6 essential exercises to improve leg strength
Improving leg strength is essential not only to improve performance, whatever the sports discipline you practice, but also because it will help prevent muscle and joint injuries. today we are going to show you six essential exercises for you to achieve toned and strong legs.
The best exercises to improve leg strength
Pistol squat in drawer
This variant of squats make them a very intense exercise that will test the muscles of your legs. It is a great option to add intensity to the training without adding loads.
In addition to strength and hypertrophy,with pistol squats you will be working on balance and postural control, so a very complete and recommended exercise is done if you want to improve the strength in the legs.
To do this exercise correctly you must attend to the following indications:
- Sit on a bench with your spine neutral, preventing your back from being rounded.
- Take off and stretch one of your feet off the ground.
- With your foot remaining in support on the ground, try to push hard to the ground to lift your body out of the drawer.
- Once you have been able to get up, you should sit down controlling the downward movement.
- Always remember that it is a unilateral exercise, so it is recommended to perform all the repetitions of the series with one of the legs to later go on to execute the exercise with the opposite side.
One last tip: if you consider that it is too demanding an exercise for your current physical condition, you can make it easier by alternating one leg and another.
Jumps to the drawer
The exercise of box jumps or jumps to the drawer can be considered both aerobic and strength exercise. This movement, executed correctly and performed on a regular basis, will give you the strength and agility you need to improve in your training, whatever discipline you practice.
To do this exercise you will only need the help of a stable platform that can support your weight. You can use a bank of plyometric jumps, a step or a drawer,among other options.
- Stand in front of the platform.
- Lower your hip to get energy and jump over the drawer.
- Remember to land with your legs semi-flexed back down your hip.
- Get off the platform by walking or jumping back and return to the original position.
Squats: the most popular exercise to improve leg strength
The squat is a great exercise when we talk about lower body training. It is a multi-articular exercise that involves a large part of the muscles of our body, both the lower train and your core or stabilizing muscles.
The squat is an exercise that should be present in any training routine, whatever the objective of the subject, since its improvement will transfer to performance,regardless of the discipline you practice.
- Stand under an Olympic bar.
- Perform a small scapular retraction that allows the bar to be placed above the muscles to avoid discomfort in the spine.
- The legs are open to the width of the biacromial or your shoulders.
- The heels must remain fixed on the ground at all times. You will have to prevent them from getting up.
- Perform a knee flexion that allows you to lower your hip.
- Try to reach a right angle of your knee and extend your legs to return to the starting position.
Strides
Lunges are an exercise that mainly involves the posterior muscles of the leg and buttocks. It is an exercise in which you should pay close attention to the technique, since uncontrolled movement can lead to injuries.
- You will need to hold two dumbbells, one in each hand, on both sides of your hip.
- Advance one of the legs imitating the movement of walking.
- The leg that has not moved flexes until the knee is lowered near the ground.
- The leg that is advanced, once it hits the ground, flexes until it reaches an angle close to 90 degrees from the knee.
- Execute the movement with the opposite leg.
The depth of the squats should be adapted to each individual depending on their anatomy.
Sumo deadlift, a great exercise to improve leg strength
This variant of the deadlift is very effective if what you are trying to do is gain strength in the internal muscles of your legs. With this exercise we will be shortening the range of motion compared to the conventional deadlift, so it is a magnificent movement to add high loads decreasing the risk of injury.
To run it correctly you must:
- Place yourself with your legs open a little more than the width of your shoulders.
- The tips of the feet are slightly pointing at the ends, drawing a V-shape.
- Grab the bar or dumbbells inside your legs.
- Squeeze the buttock and try to lift the weight off the ground.
hip thrust
When we talk about hip thrust we are talking about the star exercise for the development of the buttock and the back of the leg. It is a very good exercise both to gain strength and muscle mass in the legs.
To do it properly, you will need:
- Place yourself sitting on the floor with your scapulas resting on a bench.
- the soles of the feet are fixed to the ground.
- You will have to place a bar at the height of the hip. You can also start doing the exercise without any load.
- Perform a hip thrust trying to raise the hip to the horizontal and raise the bar from the ground.
- Returns to the starting position.
Conclusion
Trying to improve leg strength should be a mandatory task for both athletes and those who do not do sports on a regular basis, since a strong muscle of the lower train will help you maintain the joint health of your knees.