercise, but more so the approach to training. What you will find are key tips to building muscles and especially those stubborn calves as you wish to see those desired changes become reality.
Let’s jump into the best ways to build those calves and offer up 5 tips so you see success. Building muscle in general can be challenging but with the right approach to all things gains, what you will find are those calves will grow in no time and you will see results.
Benefits Of Building Those Calves
The benefit of building strong calves really comes in handy with athletic performance power driven from the legs. What you will find is that strong calves can stabilize your knees and reduce the risk of injury when working hard. On top of that, your lower body aesthetic will shine and you won’t be disappointed with the results of how you look and feel.
5 Rules For Building Monstrous Calves
Let’s jump into the 5 rules for building those monstrous calves. What you will find are you can build those calf muscles effectively for strength and size no matter the exercise or overall workout.
1. Train Them From All Angles
For overall development of the calves, you need to train them from all the angles. Changing the feet placement on the machine targets different parts of the calves. Standing with your feet parallel to each other will target the medial calves.
To target the inner calves, stand with your toes placed apart and your heels together forming a “V”. Placing your toes together and heals apart (forming an “A”) will target the outer calves. Training the muscle in different ways not only builds better overall strength but also will aid in symmetry and add to that aesthetic. Only working one side of the muscle may give it a lopsided look that you just don’t need.
2. Switch the Intensity
You can’t expect to perform the same calf exercises in every workout and expect to see results. You need to shock your muscles in every workout for them to grow. Perform different exercises in every workout and maximize intensity while keeping yourself safe and supported.
Change the intensity of your calf workouts by switching between light weight and high reps and heavy weights and low reps. While using light weights, perform a lesser number of sets as compared to using heavier weights. While this is common with most exercises, what you will find is that the intensity of your workouts will determine just how much muscle is built and how much muscular endurance you build.
3. Full Range of Motion
Most people make the mistake of lifting weights which are too heavy for them. Lifting heavy while training calves can limit your range of motion. You need to follow a full range of motion to recruit all the muscles fibers in your calves.
While performing the calf raises, your heels should be a few inches off the ground at the bottom of the movement. At the top, your feet should look like that of a ballerina standing on her toes. Working with a full range of motion, and even a half range of motion just to mix things up, will better prepare you as you work out and see the best gains possible.
4. Train Them if They Aren’t Sore
A rule of thumb for training calves is you can train them if they aren’t sore. Calves are relatively small muscles and need a smaller amount of time to recover after your workouts. If you have weak calves, you can take the liberty of training them whenever they aren’t sore.
You need to perform a variety of standing (legs extended) and seated (knees bent) calf exercises to optimally train your calves. The standing variation trains the gastrocnemius muscle while the seated trains the soleus muscle. Plus, you at least add a little variety into your routine.
5. Use Advanced Training Techniques
You can take your calf training to the next level with the advanced training techniques. Use supersets, drop-sets, intra-set stretching, forced reps, negative reps, and other advanced techniques to completely annihilate your calves.
You don’t have to stick to the vanilla calf training. If you have special needs, cater to them by going out of the way. If you have weak calves, don’t blame your genetics, work on your calves until they turn into full brown bulls and advanced techniques can certainly help you get there.
Wrap Up
Growing our calves isn’t easy, but with these 5 rules to build those monstrous calves you can see the best gains possible. Working with different angles, training intensity, range of motion, soreness and fatigue, and advanced training techniques is a sure-fire way to attack those calves so they grow. What you will find is your performance will improve as well as your aesthetic, so others will envy those monstrous calves.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
Up Your Leg Game With These Forgotten Moves
There are some underrated moves to complete on leg day for maximum gains!
Leg day has come again, so it is time to leave your sweat and tears on the gym floor and to build that teardrop instead.
Today I am going to take it back to the old school with a couple of compound moves that you don’t really see anymore, and the reason for that could be that it is ‘out of sight, out of mind’, or that people are relying on machines instead.
Whatever the reason may be, you don’t have an excuse anymore.
Why compound movements?
Apart from being more efficient and working more muscle groups simultaneously, a study from 2017 concluded that ‘resistance training programs involving multi joint (compound) exercises appear to be more efficient for improving muscle strength and maximal oxygen consumption than programs involving single joint (isolation) exercises.’
So let’s look at forgotten exercise No. 1.
The Barbell Hack Squat
Many people are so used to using a hack squat machine that they have no idea as to the existence of this move.
Now the primary muscles targeted during this move are the quadriceps, but being a compound movement your hamstrings and glutes will be the secondary muscles involved.
How to do it:
Set up the bar as you would with a deadlift
But this time you will be standing in front of the bar, with the bar starting behind your heels
Feet shoulder width apart
Then grasp the bar with an overhand grip
Keep the back straight
Then lift the bar upwards, while driving your heels into the ground and contracting your quad muscles
Then slowly squat back down, and return the bar back to the ground
And repeat
Tip: Ensure not to graze the backs of your legs while doing this move, so if you are a beginner practice first.
Why should I add this?
The deeper your squat gets the better your athletic performance could potentially become, as a study from 2012 looked at the ‘influence of squatting depth on jumping performance’, and it found that ‘deep front and back squats guarantee performance enhancing transfer effects of dynamic maximal strength to dynamic maximal speed strength capacity of hip and knee extensors.
