Basic Leg Exercises

One of the hardest things for the general fitness client to do is determine what leg exercises they should do. Let's start with what you should not do: 1. Skip legs entirely 2. Use machines such as leg extensions and leg curls. #1 is bad for obvious reasons if you are looking for a tone butt and legs. As for #2, leg extensions and leg curls are single joint exercises that only allow for movement from the knee joint and can probably do you more harm then good. Besides, you walk and run on your feet, so why train your legs in a chair.

If you are someone that experiences knee pain from squats or lunges, then chances are you are not doing them right or you need to strengthen some other areas of your body such as your glutes and hamstrings. We are going to stick with single leg exercises for now because I feel that they are the easiest to do correctly. The exercises in the videos below are basic single leg exercises that can be done with little or no equipment. Here is a sample set up for a legs in a total body workout.

Day 1 Step up 2x 8 each leg (the box in the video is 12" and a good height for beginners)
1 leg RDL (cone touch) 2x 8 each leg

Day 2 Split squat 2 x 8 each leg
Cook hip lift 2 x 8 each leg

The following week, move up to 2x 10 for each. In week 3, perform 2 x 12 each leg. After that, start to add weight or increase the height of the box for steps ups. Obviously, you know yourself better than I do, so if these exercises as shown are very easy, then you should add appropriate weight immediately. Remember, keep that heel on the ground or in the box!

Video for 1 leg RDL and Cook hip lift will be in the next blog.