What Are The Top 5 Leg Exercises?
What Are The Top 5 Leg Exercises? I will answer that and more in this article! I will review each exercise, provide performance tips, give you a sample routine, plus nutritional and supplement suggestions. There’s no reason to wait, so let’s jump right in!
A Quick Look At The Top 5 Leg Exercises
| Exercise | Target Muscles | Best For |
| Squats | Quads, entire leg & lower back as stabilizers | Overall Mass & Strength |
| Lunge | Quads, entire leg & lower back as stabilizers | Mass |
| Leg Press | Quads, entire leg as stabilizers | Quad emphasis, good for those with low back problems |
| Leg Curls | Hamstrings | Hamstring isolation |
| Calf Raises | Soleus(seated cr), gastroc (std cr) | Calves isolation |
Review – The Top 5 Leg Exercises!
What Is The Best Leg Exercise For Overall Mass & Strength?
Without any doubt, the best leg exercise for overall mass and strength is the squat. Often called the “King” of exercises, it’s arguably the single best exercise you can do.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
I chose the squat because it is the ultimate compound exercise, rivaled only by the deadlift. It works the entire leg as well as the glutes, lower back, and abs. This is a legendary exercise and suffice it to say, if you’re serious about size, you’d better be putting in serious time at the squat rack.
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
I could list all kinds of squat variations, such as the Smith machine, dumbbells, plate loaded and weight stack squat machines. But I do not believe the standard barbell squat can be replaced. Any of the listed variations make the exercise easier, robbing some of its effectiveness. So get inside a Power Rack, get under a 7-foot bar, and squat!
That said, you do have stance options. For example, you can bring your feet close together, or go with a shoulder width stance. I also advocate a sumo stance because I have arthritis in my knees and it’s easier on them.
Performance Tips
Do not rush your reps. I see this every time I’m at the gym. It’s not a race. Also, do full, complete reps, none of this half or quarter rep stuff. Slow down, and perform your reps using this tempo: 2 seconds on the concentric phase, 4 seconds on the eccentric phase, and on your last working set, stop in the fully stretched position for a 2-4 count (this may be very hard to do with squats, but try it and see how you do).
Safety first – do this in a Power Rack so if you fail, the lower pins can catch the bar. You don’t want to get crushed like a grape!
Warm up and go heavy on these, you can handle a lot of weight. You should be using enough weight so you fail within the prescribed rep range in the sample routine that’s coming up soon.
Finally, understand the correct way to do this exercise! Do not attempt heavy weights if you are unsure about form! Enlist the aid of a trainer, or record a video of yourself using an empty bar, and compare that to instructional videos. (1)
What Is The Top Leg Exercise For Balance & Stability?
When it comes to working your balance and stability, the lunge is the way to go.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
I chose this exercise because it forces you to balance as you perform it. Yes, you can grab onto the front pillar of a Power Rack if you’re using dumbbells, but focusing on balancing yourself goes a long way towards improving your stability and balance in real life. (2)
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
You can use a barbell, dumbbells or a single dumbbell (allowing you to work one leg at a time). You can do these by stepping onto a block, or walking a predetermined distance in the gym – the famous barbell lunges across the parking lot idea. You can also use a low cable.
Performance Tips
As noted above, don’t rush your reps, and use a complete range of motion. This is another exercise that requires you to get your form down. Don’t go heavy on these, focus on form and balance.
What Is The Top Leg Exercise For Lifters With Low Back Problems?
Trust me, I know about low back problems. The best answer is seated leg presses. Sure, I try to squat, but having had lumbar fusion surgery, using the leg press works the best. But, I have to say, I long to stand in a Power Rack with that cold 7 foot bar across my shoulders! I do, but it has to be using very precise form and lighter weight.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
I chose the leg press because it’s the ideal exercise for anyone with a sore or injured lower back or sore knees. It’s a compound exercise, you can go heavy on it, and you can play with foot placement to take the stress off the above-mentioned problem areas. Not to mention, it’s a great choice for calf raises! (3)
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
The only real variations are other leg press machines. I chose the seated leg press for a reason. Yes, you can try the 45 degree leg press, but that hits your lower back harder. To be honest, I suggest doing the standard seated leg press with the only variation being foot placement.
Performance Tips
As noted above. Also, you can go heavy on these. Form is not a real issue here, but go deep and don’t cheat yourself out of a good exercise by, as noted, doing partial reps.
What Is The Top Leg Exercise For Hamstrings?
Leg curls are without a doubt the top hamstring exercise.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
There are other good exercises, but leg curls, specifically seated leg curls, can be done by anyone. For someone with low back problems, exercises such as straight-legged deadlifts, or a glute-ham raise hurt just to watch it performed. The seated leg curl is an isolation exercise that’s easy on the lower back and easy to do. (4)
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
Variations include the lying leg curl, single legged leg curl, and various machines (that use one leg at a time).
Performance Tips
The same tips as already noted apply here. The thing about machines is that they make proper form a non-issue. Most have decals attached showing how to use them. Worse case, you find a gym trainer or employee to demonstrate for you.
What Is The Top Exercise For Calves?
Calf raises get the vote here, and there are a couple of necessary variations to fully train your calves. Technically, calves are considered a separate muscle group than the thighs, but you train them after your quad and ham work (or you should be) so I included them in this article.
Why Did I Choose This Exercise?
Calf raises are the bread and butter exercise for calves. However, to fully work both heads, you need to do both standing and seated calf raises. (5, 6)
What Are Variations Of This Exercise?
While your best option is to use a standing calf raise machine and a seated calf raise machine, you can use a barbell, dumbbells, or even resistance bands. However, your calves can handle a lot of weight, which is why the calf machines mentioned are best. Also, you can use a seated leg press, but you’re primarily hitting the gastrocnemius.
