Challenging exercises for your leg muscles

Take a look at any top female athlete. Chances are, her legs aren’t skinny; she probably has beautifully defined muscles from hip to toe.

Phrases like “thunder thighs” have, unfortunately, made women see toned, thicker legs as a bad thing, when we should be celebrating toning our muscles.

Growing your legs doesn’t mean gaining weight or increasing your fat percentage. Instead, it means sculpting muscles that allow you to compete or workout at a higher athletic level.

To grow your legs and give them the toned appearance, you must grow your muscles while reducing your fat percentage. This is achieved by challenging the muscles (lifting heavy weights) and getting proper nutrition.

Growing your legs for a toned look

Ready to transform your legs? Use the steps below to get started.

Hit the weights

If you want to grow your legs, you need a weight lifting plan.

Physiologist Brad Schoenfeld, who created the “Love Your Legs” workout, notes that while squats help define muscles, they don’t make women’s legs expand to the extent men’s do, since women lack testosterone.

If you are lifting light weights and doing endless repetitions, you will get a lean look but not a toned, muscular one. In fact, by lifting just a few pounds of weights, you will decrease size!

This is how you know if you are lifting heavy enough to grow your legs: If you can complete your number of desired repetitions (say 12) easily and could continue with a few more, then you are not lifting heavy enough. You should be able to lift comfortably for the first few reps, and complete the last 2 reps of your set with difficulty. Your muscle should be fatigued enough to continue further than the 12th repetition.

As you adapt to the weight, increase it. Do not stay with the same weight for weeks at a time. Once you can complete the 12th repetition easily, then add weight and follow the same standard.

In order to grow your legs, you must keep on adding weight as your body adapts. The trick is to challenge the muscle.

To try the “Love Your Legs” workout, do the following. Each exercise should include 2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps:

• Split squat: Place your left foot on a chair positioned behind you, hands on hips. Squat until your right knee reaches 90 degrees. Switch legs. Add dumbbells for more challenge.

• Sissy squat: Using a chair for stability, stand with feet hip-width apart and rise onto your toes. Simultaneously bend your knees and lean your torso back until your knees reach 90 degrees. Maintain a straight line between knees and shoulders.

• Pistol squat: With feet hip-width apart, lift your right foot a few inches off the ground, toes pointed up. Squat until your left knee reaches 90 degrees, keeping your right heel off the ground.

• Goblet squat: Stand with feet farther than shoulder-width apart, turning your toes out. With your hands, hold a dumbbell near your chest (like a goblet), keeping elbows out to the sides. Squat until your knees reach 90 degrees. Jump slightly as you rise.

• Three-way lunge: Place feet hip-width apart and hold your hands together in front of your chest. Do three lunges, each with your knee reaching 90 degrees: one toward the front, one toward the side, and one to the back.

• Good Morning: Put feet shoulder-width apart and hold the ends of a dumbbell with your hands. Place the weight under your chin. Slowly bend forward from the waist to 90 degrees, keeping your legs straight and pressing your butt back backward.

• Single-leg dead lift: Stand with feet hip-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Bend at the hip, extending your right leg behind you and keeping your abs tight. Hinge forward until your body is parallel to the floor, arms hanging down.

• Bridges: Lie on the floor and place a small towel under your heels. With arms by your sides, lift your hips off the floor, pressing your heels into the ground and forming a straight line from knees to shoulders.

• Calf raise three ways: Stand on a box or stair, letting your heels hang back over the edge. Then turn your toes inward and lift your heels. When you’ve done 2 to 3 sets of that, repeat the exercise with toes turned outward and then with them pointed straight.

For a shorter weight set, TheNest.com suggests just three exercises: a wide-stance squat with dumbbells, the single-leg dead lift, and one-legged calf raises with dumbbells.

Do each exercise around 10 to 12 times for 3 to 5 sets.

You can also try this quick and effective workout for killer legs.

Cardio

To most effectively grow your legs, you’ll also need to incorporate cardio into your workout.

Livestrong.com suggests keeping your cardio to short, fast bursts: sprint for 10 seconds, for instance, and then rest (walk slowly) for 20. Depending on your ability, you may start with anywhere between 10 and 20 sets, increasing that number as you get stronger. Add incline for more challenge.

Biking and running, in combination with weight-lifting, are also beneficial for toning your leg muscles.

Be cautious about doing too much: if you’re just starting to weight-lift, you should back off of cardio workouts for a little while until your body adjusts.

Nutrition

Slight diet changes can also help you sculpt muscular legs.

Though we’ve all heard that carbohydrates are evil, it’s not true: as you weight-lift, you need carbs in order to replace depleted glucose stores. Without glucose, the body will extract protein from your muscles.

Though it depends on how much you work out, you should try to set a daily goal of between 2 and 3.5 grams of carbs for each pound of body weight.