Even though this isn’t a front or back squat it could help improve those particular multi joint moves.
Now let’s look at forgotten exercise No. 2.
The Jefferson Squat
Now this is a move you may not have seen in your gym, but Kai Greene brought it back into prominence some years ago, and if Kai Greene uses this to help build his wheels, then why wouldn’t you add it into your routine?
Now another name for this lift is the straddle deadlift, as even squat is in the title it is performed in a deadlift fashion.
This is a quad dominant exercise but it will also target your adductors, glutes and hamstrings also.
What is the Jefferson Deadlift?
Essentially it is the same exercise, as you use the same stance, same grip, everything is the same except that the main difference between the two movements is the shape of your back and the joints being flexed.
As during the jefferson squat you keep your spine erect and back straight, as you want the emphasis to be on the knee flexion, during the jefferson deadlift you will lean slightly forward as the emphasis will be on hip flexion.
It may take some practice and some mind to muscle connection to differentiate between the two moves.
How to do it:
As mentioned before you will be straddling the bar using a split stance
Front foot will be facing out, with the facing away from you (so you will be in a right angle position, or L shape)
Squat down to pick up the barbell with the front hand using an underhand grip, and the backhand using an overhand grip
Keep the core tight
Then stand up and really emphasis the push through the heels and really pushing the knees out, do not allow the knees to cave in (pronate)
To ensure good depth, use smaller plates, and lighter weights to ensure immaculate form
The slowly come down back to the starting position
And repeat accordingly
Tip: If doing the jefferson squat ensure you do not round your back and be sure to keep the back foot on the floor at all times.
Why should I add this?
Although it looks awkward to set up, and yes it really can be, it is a great variant for anyone who cannot back squat and a study from 2015 ‘indicated that the deadlift exercise may be effective in decreasing pain intensity and increasing activity for most patients with a dominating pattern of mechanical low back pain.’
Yes I realise I am not talking about the jefferson deadlift variation but with the set up being the same, even though the deadlift technique is not mentioned by name in the study it should be applicable to the jefferson squat also.
There you have it, you now have two new badass compound moves you can add to your leg day armoury.
So until next time, keep pumping!
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5744434/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592763/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21694556/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6835729/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28704312/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22797000/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23442291/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22344055/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7046193/
How Knee Sleeves Can Enhance These 5 Leg Building Exercises
The best exercises for you to use those knee sleeves.
Our knees help support virtually all movements and with help from knee sleeves, we can work to better protect ourselves so we don’t suffer from any unwanted pain or injury. For those bodybuilding, powerlifting, and weightlifting needs in general, working with only the top accessories can be a game changer when it comes to seeing great gains.
Knee sleeves work to add good compression to your knees to reduce pain and decrease swelling, increase blood flow for better circulation and the prevention of lactic acid build-up, and support your muscles to limit the number of muscular vibrations and squash muscle fatigue. With the right knee sleeves, you can better tackle workouts, so you only see the best gains.
We’ve put together the top leg building exercises for you to use a knee sleeve so you can stay supported and stable while you grow those massive legs.
5 Leg Building Exercises To Use Knee Sleeves
Back Squat
Hack Squat
Lunges
Step-Ups
Power Clean
Back Squat
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The squat is one the more popular exercises for many since it will enhance lower body growth and improve overall power. This is certainly one of those exercises that you will see promote muscle while also working to boost explosivity for sport specific and functional movements.
Knee sleeves help tremendously with squats because of the sheer load put on your knees and the movement of bending and extending. The extra support is wanted and needed by your knees.
Back Squat Benefits
Increase lower body strength: Working your quads, glutes, and hamstrings, this is a great lower body exercise to boost strength and stability while also increasing certain sport specific and functional movements.
Better power: The nature of this movement requires the best for power and explosivity and will promote both as you look to optimize performance and improve those powerful movements.
How To Do The Back Squat
Place the barbell on your traps and shoulders with your feet shoulder width apart. With a tight core, bend your knees while keeping your spine neutral, squatting down to your optimal range of motion. Once you reach the bottom, drive through your feet to return back to your starting standing position.
Hack Squat
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As an effective lower body strength and mass builder, the hack squat is great for overall lower half development. Since the weight is distributed evenly, the stress on the spine is severely reduced making this a great exercise for building muscle without excess stress.
Knee sleeves will help with this lift very similar to the squat, in that given the load and movement of the squatting motion, you can better support your knees with nice compression and overall tightness.
Hack Squat Benefits
Build lower body muscles: This will put an emphasis on your quads while also building those hamstrings, so your start to enhance those lower body gains.
Improve regular squat: With this being a slightly different movement, while still working the same muscles, you start to improve all areas of your gains when it comes to the traditional squat.
How To Do Hack Squats
Place your feet on the plate of the hack squat machine and set yourself comfortably into it. When ready, push up against the shoulder pads to release the weight from its stoppers and continue in a squatting motion. Once at the bottom, squeeze your glutes and drive the weight back up to the starting position. Repeat for your desired number of sets and reps.
Related: The Best 6 Exercises To Use Elbow Sleeves For Pain-Free Support
Lunges
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Lunges are that great bodyweight or weighted exercise perfect for building leg strength and fixing any muscle imbalances. Since each leg is performed separately, you can isolate each side to handle their respective needs. Plus, this movement helps build power with the driving motion performed.
