Leg exercisers in the gym for girls. Names, how to use

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People don't like to swing their legs. The main reason is that this is the largest muscle group, which requires maximum effort to work. At the same time, legs are the most important stimulator of anabolic processes; their intensive training causes the body to experience maximum stress.

Many athletes have probably experienced a feeling of serious strength that prevents them from walking the next day after training. Pain means you have given your legs enough exercise to allow them to grow/shrink/get stronger. If you're serious about working out your lower body, it's important to know the best leg exercises to use.

Why do girls and men need to build muscle mass in their lower extremities?

An analysis of the anatomy of the muscles of the lower extremities will help you understand the advisability of performing exercises performed to gain slender and powerful legs. The latter are divided into a large number of large, medium and small muscles, which are closely interconnected.

The largest muscle groups of the lower extremities include:

• quadriceps;
• buttock muscles;
• hamstring muscles;
• muscles of the back (surface) of the thigh.

The leg muscles are classified as slow type. This means that they are designed for light loads. In addition, the muscles of the lower extremities quickly adapt to performing basic exercises for the development of muscle tissue in the legs.

Pumping up the leg muscles allows you, first of all, to develop physical endurance. If a person has weak calf muscles, then even such activities as prolonged walking and standing will be exhausting. This problem is especially relevant for people approaching old age.

Why is it important to do exercises to pump up the calf muscles:

1. Training has a positive effect on the formation of the correct position of the pelvis, due to which a person develops a beautiful athletic posture.
2. A large number of blood vessels are concentrated in the lower extremities, and proper sports activities help strengthen them.
3. Large leg muscles harmonize the athletic figure, giving it the correct proportions.

Important! Achieving athletic legs and hips is only possible with regular, proper training, consisting of exercises to work each group of local muscles.

Be sure to check out: All the ways to quickly pump up a girl’s calves at home and build up her legs for men and women Effective exercises for pumping up legs for men at home Effective exercises for legs at home for girls and women Inner thighs: the best exercises and methods

Regarding weight loss

When training your lower body, remember that exercises for losing weight on your legs and thighs, no matter what your trainer tells you. Losing weight in legs occurs due to the combination of several factors:

1. Global fat burning.
2. Toning “flabby muscles”.

It is due to this that the very effect of exercise for losing weight on legs is manifested. In fact, the legs do not lose weight, it’s just that when pulled up, the muscles are in better tone, which means they don’t sag so much from the attachment point.

If your goal is to exercise to lose weight in your legs, follow a few training principles:

1. Training in pumping mode. High reps, low weights.
2. Progress solely through increasing the number of repetitions. Any increase in weight threatens muscle hypertrophy, which will lead to their increase.
3. Focus on cardio-oriented exercises, they burn fat much more effectively, which allows you to quickly get ideal, slender legs.

If you have already pumped up your legs, you should reduce the weight as much as possible and work in aerobic exercise mode in basic exercises. That is, instead of a 40 kg barbell for 20 repetitions, use a 20 kg barbell and a number of repetitions over 50. This will cause catabolism in red muscle tissue and create conditions for myofibrillar hypertrophy of white fibers, which are much smaller than red ones.

How to quickly achieve results: in a week and a month

How long it takes to form beautiful muscles and increase the physical endurance of the lower extremities depends on the general level of athletic training of an adult. A person will not be able to quickly build muscle mass, even with frequent training. Over the course of a week, muscle tone will only increase, which will indicate continued adaptation to stress. Exercising too intensely can be dangerous to the health of the cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal system.

A program for pumping legs and hips is usually designed for 4-6 weeks of regular strength training. How many times a week you can exercise depends on your overall fitness level. For example, for thin girls and guys with weakened calf muscles, it is optimal to devote 3 days a week to exercise.

Advanced athletes can increase the number of classes to 4-5 times a week. Within a month, a person will develop beautiful and strong muscles of the lower extremities.

Rules for performing physical exercises and the most common mistakes

When developing sculpted leg muscles, it is important to perform each fitness move correctly.

Before you begin any physical activity to pump up your calf muscles, you need to devote at least 10 minutes to warming up. Warming up will prepare the joints, ligaments and tendons for fitness techniques. If you ignore this rule, the risk of injury will increase significantly.

High-quality leg training is possible if attention is paid to pumping each muscle group of the lower extremities. The complex must include at least 1-2 exercises to fully work out the back of the thigh.

Typical mistakes when forming the muscles of the lower extremities:

• ignoring warm-up;
• too long and frequent classes;
• turning the knee joints inward when squats both without and with weights;
• ignoring joint flexibility;
• lifting your heels off the floor during squats and bench presses.

