The Best Leg Routine for a Natural Bodybuilder

Legs are among the hardest body parts to train. But because symmetry is a huge aspect in bodybuilding, neglecting your legs -- in favor of other body parts -- will give you a disproportionate look. Bodybuilders can sufficiently stimulate their legs once a week or split their workouts, exercising their hamstrings and glutes one day and their quadriceps and calves on another day.

  1. Intensity and Duration

    • According to "Fitness: The Complete Guide" by the International Sports Sciences Association, to gain muscle size from training, you must exercise against a resistance greater than what you normally encounter. To stimulate leg development, use a combination of heavy compound movements such as squats with isolation exercises like leg extensions. Adjust your intensity level based on the weight. Perform heavy squats with eight repetitions and take two minutes to rest because you are activating many muscle fibers. By contrast, if you use moderate weight on leg extensions performing 12 repetitions, you'll have a faster recovery time -- so rest for just a minute between sets.

    Warm-Up

    • Warm-up exercises help increase your muscle temperature. A light, 10-minute warm-up session on an elliptical machine concluding with air squats will warm up your legs. Perform three sets of air squats for 20 repetitions to properly warm up your knee and hip joints in preparation for your workout. Next, do two warm-up sets of the beginning exercise. Warm-up sets should consist of 12 to 15 repetitions with a light weight. Wear shoes with flat soles for safety and better balance on squats and deadlifts.

    Full-Leg Workout

    • Choose a resistance light enough to allow you full range of motion where you can still complete your final repetition using proper form. Perform three sets of barbell back squats for eight repetitions. Drive with your heels and not your toes. Perform walking lunges for three sets of 10 repetitions followed by three sets of hack squats for 12 repetitions. Next perform three sets of straight-leg deadlifts at eight repetitions followed by five sets of lying hamstring curls at 10 repetitions. Finally, perform five sets of seated calf raises for 12 repetitions.

    Hamstring and Glute Split

    • Perform five working sets with eight repetitions of straight-leg deadlifts by standing on a raised platform allowing for a larger stretch in your hamstrings. Perform good mornings for five working sets with 10 repetitions while concentrating on form not weight. Perform three sets of eight repetitions on the leg press while going below parallel emphasizing the glutes. Conclude your workout with the hamstring curl on a stability ball. Perform three sets of 15 repetitions using slow and controlled movements focusing on squeezing the glutes and hamstrings.

    Quadriceps and Calve Split

    • Research in the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning" showed that the front squat may be more beneficial than the back squat in athletes with knee limitations due to increased torque of the knees. Perform three sets of front squats at eight repetitions. Then perform stationary lunges for four sets using 10 repetitions on each movement. Next perform four sets of hack squats using 10 repetitions. Keep your knees in to emphasize the quadriceps. Finish your workout with three sets of seated calf raises and standing calf raises back to back while keeping your repetitions at 12.

    Cooldown

    • "The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research" found that athletes who stretched prior to lifting weights were prone to feel weaker than those who had not stretched. Include a light 10-minute cooldown on the elliptical machine for minimizing muscle soreness. Perform three sets per muscle of static stretching by moving slowly to your range of motion for the joint and hold the pose for 30 seconds. Never bounce while stretching, as this can facilitate injury. Include the lying hamstring and glute stretch, quadriceps stretch, lying low-back and calf stretches. Use a foam roller to enhance further stretching.