Lower Body Workout: 4 Main Muscle Groups

This Lower Body Workout targets 4 major muscle groups of the lower body:

- Thighs (Quads)

- Hamstrings

- Glutes (Buttocks)

- Calves

It's an accompanying workout to the Upper Body Workout: 5 Main Muscle Groups in that it uses the same pyramid-based resistance training techniques and relative  'Effort-Level' so that it is personalized to you.

The lower body, and legs in particular, are often neglected when it comes to weights or resistance training, especially by men. Much more focus is placed on upper body training.

However, when it comes to building 'fat-burning-furnaces', develping your leg muscles will pay back in shovel-fulls. The quads & gluteal muscles (glutes or buttocks) are amongst the biggest muscles in the body.

If you've taken the time to read the blog posts here at GetFitFast.com you'll have learned that muscles burn fuel even when at rest; burning fuel eats up calories and burning calories burns up fat. So, the denser your muscles, the more fat you'll burn.

But training legs is not glamerous, they take tine to respond. Think about it.  Your legs have to carry your body around when walking or running, so they're already pretty efficient machines. To develop them any further takes some work. but if you persist, the rewards will be worth it.

Not many people realise that one of the ways to a great 6-pack is through core leg exercises!

OK, a quick review of the basics behind the workout & then we'll get into the details.

The weights progressively get heavier with every set, but you reduce the reps until you do a 'peak' double set of reps at the end using a lighter weight with higher reps.

The 'effort-level' rating system works on a 1-10 scale so you can use this to guage the weights relevant for you. For example, at level-5 or 6, you should feel relatively comfortable so that on the last rep you feel like you could just about perform another set of the same. But by level-8, you should be beginning to struggle on that last rep and finally by level-10, you should  be failing on the  last-but-one or very last rep.

So, onto the workout.
 

The Workout

Quads

 

Exercise	Reps	Rest between sets	Effort Level
Barbell Squat	12	1 min	5
Barbell Squat	10	1 min	6
Barbell Squat	8	1 min	7
Barbell Squat	6	1 min	8
Barbell Squat	12	no rest!	9
Barbell Squat	12	2 mins (see below)	10

Rest for 2 mins before moving to your next exercise. Your muscles should be feel pumped if you've worked hard & followed good form. Keep moving though, walk around shaking your legs to help keep the blood flowing, and make sure you drink plenty of water.

 

Hamstrings

 

Exercise	Reps	Rest between sets	Effort Level
Lying Leg Curls (Leg Curl Machine)	12	1 min	5
Lying Leg Curls	10	1 min	6
Lying Leg Curls	8	1 min	7
Lying Leg Curls	6	1 min	8
Lying Leg Curls	12	no rest!	9
Lying Leg Curls	12	2 mins (see below)	10

 

Rest for 2 minutes.

 

Glutes

You'l have already hit your Glutes as part of the Squat exercise for your quads, but in that they played more of a 'supporting act' so this time we need to hit them with some focus.

 

 

Exercise	Reps	Rest between sets	Effort Level
Rear Hip Extension (Leg Exercise Machine)	12	1 min	5
Rear Hip Extension	10	1 min	6
Rear Hip Extension	8	1 min	7
Rear Hip Extension	6	1 min	8
Rear Hip Extension	12	no rest!	9
Rear Hip Extension	12	2 mins (see below)	10

Rest for 2 minutes.

 

Calves

 

Exercise	Reps	Rest between sets	Effort Level
Standing Calf raise	12	1 min	5
Standing Calf raise	10	1 min	6
Standing Calf raise	8	1 min	7
Standing Calf raise	6	1 min	8
Standing Calf raise	12	no rest!	9
Standing Calf raise	12	2 mins (see below)	10

 

Rest for 2 minutes.

As with the upper body version of this workout, you can add in a twist by changing the exercise for the last 2 'peak' sets of each muscle group. This will have the effect of hitting the muscles from a slightly different angle and will give you an even better workout.

Give it a try & let us know how you get on!