Most of us have been to a gym a least once. And I’m sure all of us who ever been to a gym have seen this guy. Yes “the guy”, the guy with hulk like arms & skinny ass legs. Whatever you do, just don’t be “the guy” !
Well, I’m not going to ramble on about how important it is to have good strong thighs. I’ll just share with you one statistic that’ll make you think. If we ignore our legs, we end up ignoring 50% of our body. Plain & simple! A strong lower body can always make up for a lean upper body (just look at cyclists & you’ll know I’m right!) but a strong upper body will never be able to make up for a weak lower body. That’s like building a skyscraper on a weak foundation.
All you need is a simple weight training program (done once a week) to start with, that’ll you put on a track for a solid pair tree trunk thighs. Look at your thighs like biceps & triceps. Your thighs primarily have two major muscle groups quadriceps (the front of your thigh), you can call it a leg tricep & hamstrings (the back of thigh), consider it as a leg bicep. The first 3 exercises will hit your quadriceps, the next your hamstrings & the last one your calves.
- Leg Extensions:
I personally like to start off my thigh workout with extensions. They act as a great warm-up exercise & “wakeup” your thighs for the heavy squats & leg presses that follow. Start off by 3 sets of 10 reps each.
- Barbell Squats:
Ask anybody with a decent pair of thighs & they’ll swear by squats. There are different variations of squats but to start with stick with barbell squats behind the neck. Do 3 sets of 8-10 reps each. The key here is control over the movement. Keep your feet shoulder wide & lower yourself at parallel. Some people go below parallel but I don’t recommend it because going below undue stress on knees. Always use a support belt for squats to keep your back safe.
- Leg press:
Leg presses are another basic that has to be a part of any worthwhile thigh workout, if you’re looking to put some quality muscle there. Again there’s no need to go way below parallel here. Perform 3 sets of 8-10 reps each.
- Leg Curls:
This exercise is a very effective hamstring builder. Apart from adding strength it’ll add some quality size to your hamstrings & also activate your glute muscles. In other words, it’ll give you a nice butt. Do 3 sets of 10 reps each. People may suggest adding lunges to your hamstring routine, which is fine but I suggest sticking with only leg curls in the beginning because exercises such as barbell deadlifts will also greatly activate your hamstrings.
- Calf raise:
After putting in so much effort into building those tree trunks, it’ll be a shame to have pencil calves. Perform 3 sets of 10-12 reps each.
So there you have it! A perfect plan to cure the skinny leg syndrome. 🙂
j u u s d - A Man's guide 