If a person wants to squat and perform other fitness techniques to remove fat on the legs, then this is a wrong approach to exercise. Intense sports training for excess weight can be organized after reducing the amount of adipose tissue achieved through diet.

Important! You can train your muscles between classes with moderate cardio exercise. Swimming, brisk walking, jogging and cycling will help boost your metabolism and maintain normal muscle tone.

A set of basic exercises for pumping up the calf muscles and thighs

Basic fitness techniques for swinging legs are suitable for both a person with well-developed muscles and an ectomorph.

Basic fitness techniques are characterized by the fact that they allow you to pump up the muscles of not only your legs, but also your buttocks and back.

How to pump up your legs:

1. Squats are the best option for working out the muscles of the lower extremities, as well as the joints of the legs. Anyone, regardless of their fitness level, needs to squat correctly to create the correct load on the lower body. To do classic squats, you need to place your feet shoulder-width apart. Afterwards, the upper limbs are extended in front of you, trying to simultaneously fix the chin in a raised position. The knees and feet should be on the same line. As you inhale, you need to lower your buttocks as far as possible to the floor level, spreading your knees. In this case, the joint should form a right angle. Stay in this position for a few seconds. As you exhale, you need to take the starting position. The number of repetitions varies from 15 to 25, and approaches - from 2 to 4.
2. Lunges - for beginners, this exercise can be performed without additional weights, while advanced athletes can pick up dumbbells, stretching their limbs along the seams. To do lunges according to the instructions, you need to stand up straight and lift your chin. Take a step forward with your right foot, fixing it in the accepted position. The knee joint should form a right angle, giving stability to the body. The left leg is laid back, but its knee joint points to the floor when bent. Lunges are done 10 to 20 times on each leg in 3-4 approaches.
3. Glute bridge - this fitness technique is perfect for thin people with weakened leg muscles. To perform the exercise, you need to lie on your back and place your arms along your body. With your feet fully on the floor, place them shoulder-width apart, bending your limbs at the knee joints. As you exhale, using tension in your shoulder blades and calves, lift your pelvis and hold it at the peak point for several seconds. As you inhale, lower your lower back to the floor. The fitness technique is repeated 15-20 times in 2-3 approaches.

Detailed training program for the week

Your weekly training program will vary depending on your goals. When working on mass, you should not train your legs every session, since it is worth taking into account the time for the body to recover, and when exercising on relief, you will need to perform multi-repetition movements or circuit training.

Exercises for mass

If an athlete works on mass, then it will be approximately as follows:

In this case, the legs are trained once a week to provide the body with time to recover. Exercises can be replaced with others, for example, perform squats with dumbbells, then lunges with walking, calf raises and plie squats. There are a lot of options for combining movements.

Relief classes

Relief training can be done in different ways. One option is multi-repetition movements. You can take the same program as when working on weight, but increase the number of repetitions by 2 times, reducing the working weight.

Attention! A more effective approach is circuit training. Exercises are performed for the whole body, sequentially, changing once a week or two. Three workouts a week will be enough; on the remaining days you can include running.

An approximate training plan for circuit training would look like this: push-ups, squats with dumbbells, pull-ups, triceps push-ups, reverse grip pull-ups, calf raises, jumping on a bench, crunches.

The next week, you can change the plan by doing squats without weight, push-ups with a narrow grip, scissors, sit-ups, lunges.

Strength training

Working on strength requires a special approach. It will be difficult to build such a program at home; at a minimum, you will need to have equipment. The simplest option is prefabricated dumbbells; the presence of a weight and, for example, special weights that cling to the legs will be a huge plus.

The program option is:

• squats with dumbbells;
• jumping on a bench;
• lunges.

Three movements on the legs will be enough. They are performed in 3-5 approaches, the number of repetitions varies from workout to workout. It is best to apply the principle of cyclic loading. You need to roughly figure out the maximum, then perform the exercise with a weight of 70% of the maximum, but with a number of repetitions from 3 to 6, then take 50% and do it for 8, after 90% for 3. After that, you can try to increase the maximum.

There are a lot of methods. Such strength cycles are used in powerlifting and other strength sports.

Basic isolation exercises

When gaining leg mass, you need to include isolating exercises in the complex, which are performed to target the muscles.

