Leg Workouts That Actually Work

The lower body includes some of the most overlooked muscle groups. Stroll through your local gym. You will quickly notice that even the most muscular guys often have puny legs. Leg workouts might not be sexy, but they are essential to your performance as an athlete, or simply in your daily life. If you don't have strong legs, you will severely limit how fast you can run, how far you can throw or how hard you can tackle. (See Training Your Legs: Your Body's Greatest Untapped Resource.)

In addition, since performing leg exercises works the largest muscles your body, you burn more calories and release human growth hormone that stimulates muscle growth.

I challenged a student-athlete to stop performing ab-isolating exercises for six months, and to work out his legs five times a week instead. Guess what happened? He got a six pack and was finally able to dunk. Whether your goal is to run faster, jump higher, decrease belly fat or get bigger arms, the best approach is to start with your legs. Here are some leg workouts for men that actually work.

Leg Workout 1

• Heavy Back Squats: 5x5 (resting 3 minutes)
• Reverse Lunges: 4x8 (resting 2 minutes)
• High Step-Ups: 3x10 per leg (resting 1 minute)

Leg Workout 2

• Power Cleans: 5x5 (resting 3 minutes)
• Sumo Squats: 4x10 (resting 1 minute)
• Pistol Squats: 4x10 per leg (resting 1 minute)

Leg Workout 3

• Vertical Jumps: 5x10 (resting 3 minutes)
• Hip Thrusters: 4x10 (resting 1 minute)
• Bulgarian Split-Squats: 3x12 (resting 1 minute)
• Body Weight Lunges: 2x20 per leg (resting 1 minute)

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