Giving your knees the support they want and need, knee sleeves will help with lunges as you look to put a priority over each side separately while also giving each knee support as the lone worker.
Lunge Benefits
Fix muscle imbalances: Working with each side separately, you can fix any muscle imbalances for that more full and well-rounded physique.
Great for runners: With a similar movement, and a lot less stress, lunges are a great exercise for runners to continue to see gains.
How To Do Lunges
Stand with your feet around hip-width apart and when ready, step forward with one leg. Your knee will be bent at a 90-degree angle and you will lower yourself down to the ground. Drive that leg back to the starting position and repeat with the other leg.
Step-Ups
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A great exercise for that lower body, step-ups require you to focus on balance and stability while also driving power, thus building overall strength. A versatile and convenient exercise, this is a great one to slide into your routine.
Similar to lunges, knee sleeves will offer the working knee support since it is the only one driving through the movement. By allowing your knee support from the load of your own bodyweight, you can better tackle those gains and allow yourself to stay supported.
Step-Ups Benefits
Even strength imbalances: These target both sides of the body equally and can fix any imbalances, just like lunges.
Boost stability: Using your core and requiring certain lower body muscles, you build stability so you perform this exercise safely and efficiently.
How To Do Step-Ups
You can do these either with your bodyweight or some weight (dumbbell or kettlebell). Stand in front of a box or something you can step on and when ready, step one foot onto the box. Driving through your hips while keeping your core tight and your body neutral, stand up onto the box with one leg. Lower back to the ground and repeat for the other leg.
Related: The 7 Best Weightlifting Belt Exercises For Strength & Support
Power Clean
An advanced movement for serious lifters, the power clean is one that recruits many muscles and must be performed with the proper mechanics. Able to improve strength, power, explosiveness, speed, and stability, this exercise is one to take advantage of.
Knee sleeves will promote support especially since form is so key. By giving yourself the benefit of knee support, you don’t have to worry about unwanted pain or vulnerability and can only focus on this movement.
Power Clean Benefits
Develop strength and power: Build overall strength and power with this explosive movement to aid in all sorts of other movements and big lifts.
Build better posture: By strengthening lower body muscles and providing for better support, you start to build a stronger posture for not just exercise, but also everyday movements.
How To Do The Power Clean
Stand with your feet hip width apart and lower into a squat position, grabbing the bar slightly wider than shoulder width apart. With an engaged core, lift the bar so it stays close to your body and keep going until its at your thighs. From here, you will be quick and explosive as you thrust your hips forward and pull your body under the bar. The bar should catch at the front your shoulders. Lower the weight to the ground and repeat for your desired number of reps.
Benefits Of Knee Sleeves
Knee sleeves and the benefits associated with them can greatly influence your lifts and give you confidence as you protect this often times vulnerable joint.
Benefits of knee sleeves include:
Add compression: Work to reduce pain and decrease swelling by offering good compression and support to those knees.
Increase blood flow: Boost circulation for better movements and less pain by working to also prevent lactic acid build up (1).
Efficient recovery: More healthy blood and oxygen flow, along with less lactic acid build up, leads to better recovery for faster bounce back and more gains (2).
Support muscles: Support those muscles and decrease the number of muscular vibrations to assist in muscle fatigue and improve overall athletic performance (3).
Prevent future injury: By protecting those vulnerable spots, you preemptively work to prevent future injuries.
What To Look For In Knee Sleeves
When choosing your knee sleeve, it is important to look for the right fit overall. You don’t want your sleeve to be too tight so it restricts you, but you also don’t want it to be too loose so it ultimately does nothing. The material and padding play into this, along with size, because these are all factors that can affect fit.
The material should be comfortable because you’d rather work out with something that feels good as opposed to an itchy or scratchy sleeve. Padding offers comfort but may be bulky, so looking to the right amount of padding will affect your overall mobility.
Knee sleeves come in various sizes, typically 3mm, 5mm, and 7mm so doing some research into your own size will give you the best option. Typically, 3mm is for more endurance athletes and 7mm will offer more support for heavy lifters. Of course, 5mm is right in the middle.
Check out our list of the Best Knee Sleeves for amazing support, compression, and stability!
Wrap Up
Knee sleeves have the ability to help when it comes to boosting all of those lifting wants and needs and when it comes to these 5 leg building exercises, the right knee sleeve can go a long way. Look into a quality knee sleeve and see what this can do for you. By working to better protect yourself, you won’t be disappointed with your lifting results and how you feel doing it.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Vaile, Joanna; Stefanovic, Brad; Askew, Christopher D. (2016). “Effect of lower limb compression on blood flow and performance in elite wheelchair rugby athletes”. (source)
Husmann, Florian; Mittlmeier, Thomas; Bruhn, Sven; Zschorlich, Volker; Behrens, Martin (2018). “Impact of Blood Flow Restriction Exercise on Muscle Fatigue Development and Recovery”. (source)
Raabe, Margaret E.; McNally, Michael P.; Chaudhari, Ajit M. W. (2017). “The Effect Of Compression Tights On Muscle Vibration And Fatigue From A High-Intensity Run”. (source)
The Cure For The Flat Butt
Reasons for a Flat Butt and How to Fix It
Ladies, if you’re struggling with the “flat butt syndrome”, this is the article you need to read. A firm and round butt is aesthetically appealing and is within your reach if you’re willing to work for it.