Make sure to get plenty of protein, too. Within an hour of your workout, get 10 to 20 grams of lean protein. This will improve your body’s ability to build muscle during that training session.

After the workout, you should also consume some protein, maybe in the form of a shake or bar.

If you do not consume enough protein, it does not matter what you lift – your muscles will not grow.

With the right combination of weights, cardio, and nutrition, you’ll be well on your way to toned, muscular legs.

Why should you believe Me..

That is one great question.

For one reason, all those books on the market tell you how to diet to lose weight, but don’t go into detail as to why you gained the weight to begin with.

Those books don’t go into the root cause of weight gain.

After years of research and testing, I found that those who knew the reason they became overweight, they took steps to alleviate it.

At that time they applied my methods of exercise, and my suggestions for proper eating. Once they did this, they found the weight came off fast and stayed off.
 
Plus, my techniques and methods are not found online or in bookstores. After doing years of research, I took what I found, compiled it into notes, and modified what I wrote.

When I came up with the solution that worked, I destroyed the original copies so no person could steal my ideas, methods, and techniques.

I took the only copy I had and formulated it into book form, so I could use it for myself.

However, I started noticing people around me, and saw how fat they were getting. I even heard complaint after complaint from people, asking for a way to lose the weight they got.

I realized I had a goldmine sitting on my desk and converted it to e-book form so I could provide it to everyone who was fat or had an unhealthy body.

I didn’t want to see these people in my area suffer. Then I realized people were like this all over the world.

I had the power to help them, so this is why I am offering my e-book to you folk.

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“I used to weight nearly 300 pounds and being only 5 foot 5 inches tall, I was considered really obese. I couldn’t even get into my clothes. I knew I had to stop eating so much. My problem was simple. I didn’t know what was considered a good diet. Then I bought your ebook, Michael, and I must say, when I applied everything you stated, I lost 125 pounds within 6 months. Now I feel terrific and can even get back into the clothes I used to wear. Thank you so much!”  
Sandra Jordan
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“Hey man, great ebook. I was getting big and losing my breath when walking up the stairs. I knew I was out of shape. I went to a gym in my neighborhood, but hurt my leg trying out certain exercises. A friend of mine suggested I try your ebook. So I went online and bought a copy. It has been a month now, and I am able to walk up the stairs without breathing hard. Plus, my waist went from a size 44 to a size 32. All I can say is ‘wow,’ thanks man. I owe you one!”
Ed McHugh
New York

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 Okay, now you heard from a couple of customers, you are wondering what my product will cost. Well what if I told you I was offering it for a low price of $27.

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Here is the Method for Eat and Exercise

  

 

If you are tired of seeing how you look in the mirror, it is important to get started with a training and nutrition program that will provide the results you are looking for.


I found what worked and want to share it with you. By the way, when I used what I found on myself, not only do I lose nearly 90lbs, but I never put it back on again.

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	The best training strategies that will give you the ultimate body within just a few short weeks.
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	The proper time to get a personal trainer.
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As you can see, you will be getting more than just talk. You will be getting an overall fitness change. After you begin myprogram, within a few short weeks, even your family or spouse won’t recognize you.

Those who are fighting to lose weight

Those who are fighting to lose weight just as you are. Those folks are using every fad diet known to men. All with the intentions of losing the unwanted fat they have accumulated.

They all do go through different rituals, thinking that doing so will help bring the weight off, only to be disappointed. 

Some people even go through rigorous exercising, thinking the weight will come off, only to find when it does, the weight goes back on. 

There are those who simply give up, thinking they will never lose the weight, no matter what method they try. Maybe this is your thinking as well. 

Just sitting in the chair and wishing for your body to get healthy won’t cut it. You need to do more. You need to take action. 

You may not believe this, but I was just like you at one time. I was skinny, undernourished. I then started eating a lot and gained so much weight I looked like a balloon.

I was embarrassed to show my face. My doctor told me to lose the weight or die. So I went on a strict diet and lost about 20lbs in 4 weeks. I was really doing it. However, it did not last.

Within a month, I was back to the weight I had lot before. Why? Because of bad eating habits.

I went on a long journey of self-discovery. I did a lot of research. I talked to experts in the fields of medicine, health, nutrition, and physical fitness.

After talking to every expert I got my hands on, I began to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.  I tested certain things and re-tested.

After nearly 20 years of experiments and testing, and further research, I realized what it was I had to do.

I began to combine many methods and techniques. I would exchange one form of food item for another. I read all the books on what foods are good and what were bad.

I studied the human body and learned how muscles worked. I took this knowledge and set up an exercise program that would give me ultimate results.

After all the research, interviews, testing, and experiments, I finally came across foods that I knew would help me lose weight. I also found what type of exercise would help me as well.