Performance Tips
As noted above, do full complete reps using the tempo I suggested above. Don’t be afraid to go heavy on these, you can handle a lot of weight – and you should be using enough weight so you fail within the prescribed rep range in the sample routine that’s coming up next.
What’s An Example Of A Leg Routine Using These Exercises?
| Exercise | Sets & Reps | Tempo |
| Squats | Bar x 15 reps, 20% RM x 10 reps,40% RM x 8 reps, 4 x 6-8 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
| Leg Press | 2 x 6-8 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
| Lunge | 2 x 6-8 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
| Leg Curls | 3 x 6-8 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
| Standing Calf Raise | 3 x 10-12 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
| Seated Calf Raise | 3 x 10-12 | 2-4-0/2-4-4 last set |
Progressive Overload
This is a fundamental principle that is a primary key to long-term progress. You have to consistently increase the weight over time. While it’s true you can increase reps or sets, that’s not really sustainable over the long haul. The classic use of this principle is to add weight, and you have a couple of options on the best way to do that.
Option # 1 – Add 2.5 lbs to exercises for large muscles, and 1.5 lbs for exercise for small muscles every week.
Option # 2 – Use the 2x 2 rule. This rule says that you should increase the weight by 10% for large muscles, 5% for small muscles once you can perform 2 additional reps beyond your rep goal for your last set, for 2 workouts in a row.
No, Squats Are Not Bad For Your Knees
Squat detractors love to claim that squats are both dangerous and ineffective. They claim squats impose forces on your back, hip, and knees that increases the chance of long-term injury.
Here’s Some Research
In a recent NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) position paper, they took a look at the evidence concerning the assumed cons of squats. (7)
It is true there was research conducted in the 1960’s by Dr. Karl Klein that indicates squats can be detrimental to knee stability due to stretching of the knee ligaments. However, the NSCA paper points out that later investigations discovered mistakes in Klein’s research. And, even Dr. Klein himself stated that he felt the full squat was the problem and that lifters should only squat to parallel. (8)
So What’s The Bottom Line?
The NSCA paper points out that squatting, even heavy squatting, increases knee stability. They do this by increasing compressive force at the joint. Regularly exercising the knee joint increases collagen turnover. This will thicken the ligaments, which will increase knee stability. To compensate for the increased force, the microdamage to the ligaments which might result from heavy squatting will cause the ligaments to hypertrophy.
Nutritional Guidelines
Nutrition for lifters begins with protein, without question the most important macronutrient. I advise consuming at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight evenly spaced throughout the day (as an example: 3 main meals and 2-3 protein shakes/bars). Setting up protein timing this way is both logical and convenient.
What about carb intake? You should focus mainly on complex carbs, keeping sugary carbs to a minimum (really, they are only useful in the hours around your workouts). Make sure you keep your total daily carb intake to 1 – 2 grams per pound of bodyweight when you are training for mass. I suggest monitoring your waist, as long as you aren’t gaining fat you’re OK. I also advise consuming around 50% of your day’s carbs (and all of your day’s simple carbs) in the hours that surround your workouts.
What Are The Best Supplements For Muscle Mass?
I suggest a cornerstone supplement program that should consist of the following products.
Protein Powder
Regarding protein powder, I recommend Hi-Tech Precision Protein hands down. This is an exceptional whey protein powder providing 25 grams of protein per serving. Plus, it’s one of the very few protein powders that allows release of leucine in the early stages of protein synthesis.
Pre-Workout
There’s some great pre-workouts but the one I often suggest is Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode. Gorilla Mode is a well-balanced Pre that revolutionized the industry with its extreme dosing, especially citrulline. It literally brought the supplement industry to its knees, forcing it to change direction and dose ingredients considerably higher.
If you would rather have a stim-free Pre, I suggest Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode Stim-Free. You get all the same impressive ingredients and dosing without any stimulants.
Creatine Monohydrate
Let me note that Gorilla Mode provides the suggested 5 gram dose of creatine monohydrate per max serving. However, since creatine is taken every day you will need a creatine product to use on your off-days. Therefore, I suggest Allmax Nutrition Creatine Monohydrate. This is an excellent product featuring CreaSyn® patented micronized creatine.
Multivitamin
One of the better multivitamin/mineral formulas you can buy is AllMax Nutrition Vitastack. This impressive product is a complete, well- balanced formula that provides 7 nutrient complexes.
Optional
Yes, you can get your EAAs from your protein meals and shakes. But you can also get targeted results by using an EAA powder during your workouts. The product I recommend is NutraBio Intra Blast. It is marketed as an intra-workout powder, but you can use it before and/or after.
Here’s another great option: Hi-Tech Andriol. This is a mild but strong enough prohormone that does not require cycling or a PCT. Finally, I recommend Competitive Edge Labs MPC-185. This is a highly concentrated, patented form of leucine, which is, of course, a primary trigger of protein synthesis.
Summary
There you have it – The Top 5 Leg Exercises, plus performance tips, a sample routine, nutritional guidelines, and supplement suggestions. All that’s left for you to do is stop by illpumpyouup.com, and stock up – then let’s go do some squats!
References:
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/BBSquat
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/BBLunge
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/LVSeatedLegPressH
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/LVSeatedLegCurl
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Gastrocnemius/LVStandingCalfRaise
- https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Soleus/LVSeatedCalfRaise
- https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/citation/1991/10000/n_s_c_a__position_paper__the_squat_exercise_in.11.aspx
- https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/citation/1984/06000/historical_opinion__karl_klein_and_the_squat.4.aspx