The lower body must be trained as hard as the upper body. There are so many people who just train the chest or the arms and never exercise the legs; big mistake. When we train the lower body we get a compensation in our body. Have you ever seen the typical people in the beach with a very built up torso and girl legs? That's a clear consequence of the lack of work-out on the lower body.
When we train the lower body, at the same time, we are training the upper body because multijoint exercises such as squats or deadlift, which involve many muscles, increase a lot the growth hormone (GH). Moreover, a lower body workout benefits us with a healthy, natural and aesthetic balance. I train the lower body once a week and the exercises i use most and that are more effective to me are:
Squat Dominant:
Squats with dumbbells
Squats with dumbbells, legs separated
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Hip Dominant:
Deadlift
Standing leg curl
Seated leg curl
Calves Muscles:
Standing calf raise
Notes
I normally do free-weight exercises (squats, deadlift...) with dumbbells instead of using a bar; it's more comfortable to me. I don't usually work the adductors and abductors muscles isolatedly, because with squats they are involved.
It's better to work the same volume of exercises, weight and repetitions when we train the quadriceps or hamstrings for getting a same development.
Calves are completely trained with the standing calves raises, but you can also complement this exercise with seated calves raises.
Before starting with much weight in squats and deadlift, I recommend you to ask the monitor for help and tell him/her to watch your technique in order to correct or improve it. It's essential to do the technique accurately since you can have future problems like injuries or work other unwanted muscle areas.
Almost always I do free-weight exercises instead of machine-exercises. They work more joints, there is more range of motion and more strength gain.
See you!
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