A pear-shaped rear doesn’t only make you stand out, it makes you fitter and healthier. The glutes are composed of three separate but synergetic muscles which make them one of the strongest muscle groups in the body.
The three muscles are primarily the hip extensors. They aid in the external hip rotation, abduction, and even in stabilizing the entire posterior chain when working properly. The gluteus maximus is the strongest and thickest muscle in the body which is capable of burning a surplus of calories when trained efficiently.
Sitting For Too Long
While desk jobs obviously don’t burn a lot of calories, they’re also the reason for flat butts. Prolonged sitting and a lack of physical activity are big factors for causing the anterior pelvic tilts.
Too Much Cardio
For most women, hitting the gym is equivalent to working out on the cardio equipment. Doing too much cardio leads to muscle and fat loss. The excess of cardiovascular training can cause a loss of gluteal muscle mass.
Resisting Resistance Training
Look around in a gym and you’ll hardly find women in the free weights section. It’s a widespread myth that lifting weights will make the girls look masculine. On the contrary, resistance training can help tone and tighten the muscles for women. Women don’t generate enough testosterone naturally to be able to build muscle like men.
Fix for the Flat Butt
Training with weights is arguably the best way to get your glutes in shape. A glute focused workout will help you build the gluteal muscle mass even if you have strong quads which otherwise take over your leg workouts.
Hip Thrusts – 3 Sets 15 Reps
The hip thrusts are a great way to work on your glutes and hamstrings. Make sure you maintain a neutral spine and pause at the top of the movement. With this workout, the goal is to target your glutes and not your entire lower body.
Butt Blaster Machine – 3 Sets 15-12-10 Reps
Butt blaster machine is an isolation exercise and will set your rear on fire. Feeling and contracting the glutes is the key to a successful butt workout. If you don’t have access to a butt blaster machine at your gym, perform the donkey kickback on a leg extension machine.
Cable Pull-Through – 3 Sets 15-12-10 Reps
Locking out and squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement during the cable pull-throughs will recruit all the three major muscles in your rear. With the glutes workouts, your goal is not to hit PRs or move big weights but to completely annihilate your muscles.
GHD – 3 Sets 15 Reps
Glute Ham hyperextensions (GHD) are great posterior chain builders. Maintain a full range of motion while performing this exercise and hyperextend your back to hit your glutes effectively.
Smith Machine Squats – 3 Sets 15-12-10 Reps
Barbell squats are a compound exercise and for some people, might work their quads and hams more than their glutes. Performing the squats on the smith machine with your feet placed together and in front of you can put more focus on your butt.
Are you suffering from the pancake ass syndrome? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
*Header image courtesy of Envato Elements.
Leg Bangers To Try During Your Next Leg Day
Here are some great exercises to try on leg day!
So the legs, it is an intriguing muscle, some people love leg days, some hate them.
But I think we can all agree that if you struggle to walk up the stairs, or even drive home after a leg day, then did you even have a real leg day? And we all love leg once leg day is over (until the next week at least).
But today I wanted to highlight some exercises that aren’t necessarily conventional but are just as useful to have in your leg day armoury.
Below is a list of exercises you may want to add to your next leg day.
Abductor Muscle
The abductor muscle sits around the hip, and this muscle helps move the leg out and away from the body.
One study concluded that ‘Hip abductor strengthening appeared to be beneficial in the treatment of iliotibial band friction syndrome (ITBFS)’
This is where the IT band becomes too tight and gets irritated or swollen from rubbing against the hip or even knee bones.
Abductor exercises can also help with those who have knee pain as another study for those suffering with patellofemoral pain syndrome, (which is pain to the front of the knee, or kneecap), found that ‘a 3 week hip abductor muscle strengthening protocol was effective in increasing muscle strength and decreasing pain.’
Exercise 1
Lying down plated hip abduction
Lie down on the floor, on your side
Rest your head on your bottom arm
Bend your bottom leg under your top leg and ensure the top leg stays straight
Then have someone place a plate onto your outer thigh
Use the outside hand to stabilise the plate
Then slowly raise the outside leg up and gently back down
Repeat on both sides for desired amount of reps
Tip: Instead of a plate to add resistance a band can also be utilised.
Exercise 2
Standing plate abduction
Similar to the lying down version, here you will be standing instead so it may allow you to increase the weight used
Ensure your back is straight
Then place a plate onto the thigh that is due to be abducted
Slowly raise the leg up and out
Then return back to the centre slowly
Repeat for desired reps accordingly
Tip: In order to help, use the opposite hand which has no weight to hold onto a rack or stand, and use this to stabilise your balance.
The stabilisation may allow you to increase the weight and allow the abductors to have an even more intense workout.
Adductor muscle
The adductor muscle is located around the hip and helps bring the thighs together.
Exercise 1
Side lying adduction
Lie on your side with both legs straight, and ensure your back is straight
Keep your bottom arm bent under your head, and other hand should be in contact with the floor
Then bend the top leg and cross it over your bottom leg, and ensure the lower leg stays straight. (The top leg is now in a bent position)
Then raise the bottom leg off the ground in a controlled motion, it should be 6-7 inches away from the floor, this movement should contract the adductors.
