All the Kinds of Exercise Equipment That Work Arms & Legs

Choices at the gym can be overwhelming when trying to figure out how to work the muscles through your arms and legs. Free weights, weight machines, cable equipment and even utilizing your own body weight all are effective methods of building and toning your muscles.

  1. Building Your Quadriceps

    • Your quads are the large muscles that make up the front of your thighs. They straighten your knee, and one of the best ways to work them in the gym is with the leg extension machine. To perform extensions, sit in the seat, rest your feet under the padded bar, push it up, hold a beat, then return to starting position. Performing leg presses supplies effective quad strengthening as well. In this machine you sit in the seat, place your feet on the plate, then straighten your legs. You also can use the leg press to perform calf presses by repositioning your feet. Simply place the balls of your feet on the bottom edge of the plate instead of the center. Using your calf muscles, push against the platform.

    Working Your Hamstrings

    • Your hamstrings are responsible for bending your knee and are located at the back of your thighs. Use the leg curl machine to strengthen them. It resembles the leg extension machine, except you place your legs on top of the padded bar and then bend them to pull the bar down. Another type of leg curl machine involves lying on your stomach and lifting the padded bar up with your legs. The stationary bike also is a great option, providing you with both a cardiovascular and a hamstring workout.

    Biceps and Triceps

    • The fronts of your arms are home to your bicep muscles. Many people prefer to use free weights to perform bicep curls, but there is a machine that will work these muscles just as effectively. Place your elbows on the padded support as you grip the two handles and pull them up toward you. The backs of your arms contain your triceps, which straighten out your elbows. The dip bar is an effective way to work them. Grasp the two bars at hip level, holding yourself up and forcing your arms to support the weight of your body, then dip down, bending your elbows to a 90-degree angle before pushing back up. There's also a triceps machine that looks similar to the biceps machine except the handles are already in an upright position. Extend your arms straight out with this exercise.

    The Hip Abductors and Adductors

    • The adductors are in your inner thighs, and your abductors are the outer thighs. These muscles move the legs in and out and serve as connectors for your upper and lower body, providing stabilization at the hips. Strengthening these muscles is especially beneficial for individuals who participate in hiking, running, basketball or biking. Some gyms have two separate machines for this, but most have one dual-purpose machine where simply flipping the pads around affects which set of muscles you’re working. You sit in a chair, choose the amount of weight you’d like to lift and position the leg pads. Having them between your legs and squeezing them by closing your legs works the adductors. Having the pads outside of your legs and pushing outwards by opening your legs works your abductors.