I felt compelled to write about the best leg workouts for women, because too many women are taking the wrong advice and ruining the look of their legs. A nice leg in my opinion is one that is shapely, full and smooth with a nice toned look to it.
The best leg workouts for women therefore need to focus on getting them lean, firm and toned and not big and bulky.
It really does annoy me when men offer women advice to train their legs in the same manner they do. They tell them to do x number of squats, lunges, leg presses.
Lucky for you ladies, I listen to you, I know what you want and I know how you can achieve them.
These same men argue that because women lack testosterone they won’t grow muscle by doing the same leg routines we use to pack on mass. Well this is utter rubbish, as you can just look at female bodybuilders for proof of that. Not all of them take steroids.
The Best Leg Workouts For Women
To get slim and toned legs, you have to forget everything you heard or read, and listen to the following piece of advice carefully. This advice is very unconventional, and may make you click the back button, but let me explain myself. The best way to tone a muscle, and I know this from personal experience is to perform strength training.
I am guessing you shrieked when you read, but yes I said it the leg workouts for women involve strength training. You see with strength training, you are using heavy weights, but you are stopping short of failure. By stopping short of failure, you are not triggering muscle growth, but you are making the muscle stronger by sending it positive feedback and increasing the actual muscle fibres in that muscle, making it more hard and firm.
[A quick video intermission, seeing as I am discussing legs, check out the Guinness World Record for longest legs. Skip to 2:05 minute mark for them]
Traditional leg workouts for women will tell you to do lots of squats and lunges, but I am sure you have tried that and know it doesn’t work. Now I am going to let you know why traditional leg workouts for women don’t work. You, see doing high reps with enough resistance will fatigue your legs and cause the muscle fibres to break down.
After your workout is finished, your body will repair this damage by making the muscle bigger to anticipate any future damage. This is known as sarcoplasmic growth, and it is simply the muscle filling up with fluid. This will give your legs a big soft look which is not what you want right? You really need to avoid this kind of training if you want small, hard, toned muscles.
Leg Workouts for Women- Resistance Training
So now you understand, that it is not so much the exercises where you are going wrong, but the principles that you are using. You now know that doing high reps with enough resistance creates sarcoplasmic growth. You also know now that strength training will strengthen your legs and make them more firm and toned.
So my advice is to choose your favourite leg exercises, and stick to doing about 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps per exercise stopping short of failure with an adequate weight. You want to select a weight you know you can do 8 reps on.
Your leg workout may look something like this:
1. Leg Press- 4 sets of 3-5 reps stopping short of failure.
2. Hamstring Curls- 4 sets of 3-5 reps stopping short of failure.
3. Calf Machine- 4 sets of 3-5 reps stopping short of failure.
Leg Workouts For Women- Cardio Training
One machine you want to avoid is the stationary bike. This causes too much of a burn in the thighs and can lead to muscle growth which you don’t want. Good machines to use would be the elliptical machine, treadmill or the stair master.
Again, the principles are very important in the way you approach cardio. I am a massive fan of HIIT training, as this is the best way to really supercharge your metabolism. Steady state cardio is also necessary to burn up the free fatty acids that HIIT training releases into the bloodstream to stop them being stored as fat again.
[These are the sort of legs you want to avoid. They are too muscular and a are a result of traditional leg workouts for women]
Steady state cardio also comes in handy, if your legs are too overly muscular to begin with. Cardio actually burns muscle if you perform it strategically, and can come in handy if you actually want to burn some muscle.
[Rihanna has great legs. Armani chose her to model lingerie and she does a great job. Check out my post on Rihanna's workout]
If you want more information about leg workouts for women, I strongly encourage you to invest in Visual Impact For Women, which is targeted at the lean, hollywood look that your Jessica Alba’s, Cameron Diaz’ and Jennifer Anistons have. It is a complete guide to reshaping the female body including a great diet plan to tone up, and if you didn’t watch the video before, click here to watch it.
Okay, that is it for the best leg workouts for women, if you want to know more about women’s fitness, click on the Women’s fitness category, for more great advice on getting the look you truly desire.
2 Responses to The Best Leg Workouts For Women For Model Like Legs
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Michael,
Good points for woman looking to train for strength instead of adding on size. I come across a lot of articles teaching woman how to train like men, who are looking for gaining mass. Squats, just like leg presses, are close to perfect exercises can be added into a routine without increasing the volume of the muscle. These can either be done through bodyweight training or with weights (kettlebells come to mind).
And you’re right…Rihanna is doing a great job modeling Armani’s lingerie.
-Mitchell
Mitchell – Home Fitness Manual recently posted..Are Man Makers The Ultimate Burpee Exercise?
Was always afraid to really train my legs for fear of gaining too much mass thus making my jeans too tight. Definitely incorporating some HIIT into my routine and strength training but not to failure have helped me tone my legs without looking like photo #2.