Raise and lower accordingly
Tip: To make it more difficult and add intensity, either wear an ankle weight or try to place a small plate onto the open part of your foot which would be facing upwards.
Quad muscle
The quadriceps is the meaty front part of our legs and consists of four heads, you have the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius.
Exercise 1
Standing sissy squat
Take a shoulder-width stance with your toes pointed slightly out.
With both hands, grab bars on a power rack or squat stand around hip level or slightly higher.
These will only be used to keep you balanced.
Keeping your hips and waist straight, and keeping your core and back tight, bend your knees, pushing your knees down and forward and your body falls backward on the descent.
Your heels will come up off the floor as your knees come down, but the front of your feet will remain on the ground.
Continue lowering knees until they are flexed or nearly touching the floor.
Your lower legs will be parallel to the floor at this point and you will be looking up as well.
Pause for a split-second and then return to the starting position in a controlled manner, pushing through the floor as your legs straighten and your heels return to the floor.
You will be standing up straight and looking forward at this point.
Take a breath between reps, exhaling only when reps are completed.
Repeat until the desired reps are reached.
Tip: To add intensity, while holding onto the bar, free up the other hand and place a weight plate and place that onto your chest. The added weight will make the movement more difficult
Also some of you may be lucky enough to have a sissy squat machine at your gym, if you are one of those people then be sure to use it. Adding a plate becomes a whole lot easier
Exercise 2
Kneeling sissy squat or kneeling leg extension
Similar to its standing counterpart, this version consists of you being on the floor
Simply kneel in the ground
Ensure your butt is on your heels
Then lean back as far as you can until you feel tension in the quad muscles
Then slowly return back to the upright position
So there you have it, some potentially new exercises you can utilise. I will keep you hanging and will delve into hamstrings on a different day.
So until next time, keep pumping!
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20145781/
https://meridian.allenpress.com/jat/article/46/2/142/191237/Changes-in-Knee-Biomechanics-After-a-Hip-Abductor
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7872466/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534842/
5 Rules of Building Monstrous Calves
Build Monstrous Calves With These 5 Rules
If you were to make a list of the most undertrained and overlooked muscles, calves would probably end up at the top spot. Most people have toothpick calves because they treat them as accessory muscles.
You need to train your calves like you train all your other muscles. You should know about the unsaid rules of training calves. Calves can be one of the most stubborn muscles to develop and you need to be ruthless with them if you want them to grow.
Train Them From All Angles
For overall development of the calves, you need to train them from all the angles. Changing the feet placement on the machine targets different parts of the calves. Standing with your feet parallel to each other will target the medial calves.
To target the inner calves, stand with your toes placed apart and your heels together forming a “V”. Placing your toes together and heals apart (forming an “A”) will target the outer calves.
Switch the Intensity
You can’t expect to perform the same calf exercises in every workout and expect to see results. You need to shock your muscles in every workout for them to grow. Perform different exercises in every workout.
Change the intensity of your calf workouts by switching between light weight and high reps and heavy weights and low reps. While using light weights, perform a lesser number of sets as compared to using heavier weights.
Full Range of Motion
Most people make the mistake of lifting weights which are too heavy for them. Lifting heavy while training calves can limit your range of motion. You need to follow a full range of motion to recruit all the muscles fibers in your calves.
While performing the calf raises, your heels should be a few inches off the ground at the bottom of the movement. At the top, your feet should look like that of a ballerina standing on her toes.
Train Them if They Aren’t Sore
A rule of thumb for training calf is you can train them if they aren’t sore. Calves are relatively small muscles and need a smaller amount of time to recover after your workouts. If you have weak calves, you can take the liberty of training them whenever they aren’t sore.
You need to perform a variety of standing (legs extended) and seated (knees bent) calf exercises to optimally train your calves. The standing variation trains the gastrocnemius muscle while the seated trains the soleus muscle.
Use Advanced Training Techniques
You can take your calf training to the next level with the advanced training techniques. Use supersets, drop-sets, intraset stretching, forced reps, negative reps, and other advanced techniques to completely annihilate your calves.
You don’t have to stick to the vanilla calf training. If you have special needs, cater to them by going out of the way. If you have weak calves, don’t blame your genetics, work on your calves until they turn into full brown bulls.
How often do you train your calves? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
How To Build Tree Trunk Legs For Serious Growth
Build tree trunk legs with these exercises for only the best gains.
Whether for functional or more sport specific needs, building tree trunk legs can be of great assistance when it comes to boosting overall gains. We’ve all seen those guys in the gym with those twig-like legs, barely able to squat. Don’t knock them for squatting, good on them for doing it. But they don’t work out their legs enough to even earn the ability to lift big weight. And it shows. Legs are important for sport as well as everyday activities and to neglect them can be a terrible disservice.
While we all love to build those vanity muscles and make our upper bodies pop out of our shirts, a solid set of legs can round out a massive physique for the better and give us the best chance at seeing real success. With the right exercises, our workouts can be fun and engaging so we don’t get bored of doing the same old leg exercises with minimal gains.
Let’s jump into this and see how best to build those tree trunk legs. The right exercises can catapult you into the right mindset to keep you working at it and feel as though you are putting together an absolutely massive and shredded physique.
