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Stronger legs will help you move faster, jump higher, and be more explosive with athletic activities. It’ll also improve your overall balance, and decrease the chances of getting an injury to your knees and lower back. There’s no doubt that it’s extremely important to strengthen and develop your lower body which is why today I want to give you guys the 10 Best Exercises that you can do for stronger bigger Legs.
And by far one of the best exercises for legs is the back barbell squat. Now a lot of beginners give up on doing heavy barbell squats because they feel awkward at first, but after showing the regular squat ill explain the box squat variation that beginners can use to get comfortable with the form.
Either way, whether you want rounder glutes, nicer thighs, or more power in your lower body squats should be one of your staple leg exercises. So to do a regular barbell squat you’ll first step up to a loaded barbell and unrack it with the barbell resting on your traps, not your neck. After unracking and stepping back, spread your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart while also slightly rotating your feet outward. Before you begin lowering yourself down make sure that you’re focusing on keeping your chest up pointing straight ahead and that you’re maintaining the neutral curve in your lower back. Then take a deep breath and hold it as you drive your hips back, bend your knees, bend your ankles, and lower your body down. As you’re doing this make sure you’re keeping your weight over the middle of your foot. Squat down until your legs are either parallel or a little under parallel with your knees. Then push your feet into the ground, and extend your knees as your hips drive forward under your shoulders. Once you get the barbell all the way up in a relatively straight line, release your breath, then take your next deep breath, hold it, and squat back down for your next rep. Taking a deep breath before each rep is a technique known as the Valsalva maneuver and it shouldn’t be overlooked because it acts as a natural belt and protects your lower back while squatting or deadlifting.
Now like I said a big issue that a lot of beginners have with squats is learning how to sit back rather than just lowering themselves straight down. That’s why another great exercise for both beginners as well as those of you that are advanced is the box squat. The movement pattern for this is almost identical to a regular squat but now you’ll start with a bench or another platform that’s set up behind you at about knee level. So you’re going to unrack the barbell and back your feet up until your heels are almost against the platform. Then you’re going to squat down the same way as before and if you’re a beginner concentrate on sitting rather than squatting. When you take a seat on a daily basis you don’t even think about it but you naturally shift your hips back and perform a squat to get your butt into that seat. That’s why this exercise is beneficial because it allows you to sit rather than Squat and you’ll automatically feel less afraid of falling back. Keep in mind when you squat down to the bench you don’t want to relax your core and allow your spine to round forward. Just bring your butt back tap the seat and Drive the weight back up. Like I said this is still great for those of you that are Advanced because it challenges you to go all the way down to whatever platform or bench height you choose and that slight pause at the bottom really makes the exercise feel more challenging.
That’s why you’ll most likely have to use a lighter weight load for box squats than what you can normally use for regular squats.
Next, we have an exercise that’ll improve your unilateral strength, weighted lateral lunges. Unilateral strength just refers to training and developing one side of your body at a time. Most of your everyday tasks use one leg at a time rather than both, for example walking up a flight of stairs, you drive your body up with one leg at a time. It’s also especially important for athletic activities, for example running or changing directions quickly will require unilateral strength. Aside from developing each of your legs separately, lateral lunges are also great for developing the muscles around your inner thighs. So to perform lateral lunges you’re going to grab two dumbells and hold them at your sides while standing straight up. Then take a big step out to one side. As you’re doing this don’t make the…