by guest author Carrie Lee
In my observation at the gym, I’ve noticed that many men work fervently on their arms and chest, but neglect working on their lower body. There are a few men there that I have never seen work on their legs.
Their upper body and lower body look like they don’t belong together. They have a great V-shape going, but that V-shape is held up by two little stick legs.
I admire their determination and effort put into achieving a great upper body, but that same determination needs to go into working the legs, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
They probably have no idea that people are snickering behind their backs, “Great arms and chest, but look at those skinny legs!
Men, I’m just trying to give some constructive criticism here. Yes, a nice chest, and big muscular arms are great, but a nice butt and muscular legs are great too!
When you look in the mirror, don’t let your eyes stop at your arms and chest. Check out your legs too. Are they on the skinny side? Check the rear view too. How does that butt look?
Remember that you’re supposed to give your muscle groups time to rest, so they can recover and grow. Give your arms and chest a little break and work on those legs!
Now, if it’s been a long time since you’ve worked your legs, or you’ve never worked them at all, you’ll need to start off with light weights and gradually increase as your legs get progressively stronger. Don’t go crazy…having sore legs makes it difficult to walk!
Before using these four exercises to start off, make sure you stretch first!
1. Incline Leg Press — Start with (1) 45 lb. plate on each side, doing 3 sets of 12 reps. This may seem very light to you, but it’s a good warm-up. Inrease the weight in 35-45 lb. increments on each side.
2. Seated Calf Raises– Start with a 45 lb. plate. doing 3 sets of 12 , increasing the weight in 25-35 lb. increments.
3. Hamstring Curl- Start out with about 70 lbs. Again, this may be very light for you, but these muscles probably haven’t been worked in a while. Do 3 sets of 12, increasing with 20 lb. increments as your legs get stronger.
4. Leg Extensions– Start by doing 3 sets of 12 reps with 70 lbs., increasing by 20 lbs.
You know your body…If these weights are too light, you’ll know, but you have to start somewhere.It’s better to start off light and get those muscles used to being worked before you use heavy weights.
In addition to doing these four exercises, I would suggest also using either the EFX Cardio machine, Eliptical Trainer, or Stair-Stepper Machine for at least 20-30 min. These will give you a good cardio workout as well as work your quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves, all at the same time.Gradually increase the resistance and incline at each session.You will get quicker results if you do both the cardio and weight workout together.
This article by Paul Becker was published with his permission. Paul, a bodybuilder and fitness expert, is the owner and operator of TrulyHuge.com. Click the link to his website for more bodybuilding tips.
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