Benefits Of Massive Legs
Our legs matter and whether or not you have tree trunks is beside the point. Having strong legs can work for your benefit in a number of ways including:
Lower risk of injury by having a strong and stable lower half.
Increase endurance capacity to go for longer sessions.
Boost power and explosivity for sport specific movements (1).
Add to your physique so it rounds itself out nicely.
Best Exercises For Tree Trunk Legs
Knowing the best exercises to perform for those tree trunk legs can be of great assistance to you as you seek to build that massive and shredded physique. Let’s take a look at some amazing leg exercises below:
Romanian Deadlift
The Romanian deadlift is a functional movement and nice variation of the deadlift and will improve balance, stability, and power while working your posterior chain nicely. Giving your hamstrings some great work, this can round out your legs to see effective growth take place (2).
Rowing Machine
A great cardio workout, the rowing machine works many muscles in your body. As a sport driven by the pushing motion, your legs take the majority of the load, therefore increasing strength and size. A low-impact workout to burn calories and build endurance, this works your legs to effective tree trunk size.
Goblet Squat
The goblet squat works to improve overall strength and mobility while establishing squatting efficiency. This is perfect for building muscle as it can be performed with your bodyweight, dumbbells, or kettlebells. For those avoiding the traditional barbell squat, this is a nice variation to still see tree trunk-like gains.
Calf Jumps
Calf jumps are a great plyometric exercise to improve strength and explosiveness. The ability for the calf muscle to absorb force with the continued movement allows the muscle to wear down and fatigue, thus offering the chance for maximal growth to take place. Plus, you get that heart rate going for nice cardio work.
Lunges
A great lower body exercise, lunges consist of many variations to work your leg muscles, and those surrounding muscles, differently. Able to increase strength and size, while also building balance and stability for support, you promote efficient gains and give yourself that extra boost when it comes to seeing those tree trunk legs take shape (3).
Sissy Squats
A bodyweight exercise targeting the lower thigh area, sissy squats are an uncommon but highly effective muscle building exercise. With proper form and a real level of resistance, what you get is a serious lower body brutalizer to force those muscles to grow. Form is key, however, for this exercise can be a taxing on those joints given its unusual movement.
Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers are a great HIIT exercise designed to increase strength, cardio, and core strength. It will also boost leg growth as a result of the fast-paced movement and necessary action of the legs to complete an effective exercise. This is considered a total body workout with cardio and endurance elements, but your legs will feel a burn and they will build muscle.
Jump Rope
For bodybuilders and other athletes looking to increase their aerobic capacity while also building muscle, jumping rope is exactly what you need. A versatile and convenient exercise, all you need is the jump rope and you can do this anywhere and at anytime. Great for weight loss and endurance, what this does is increase those leg muscles to promote strength and power for all things gains (4).
Pistol Squats
Pistol squats is one of the most effective unilateral exercises that can be performed for strengthening your legs, mobilizing joints, and improving overall squat mechanics. By recruiting more muscles, you can accelerate strength and improve all areas of the movement.
Skater Squats
Another great unilateral exercise, skater squats can enhance strength and work to generate more power from each leg. A good variation of the pistol squat, this gets you moving and can be less taxing on your knees, while still offering the ability for muscle and those tree trunk legs.
Wrap Up
Building those tree trunk legs can be challenging but not impossible. With the right exercise and proper approach to training, you can better tackle any and all of those wants and needs to build those massive legs. Strong legs can give us the ability to stay grounded, more stable, and perform better for sport specific and functional movements. The right exercises can make or break your gains and give you those tree trunk legs you want most so give some of these exercises a try, place them into your leg day routine, and watch those gains take off.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Bean, J.; et al. (2003). “A Comparison of Leg Power and Leg Strength Within the InCHIANTI Study: Which Influences Mobility More?”. (source)
Fisher, J.; et al. (2013). “A randomized trial to consider the effect of Romanian deadlift exercise on the development of lumbar extension strength”. (source)
Jonhagen, S.; et al. (2009). “Forward lunge: a training study of eccentric exercises of the lower limbs”. (source)
Ozer, D.; et al. (2011). “The effects of rope or weighted rope jump training on strength, coordination and proprioception in adolescent female volleyball players”. (source)
Why Your Calves Aren’t Growing And How You Can Fix Them
Calves lagging behind? Here’s how to power through.
One of the most complained about muscles are the calf muscles. Men (and women) everywhere lament at the work they’ve put in with less than ideal results when it comes to the calf muscle. While genetics play a large factor in how your muscles will show up, there are certain things you can do enhance what you’ve already got.
One of the most basics concepts you need to learn…is more! While body weight training can definitely keep your muscles pumped and fairy toned, for calves that really pop you’re going to need more. But what does that mean exactly, more reps? more weight? well both of these are true…to a point.
Weight
As far as weight is concerned, you definitely want more of that. Body weight isn’t going to provide the necessary resistance needed to break down muscle, causing it to recover stronger. Next time you’re doing your seated calve raises try throwing some more weight on there. You can use a traditional machine or try it using dumbbells for an alternate variation.
Reps
When it comes to reps, you’ve got to find that perfect balance. While you don’t necessarily need to be doing a hundred reps as you would with bodyweight, you also don’t want to be only doing 4 or 5. If you can do heavy weight for as many as 25 reps per set then you’re in the sweet spot range. As with anything, feel free to tweak the rep ranges depending on your ability and goals.
