The Natural Bodybuilders Bible

Training legs can be the hardest part of bodybuilding because you use your legs every time you walk and so are already quite strong and need a lot of effort to make bigger. However they are the most essential. It is no good having a great upper body if you have two sticks for legs. 

 

 [1]      THIGHS

 

LEG EXTENSIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

You should do this exercise first because it can help to warm up your knees which like your back is a weak link in strength training. 

 

Sit on the apparatus and bring your legs up as high as possible and squeeze the thigh muscle. Slowly lower the weight down to the starting position and then quickly bring the weight back up again.  You can sometimes keep the weight at the top of the movement to concentrate the burn in the thighs.  You can even do half reps in this position by trying to raise your legs even higher .

 

A good exercise is B**TARD EXTENSIONS.  Do seven full reps, seven half reps and seven full reps to finish.  You will soon know how this exercise got its name!

 

SQUATS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the number one exercise for building up your thigh muscles as long as you do them properly.  In fact doing squats can benefit your whole body because when you do them your body produces natural growth hormone.  This is a hormone that when produced artificially is the number one replacement for steroids used by professional athletes.

 

Put the weight behind your shoulders and squat down so that your legs are parallel to the floor.  Then pushing mostly with your thighs return back up to the starting position.  After a couple of reps you should feel a burn in your thigh muscles.  If you don’t then adjust your foot position until you do.  Some people benefit with their feet close together while others far apart.  It all depends on your genetics.  It is very important that you do push with your thighs.  If you feel it in your backside then only that will grow.  You will then still have skinny legs but also a massive muscular backside (there’s nothing worse)  So experiment until you get the technique just right.

 

LEG PRESS

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is similar to the squat except it is done on a special machine in the gym.  The idea is to push the weight up and down.  Once again push with your thighs ONLY.  Try not to move your bum too much.  At the top of the movement try and squeeze your thigh muscles.  This will become more difficult as they get pumped.

 

[2]      HAMSTRINGS

 

STIFF LEGGED DEADLIFT

 

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The idea is the same as the deadlift except you don’t bend your legs when you lift up the weight.  Stand on a box (normally found in a gym) and lift the weight up really concentrating on using your hamstring muscles.  Slowly lower the weight until you feel a stretch in the muscles and then lift up again squeezing the muscle as you do so.

 

LEG CURLS

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lie down on the apparatus in the gym and bring the weight up to your backside and squeeze your hamstring muscles.  Slowly lower the weight back down to the starting position so that you can feel the stretch.  Then repeat the movement.  Emphasise lifting the weight with your hamstrings only.  If your backside is moving up and down as you do the exercise then drop the weight down.  Alternatively you can get your training partner to push your backside down so the emphasis returns to the hamstrings. 

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[3]      CALVES

 

CALF RAISES

 

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You can do this with a calf machine in the gym or with a bar behind your neck.  The idea is to rise on to tiptoes and squeeze the calf muscle as hard as you can.  Rise as high up as possible and then slowly lower down as much as possible so that you can feel a stretch in the calf.  You can do more than the normal 8 to 15 reps for this exercise and can do up to 50 reps getting a killer burn.

 

It is a good idea to change the order with which you train legs.  If you do thighs first every time then your legs will be too tired to do a really effective hamstring or calf workout.  I therefore recommend you change the order you train your thighs, hamstrings and calves each week so that none of the three bodyparts suffer.