Do you want to make the most of your leg day? It is time to refine your leg workouts by being keen on detail and pushing yourself to conquer those extra miles. Here are seven leg day workout tips.
Warm-up with bodyweight exercises
Just because it is leg day doesn’t mean you shouldn’t warm-up before you start those intensive exercises. You need to loosen your muscles and build your strength with the right bodyweight exercises. Since you need to stretch your hip joints and knees for better squats and lunges, side leg lifts are an ideal option to help you achieve more.
Replicate your squat movement patterns
After your warm-up, you should prepare for your leg exercises by replicating squat movement patterns. Drop to your lowest squat position and slowly stretch out your hands, then bring them back together. Do this several times, and your muscles will feel more comfortable once you start your sets. This is also a great body form check that helps you identify if you have a painful joint or sore muscles that need attention.
Protect your joints
Self-care is important when training your legs, as your lower body has several joints that require extra attention. Some of the best practices to adhere to include:
Wear a weightlifting belt and knee sleeves for addition during heavy squats and deadlifts
Avoid knee injury by avoiding pointing your toes inward or too outward
Do not ignore any pain in your joints
Avoid curling your back and turning your head when exercising
Go for full-range of motions
You need to control your positive and negative motions while exercising your legs, and this is best achieved by going for full-range motions. This trick will ensure each rep stimulates your leg muscles, enabling them to grow bigger and stronger, whether you are doing lunges, squats, or leg presses.
Focus on your foot placement
One of the most important elements when exercising your legs is your foot placement. Foot variations such as wide stance, narrow stance, high feet, and low feet shift the muscle groups you work on. You should always pay attention to your foot placement for every rep to ensure you train the right parts of your leg.
Engage in isolation exercises
Most people are either right or left dominant, and while exercising, your dominant side tends to engage its muscles more. The best way to find the best balance is by engaging in isolation exercises such as calf raises, hamstring leg curls, and quadriceps leg extensions. Remember to carefully choose the isolating exercise to engage in as you do not want to over-train one muscle group while the others are ignored.
Don’t ignore your nutrition
As you strive to build confidence in your body, do not forget that you need the right nutrition for quicker and lasting gains. Tailor your diet on leg day to include foods rich in protein and carbohydrates that also provide the much-calorie surplus to sustain the intensity of these exercises.
Endnote
A primary ground rule for all training enthusiasts is that you must never skip leg days, and with these tips, you have no reason not to build stronger legs.