Contraction
This one really hit home for me as I was working on my chest. Jay Cutler always goes on about concentrating on the muscle when you’re hitting your pecs and I thought it was all hocus pocus. I was wrong.
Concentrating on the contraction of any muscles while performing an exercise not only brings more blood to the muscle but also eliminates useless movement. Perform your calf raises in a controlled manner, when you get to the top make sure to squeeze for extra emphasis.
On the way down you also want to concentrate the negative portion of the exercise as putting the weight back down in a controlled manner is the other 50% of your TUT (time under tension. Don’t cheat yourself, treat yourself.
Extra Calf Day
Why not? If your muscles can handle the extra day and you’ve been giving your body accurate rest, then top off those calves with an extra day. Most people work their calves during leg day, which is fine.
But you have to remember your calves are tired from doing other exercises (squats, deadlifts, leg curls, etc.), having a separate day lets you attack them while they’re fresh. This leads to more output and hopefully greater gains.
While all these tips can help get you the swollen calves you want and deserve, you’ve got to have your core principles in check. This means your sleep and nutrition. Without adequate rest and nutrient dense foods you deplete your T-levels and in general reek havoc on your body.
So pay attention to both sides of the sport for healthy and positive gains. What are your problem areas? Let us know by hitting up our comments below or head on over to our official Facebook and Twitter.
*Header image courtesy of Envato Elements.
The Ultimate Pre-Exhaust Quad Workout for Strength & Size
Using the Pre-Exhaust Method to Unlock Gains
If you are a keen gym goer, it is likely you are in one of two camps – either you love training legs or absolutely dread it.It is imperative that we train all body parts equally – that means no skipping leg day! Completing tough leg sessions, regardless of whether you enjoy it or not, is a critical part of comprehensive strength training.
There is no denying that leg sessions are challenging enough already, however, there may be times where it is necessary to add even more intensity to your lower body sessions. The two most common reasons for increasing the intensity of these sessions is to allow you to move beyond a training plateau or to keep your training fresh and interesting.This article will provide detail on pre-exhaustion, it’s application and will also provide a pre-exhaust routine that can be used to improve quad strength & size.
Leg Day Exercise Selection
There are two types of exercises that make up the majority of strength training sessions – compound and isolation exercises.A combination of compound and isolation exercise is best for comprehensive strength and size development (1).A typical leg day session will focus on compound exercises initially; these are exercises that involve a great number of muscles and consequently allow you to lift heavy loads. Some examples of effective lower body compound exercises include the squat, deadlift, lunge and leg press.
On completion of a number of compound exercises, the session then ends with a couple of isolation exercises which are single-joint movements that target specific muscle groups. The leg extension, leg curl, and calf raise are all great examples of lower body isolation exercises.To effectively apply the pre-exhaust strategy, simply reverse the order of compound and isolation so that you start with an isolation exercise first before completing compounds (2).The purpose of this is to significantly fatigue a specific muscle group so that it becomes the weak link in the consequent compound lifts.Evidently, building fatigue through an isolation exercise will make the following compound exercises significantly more challenging.The pre-exhaust technique is great for targeting specific muscle groups. If you are aware that one muscle group is lagging behind or is weak, it may be an idea to utilize pre-exhaust.Therefore, to target and develop the quads you will first perform leg extensions and then follow it up with a range of compound moves such as squats, lunges, and presses. As a result, the quad will highly fatigue while the posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings & calves) remain relatively fresh.The method ensures that the quads will be worked maximally to bring about optimal adaptations without placing too much stress on other muscles.
Pre-Exhaust Training Considerations
By switching the order of the exercises, you will find that you are noticeably stronger with the pre-exhaust isolation exercise.Normally, the isolation exercises come last in the conventional leg sessions and therefore fatigue is a factor, but because you are completing the isolation first, the muscles are not fatigued.
Conversely, you will find that you are significantly weaker with the compound lifts – once again for the same reason. This certainly has it’s benefits and disadvantages.The benefit of this method is that you will be able to expose the quads to a greater load and stress than they are used to which will force them to adapt quickly.Although low reps and heavy weight are often prioritized in strength training, it is important to avoid low reps with the pre-exhaust method.
The reason for this is that with isolation exercises (specifically the leg extension and curl), lifting extremely heavy loads may put a large amount of stress through the knee joint (3).As a result, if lifting heavy loads for low reps, the chances of experiencing a serious injury to the knee are increased. Therefore, the recommendation for pre-exhaust exercise is to keep the weight light to moderate and aim for a higher rep range (8 reps or more).The biggest drawback to pre-exhaust training is that the amount of weight that you can shift with your compound movements will reduce.The weight that you normally use for squats, deadlifts, and presses is going to feel a lot heavier than normal due to the build-up of fatigue in the quads.In addition, building fatigue and getting the pump early on in the session may mean that you also find proprioceptive abilities (such as balance & coordination) to be a lot more challenging.
