Your Next Leg Workout Could Use Some Perspective

When it comes to leg exercises and fitness-focused ways to get skinny legs with shape, it’s all about your perspective or approach. Be mindful. That’s what this particular article is going to add to your next leg workout.

First, Focus on Body/Free Weight

Machines have their place when you’re shooting for hypertrophy in major muscles, or most prominent: thigh & calf. However, at this point no one can argue that 80% of your leg exercises need to employ the wonders of pure body weight + leverage or free weights like dumbbells and barbells. The key is getting creative. Here’s some tips.

• Classes: Most gyms these days offer their members metabolic conditioning courses that usually incorporate light to moderate weight dumbbells/barbells. They keep you moving in an hour long circuit that can really add to your repertoire of leg exercises
• Trainers: When it’s time to take your sculpting ambitions to the next level, it’s time to shell out some money for a couple sessions with a reputable and very knowledgeable personal trainer. Once they understand how important your lower body is, they’ll create specialized regimens for you.
• The Internet: It’s 2014 and you can get absolutely swallowed by the amount of information fitness & exercise information there is online. It’s all about where you look. A reliable approach is to head to video-based social networking sites and search for “leg workout” videos with big view-counts.

Now, Leg Workouts Should be Holistic

During your next leg workout, do some single-leg half-squats or single-leg deadlifts. Now, throughout the set try to find a muscle that you AREN’T working. Here’s a hint, you won’t really find any. From the back of your neck to your toes creative leg exercises tap into the entire musculature, burning more calories and training the smaller muscle groups (especially those around joint capsules).

Part of trimming down is cardio, yes, but you’ll be shocked how much cardio you can unleash upon yourself without moving from one small area in the weight room with a couple dumbbells. Work as much of your body as possible, holistically, rather than being dependent on single-joint movements.

Be Consistent & Variable

For any new adaptation to take effect there must be consistency over a reasonable period of time (1.5-3 months at least). One “leg day” a week that focuses either on machines or pure-cardio isn’t going to give you that filled out athletic look. It’s also about continually changing things up. Here’s two points to consider:

Here’s two points to consider:

1. The 3 Planes: 90% of the folks in the gym doing leg workouts today are focused on the sagittal plane of motion, meaning moving either forward or backwards in a straight line. Right? Some do things in the frontal plane going side-to-side, while barely anyone works their body in the transverse plane. 70% of the accidents that cause chronic pain happen in the transverse!
2. Circuit-Cardio Integration: All the ways to get skinny legs these days are circuit-based in terms of resistance training. But, where people fall short is doing way too much cardio at once time. Instead, break apart your typically 30+ minute cardio session into three 10 minute high intensity stints that are mix in.

Employ Tons of Proprioception

When you engage your body’s internal balance and stabilization mechanisms during leg exercises you’re tapping into the sculpting power of proprioception. The more pressure you put on your musculature and central nervous system (within reason of course) the better in terms of developing great looking legs and generating far more body control.

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