Building bigger muscles and gaining muscle is one of the main reasons so many weightlifters undergo a bulking phase. If you’re interested in improving your ability to train harder, more frequently, and recover more quickly, increasing calorie consumption may help you.
So what should you do? Simply put, the best way to gain muscle mass is by training hard! But, if you want to be able to train even harder, more often, you need to be able to recover from your workouts faster. And, if you want to recover faster, you need to be eating more food… especially… more protein!
During a bulking cycle, you should do all exercises that cause significant fatigue. This will force your muscles to repair themselves and continue to grow. Squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, and exercises that give you a tremendous muscle-building / fatigue-inducing “payload” are the best choices for this purpose. When bulking up, you must make sure to give your muscles enough time to repair the micro tears in your muscle fibers caused by the previous session of training. This allows your muscles to grow larger which in turn allows you to gain more muscle mass.
In a nut shell, the more you sweat while lifting weights, the more you grow. And the more you grow, the more you get stronger. So the more you train, and the more you recover (eat enough food), the more you can train, which means the more you can become stronger.
In this article, I’ll show you leg exercises for men who want to build bigger legs while bulking up.
Best Leg Workouts To Do
Below, we’ll talk about the best exercises to do for your legs. You won’t need equipment for many of these exercises, but for the more advanced ones, well, you’ll only be able to do them on a machine.
Don’t fret, however, because if you don’t have a machine at home or have limited access to the gym, you can stick to the routines below that you can do anywhere. Just make sure that you do the rest once you hit the gym. This way, you can be assured of a complete leg workout.
1. Squats
Squats are king when it comes to increasing muscular endurance and strength. They are one of the best exercises you can do to increase testosterone levels in your body. According to research, doing squats 3 times per week for 8-weeks increases muscle size by 16%! And that’s not all. Research also shows that squatting helps prevent osteoporosis by increasing bone density by 30%! Doing squats is extremely beneficial for your knees and back. It’s also an excellent lower-body workout that burns a lot of calories. There are many different variations of the squat. The two main variations are the front squat and the back squat. The difference between them is which foot you place on the floor when you perform the movement.
2. Stiff-Leg Deadlifts (SLDS)
Stiff-leg deadlifts (SLDS) are a very effective exercise to increase muscular endurance, increase testosterone levels in your body, and strengthen your glutes and hamstrings. They are one of the best exercises to improve your posture. Research shows that doing SLDS three times per week for 8-weeks increases muscle size by 18%! And that’s not all. Doing SLDS improves your balance, coordination, and reaction time. It also enhances your lung capacity, bone density, and increases your metabolic rate.
3. Lunges
Lunges are another exercise that works your quads hard. They also work your glutes (butt muscles) and strengthen your core. Like squats and stiff-leg deadlifts, lunges increase muscular endurance and strength. They also increase your balance and coordination. Lunges can be done with a weight or without weights. They are an excellent exercise to increase muscular endurance, which helps you get stronger.
4. Leg Presses
The leg press is the best leg machine, but most people use it incorrectly. It’s the one machine for building quad size and strength, and it’s the only machine for doing squats, lunges, and other movements.
You need to be careful not to overtrain your quads and hamstrings when working them in range of motion and low load because if you do, your knees will feel a lot better and you’ll likely have a greater range of motion in them as well.
When it comes to building muscle, few things are as important as performing high-quality repetitions.
5. Machine Leg Extensions
Add extra volume to your quadriceps without overloading your back or hips by doing machine leg extensions.
Machine leg extensions are a great exercise for the quads and glutes. They also work the hamstring muscles. But most people don’t know that they can use machine leg extensions to build muscle while gaining strength. If you do them with enough weight, you’ll get an increase in muscle size.
6. Leg Curls
If you want to increase your quad size, leg curls are a good choice. But you need to be careful. Don’t curl heavy weights with your legs. And if you’re a beginner, start out with light weights.
When you do leg curls, you should use a weight that causes you to feel some resistance. Do about 15 repetitions for each leg. Each time you perform the exercise, try to make sure you go deeper into the contraction. This means that you will need to use more muscle.
Closing Thoughts
There are several great exercises for building muscle in your quads. But squats, deadlifts, lunges, and leg presses are some of the best.
It’s also very important to perform high-quality repetitions when doing these exercises. Research shows that doing high-quality repetitions is the most effective way to build muscle.
This is because performing high-quality repetitions allows your body to work harder, which helps you build muscle.
But don’t just do the same old exercises every time. Try out different variations to see what works best for you.
Also, take your time and be patient when working out. Don’t rush the movements. You’ll gain more muscle if you take your time and go slow.
And most importantly, be consistent!
Doing these exercises regularly will help you build muscle faster. And when you build muscle, your muscles become stronger. And this is how you build muscle.
So, if you want to build muscle, do these exercises regularly.