5 Super Leg Workouts For Lower Body

Christina Helen Brown — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 13:53:52 +0000

Full squat – 5 sets of 8-10 reps

Hold bar securely between traps and rear shoulders
Feet should be directly under the bar
Legs reasonably apart
Breath!
When you’re stable prepare to squat
Lower body into squat position
Hold at the bottom
Lock your hips and knees at the top
Squeeze glutes at the top
Repeat

Leg press – 3 sets of 10 reps

Sit down onto the machine
Place legs on machine platform directly in front
Lower safety bar beside you
Press your feet onto the platform pushing it up
When your legs are fully extended it is important to make sure you do not lock your knees!
Begin to slowly and in your own time lower the platform
Your legs should make a 90 degree angle
Go back into the starting position and repeat.

Hamstring curl – 4 sets of 10 reps

Before sitting on the machine, adjust it to your height so you will be comfortable
Sit on the machine
The lever should be positioned on the back of your leg
Ensure your toes are pointing straight
Curl your legs back as far as possible and hold
Bring the legs back to the starting possition
Repeat exercise

Stiff-leg deadlift – 3 sets of 4-8 reps, increase weight and lower reps with each set

Bar should be positioned in front of you
Grasp the bar with palms facing down
Stand with torso straight
Your legs should be spaced apart
Your knees should be slightly bent
Bending your hips but keeping your back straight
Lower barbell over your feet
Bring your torso up by extending your hips
Go back into starting position
When you’re ready, repeat

Leg extension – 5-8 sets of 10-15 reps

Add or take off weight
Sit on the machine
Legs positioned under pad whilst holding side bars
Using quadriceps extend your legs forward
Ensure the rest of your body stays seated
Hold the position
Carefully lower the weight back to starting position
Repeat

Health & Fitness for Women : What Size Weights Should Women Lift?

Christina Helen Brown — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 09:56:32 +0000

When starting a strength training program to improve bone density and build lean muscle you must be ready to dedicate 3 to 4 days a week exercising. From personal experience when you enter the body building area of th gym it’s all too intimidating at first. What weights should I lift? What if the weights I’m lifting are too much or too little? and most importantly am I going to break something!

Many people will have made a gym friend or brought along an old friend to help ‘spot’ them whilst lifting weights, not only are they there to save your life if you can’t handle the pressure but will quickly notice if you’re doing something wrong and correct you.

What is the ideal weight to lift?

When you first start, all women should be looking to lift a maximum of 5 lbs. If you’re attempting squats, begin with just a bar and perfect your posture this is important because you don’t want to cause damage to your body or waste time doing an exercise incorrectly.

What are reps and sets?

You’ll soon get the hang of this one but a rep is the number of times you perform a specific exercise, and a set is the number of cycles of reps that you complete.

So for all you’re strength training exercises you should be looking to do 10 to 12 reps of 4 sets.