Some of the best isolation fitness moves you can do in the gym include:

1. Limb extensions in a simulator in a sitting position: a technique for working out the quadriceps. The back of the exercise machine is installed so that the thigh fits on the seat. Afterwards the required load weight is set. The lower part of the lower leg rests against the roller. The knee joint is bent at a right angle. Your back should be pressed tightly against the back of the sports equipment. As you exhale, you need to slowly straighten your knee joints, and after a pause at the peak point, return to the starting position by inhaling. The fitness routine is designed for 15 repetitions, performed in 2-3 approaches.
2. Leg bending in a sitting position - this exercise is performed according to the same instructions as the previous one. The difference is that the training takes place while lying on your stomach, and when performing a fitness move, the back of the thigh is swayed.
3. Seated calf raises: you need to sit on the machine with a weight on your outer thigh. As you exhale, lift your socks off the support, straining your calves as much as possible. As you inhale, return to the starting position. The workout includes 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

Isolation exercises are basic for men who want to build noticeable calf muscles. Girls should focus on fitness techniques without weights.

Dumbbell workout

Exercises with dumbbells will be the first step for those who want to build up their legs. They are effective, bring quick results, and the weight of the weights can be chosen taking into account the degree of preparedness. This allows them to be used for training beginners and professionals.

The following exercises will be the most effective and easiest to perform.

Jumping

They help pump up all the thigh muscles.

Exercise technique:

1. Take the starting position - standing with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Take a dumbbell in each hand.
3. Squat with them and jump as high as possible.
4. Repeat 10 times.

For advanced athletes, the number of repetitions increases to 25 times. The weight of each dumbbell for a beginner is from 1 to 2 kg, for a professional - up to 5 kg.

Holding on one leg

You will also need a dumbbell for this exercise. It helps strengthen and pump up the front muscles of the thigh, lower leg and buttocks.

Technique:

1. Take the starting position - standing, holding your hands on a wall or chair.
2. Place a round dumbbell on the toes of one foot.
3. Raise your leg 10 cm from the floor.
4. Hold for at least 20 seconds.
5. Repeat for the second leg.

For each leg you need to do at least 3 approaches.

The weight of the weight for a beginner should not exceed 2 kg, for professionals 4-5 kg ​​is allowed. For those who want to complicate the execution, they are allowed not to hold on with their hands, but to try to maintain balance without support.

Number of workouts per week to achieve maximum effect

To pump up beautiful lower limbs, it is recommended to train 3 times a week. The duration of the lesson is 20-35 minutes.

What fitness approaches can be combined with in one day and why to do it:

• running at a moderate pace;
• jumping rope;
• stretching exercises.

These loads accelerate metabolism well and speed up metabolism.

If training is properly organized, a tolerable tension and tingling sensation is felt in the calf muscles.

Important: acute pain in the joints when performing exercises to pump up muscles requires immediate cessation of sports activities! If the area around the joint is swollen and red, then the person needs to see a doctor.

Effective advice from experts

Experienced fitness and bodybuilding gurus will clarify the important nuances of leg fitness.

Sergey Sivets, fitness specialist

If you don’t have dumbbells at home, you can squat to pump up your leg muscles with a stick whose length exceeds the distance between your shoulders. In the middle of the workout, it is optimal to do 100 jumps with arms and legs raised. This is a great cardio workout that speeds up your metabolism.

Dmitry Berestov, 2004 Olympic weightlifting champion

Squats are an essential exercise for training your legs. The degree of difficulty of its implementation depends on the general level of physical fitness of the person. For men who want to achieve a bodybuilder figure, barbell squats are suitable.

Igor Voitenko, author of a fitness blog

Bulgarian explosive squats are a universal technique that helps pump all the muscles of the lower body. The technique is similar to lunges, but with Bulgarian squats, the leg pulled back rests on a stool. This approach allows you to increase the strength load on the hips and buttocks.

Exercises with non-standard equipment

The legs are involved in almost all daily movements and sports. Therefore, you can easily work through them using specific equipment.

Note: This is not a complete list of specific equipment available to everyone.

• Running with weights. It enhances the cardio effect and also creates additional stress on the hamstrings, which are responsible for bending the leg. Because of this, the legs become slimmer, and the load shifts from the quadriceps to the buttocks.

  

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• Working with a rubber band (loop). Their list is quite wide. Using a loop, you can simulate any exercise for the leg muscles using iron.

  

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• Norwegian walking. For this exercise you will need ski poles. You will look very comical on the city streets, but you will be able to completely turn off your quadriceps, focusing the load on the quadriceps femoris muscle.

Main conclusions

1. When swinging your legs, physical endurance increases and an athletic posture is formed.
2. The rapid formation of the muscles of the lower extremities requires at least a month of weekly training. How many times a week you need to train depends on the level of athletic training of your muscles. It is optimal to exercise 3-4 times a week.
3. The complex includes basic and isolating fitness techniques, as they help to engage the muscles of the calves, thighs, and buttocks.
4. Every workout always starts with a warm-up. Without warming up the muscle tissue, the risk of injury increases.
5. Exercises for the muscles of the lower extremities are optimally combined with cardio exercise and proper nutrition.