Therefore, it may be beneficial to substitute free weight exercises for machine-based exercises as they do not demand a great degree of balance and coordination.Once you have figured out what works best for you in terms of weight, reps, and equipment, you may find that the pre-exhaust technique actually reduces the amount of joint stress in the long run.As a result, you may find that a range of exercises that were previously “off-limits” and now much more manageable. A number of athletes and lifters who have lower body issues commonly use pre-exhaust routines so that they can use light loads yet still work to muscular failure.Therefore, for those who are unable to use heavy loads for whatever reason, pre-exhaust is recommended as it will allow for effective training while using lighter and safer loads.
When to Apply Pre-Exhaust
As mentioned earlier, there may be a couple of reasons why you may wish to incorporate the pre-exhaust method into your workouts.The main reason to use the pre-exhaust method is to stimulate new gains in strength and size. If you are at an intermediate or advanced stage with your training, there may be times where progress slows. This is because the body is at the stage where it can comfortably deal with the demands of training.Therefore, it is necessary to increase the amount of stress that the muscles experience in order for the adaptation process to begin once again.Utilizing advanced training techniques (like the pre-exhaust) into your workouts is one straightforward method that can be used to increase the demand placed on the muscles (4).If you are a strength training beginner, feel free to try out pre-exhaust however, be aware that it is not necessary to bring about change at your stage.Focusing on the basics will yield the best results for novices and advanced training methods such as pre-exhaust are typically not required.
The second reason why you may want to utilize pre-exhaust is to bring some variation to your training program.Performing the same exercises with the same number of sets and reps for months and months can become mundane and may negatively impact motivation levels as a result.Declining motivation can have an impact on exercise adherence which will then impact how quickly you improve.One of the best methods of maintaining motivation levels and adherence is to keep training interesting and enjoyable. Therefore, bringing in new training methods, exercises and set schemes can be useful.
Pre-Exhaust Quad Workout
You can add the following pre-exhaust quad workout into your training program or can adapt it to pre-exhaust the hamstrings or glutes instead.The following workout starts with leg extensions to isolate and pre-exhaust the quads before moving into conventional compound strength training exercises.The rep range is kept relatively moderate (with the majority of the sets between 6 – 12 reps) as lifting extremely heavy loads while in a fatigued state can be risky.
Exercise
Sets x Reps
Leg Extensions
3 x 8, 3 x 12
Leg Press
3 x 6-8
Hack Squat
3 x 6
Smith Machine Squat
3 x 10-12
Romanian Deadlift
4 x 10-12
Standing Calf Raises
2 x 12, 2 x 20
Workout Notes:
– Ensure you perform a full and comprehensive warm-up prior to beginning this routine. Perform a number of warm-up sets first and ensure you differentiate between warm-up sets and pre-exhaust sets.– To pre-exhaust the hamstrings rather than the quads, simply switch out the leg extension and replace it with the leg curl. – For the glutes, switch the leg extension out for either the cable pull-through or single leg glute kickback.– To add more fatigue to the targeted muscle, add a couple more sets of the first exercise. In this case, look to complete as many as 6 sets of leg extensions before moving onto your compounds.– Having completed the pre-exhaust sets, use a variety of compound exercises that will place a great demand on the body.– Always be willing to go a little lighter than normal or to switch to a machine-based version of the exercise – fatigue will be a real factor that will influence how you perform.– Select a weight that causes you to reach muscular failure by the time you have completed all the reps. Because your muscles are pre-fatigued, you will not lift the same amount of weight that you normally would.
Final Word
Providing that training is properly planned and executed, pre-exhaust is a great method that will heavily fatigue the target muscle and apply enough stress to bring about substantial changes in both strength and size.
References:
1-Gentil, Paulo; Soares, Saulo; Bottaro, Martim (2015-6). “Single vs. Multi-Joint Resistance Exercises: Effects on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy”. Asian Journal of Sports Medicine. 6 (2). doi:10.5812/asjsm.24057. ISSN 2008-000X. PMC 4592763. PMID 26446291.
2-Soares, Enrico Gori; Brown, Lee E.; Gomes, Willy Andrade; Corrêa, Daniel Alves; Serpa, Érica Paes; da Silva, Josinaldo Jarbas; Junior, Guanis de Barros Vilela; Fioravanti, Gustavo zorzi; Aoki, Marcelo Saldanha; Lopes, Charles Ricardo; Marchetti, Paulo Henrique (February 23, 2016). “Comparison Between Pre-Exhaustion and Traditional Exercise Order on Muscle Activation and Performance in Trained Men”. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine. 15 (1): 111–117. ISSN 1303-2968. PMC 4763829. PMID 26957933.
3-Grood, E. S.; Suntay, W. J.; Noyes, F. R.; Butler, D. L. (1984-06). “Biomechanics of the knee-extension exercise. Effect of cutting the anterior cruciate ligament”. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American Volume. 66 (5): 725–734. ISSN 0021-9355. PMID 6725319.
4-Wallace, William; Ugrinowitsch, Carlos; Stefan, Matt; Rauch, Jacob; Barakat, Christopher; Shields, Kevin; Barninger, Andrew; Barroso, Renato; De Souza, Eduardo O. (January 6, 2019). “Repeated Bouts of Advanced Strength Training Techniques: Effects on Volume Load, Metabolic Responses, and Muscle Activation in Trained Individuals”. Sports. 7 (1). doi:10.3390/sports7010014. ISSN 2075-4663. PMC 6359665. PMID 30621334.