How to Build Lean Muscles Through Hamstrings and Quads
If you go to the gym you've probably seen this before--a guy with massive arms and chest but skinny legs. Clearly, some people don't think leg exercises are worth their time, but they are an important part of a complete workout. Strong legs stabilize you when you're lifting weights in a standing position. But how do you build lean muscle through the hamstrings and quadriceps, two of the main leg muscles in the body? You'll need the right workout routine and implement the correct lifestyle changes.
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Instructions
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Lifestyle Changes
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Eat! Building lean muscle is not the same thing as losing weight. Your body will need calories and energy to build muscle and to make it through a full gym routine. If you're hungry, don't skip a meal to burn fat. You'll end up losing muscle and you won't feel well.
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Create a diet that is high in protein and low in fat. Your diet is more important than your workout routine in many ways; the vitamins and minerals you eat act as the building blocks to a strong body. Without a nutritious diet, your body may actually lose muscle mass despite your strenuous workouts.
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Rest your body when you're not at the gym. Your hamstrings and quadriceps become stronger after a hard workout, not during a workout. As such, a good rest is almost as important as a strenuous workout.
Workout Routine
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Use free weights as opposed to exercise machines whenever possible. Free weights require you to use more stabilizing muscles and also usually require more complex movement. This will help you build lean muscle more quickly. Great examples of free weight exercises to build lean quadriceps are dumbbell lunges and leg flutters. For the hamstrings, try squats, step-ups and leg presses.
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Lift heavy weights at low repetitions. For example, instead of using 20-lb. dumbbells for lunges and doing three sets of 15 repetitions (45 lunges in all), try using 35 lbs. and doing three sets of 8 repetitions. The extra weight will help add strong lean muscle to your legs. You'll still build muscle with the lower weights, just not as much, and you won't burn as many calories either because you're not workout out as hard.
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Keep cardiovascular exercise to a minimum. This is not to say that you shouldn't do any running, biking or other endurance exercises. They're good for the heart and a great part of a full workout routine. The problem is that too much cardiovascular endurance exercising can burn muscle. If you like starting or ending your routine with a good run, keep it between 15 and 20 minutes. A 1-hour pickup game of basketball after a long workout may be too much.
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