Some novice athletes are sure that it is impossible to build powerful legs at home. This is wrong! It is not difficult to train and pump your legs at home and it will bear fruit. The only thing you cannot do is increase the load to develop muscle mass, since you will need special equipment. But even without this, you can tone your legs. It is enough to use your own weight and have an irresistible desire to pump your legs. Next, let's look at how best to pump up your leg muscles.
Features of working out the leg muscles
A common exercise in weightlifting is the barbell squat. It is used to develop strength and leg muscles. In addition, such training develops the body's endurance and increases the amount of testosterone in the male body.
In the gym, using special exercise machines, you can train your legs more effectively. The fact is that the muscles of the back and front of the thighs are of the slow type. They quickly get used to the constant load and stop developing. In the gym you can alternate exercises and exercise on different equipment.
If you decide to do exercises to pump up your legs, we recommend doing exercises on your buttocks at the same time. In order to work your buttocks, you should swing backwards, step onto steps or steps.
We determine the cause of fullness in the legs and hips and correct nutrition
These will be the first steps on the path to a beautiful figure: if you want to solve the problem effectively and quickly, you first need to determine its nature.
This rule applies to everything in our lives, and your body is no exception.
Are you puzzled that your legs and hips are rapidly gaining weight?
Don’t immediately panic, reproach yourself for your lifestyle and cut your diet tenfold. Perhaps the reason lies in a genetic predisposition to obesity.
A simple way to determine the cause of fullness in your legs
You can check if this is so in one simple but effective way:
- Straighten your leg and tense your muscles.
- Gently pinch the top layer of skin along with the fat layer.
- If you end up with a large crease, it’s due to an unbalanced diet and lack of physical activity.
- If the fold is insignificant, it means that the fat layer is not so large, but the muscles quickly respond to any physical activity and increase in volume. The result: hips and legs look overly full.
In the first case, you need to switch to a rational, regular and healthy diet based on plant foods.
And also start doing special physical exercises and do intense cardio training: running and jumping rope are the best options.
If you find a slight wrinkle, then in this case the weight loss strategy is somewhat different: intense physical exercise should be excluded and switch to cardio.
And, of course, don’t forget about food. A healthy diet is the foundation for any sports endeavor.
Without a healthy diet, things will stall
In addition to the fact that the cause can be reliably hidden in genes or an incorrect lifestyle, there is another prerequisite for the occurrence of fullness of the legs: swelling.
In this case, you don't need to do anything at all.
Fluid accumulations have nothing to do with obesity in problem areas and often go away on their own.
If you are not sure about the presence of edema, you can check it this way: put on socks with elastic and walk in them all day.
If in the evening, when you take off your sock, you find a pronounced rubber band mark, then rest assured that it’s not a matter of obesity at all, just give your feet a couple of days of rest.
If swelling persists, see your doctor and have your kidneys checked.
So, you have established the cause of fat deposits in problem areas. Now let's start productive work.
Selecting a set of effective exercises
Here is an example of a diet without which it is unlikely that you will be able to lose weight in your legs and thighs at home:
- Breakfast. An omelette cooked in vegetable oil (it is better to use olive oil) and a salad of fresh vegetables.
- Dinner. Lenten soup (borscht, rassolnik, vegetable, mushroom - at your discretion). A slice of unleavened bread is allowed.
- Dinner. Vegetable salad or stew and a cup of weak green tea.
The diet should be the same from day to day, with only minimal changes allowed.
Advice: choosing a diet is a very individual matter, so it would be a good idea to consult a specialist.
Swimming is a great way to combat extra centimeters
Workouts to increase mass
How to properly pump your legs to increase mass? In this case, you need to combine heavy and light exercises. It is recommended to use multi-joint exercises, performing them with heavy weights for several repetitions. Additionally, you can train on machines with light weights.
How long should you pump your legs? Training should not take more than 20-30 minutes a day. For complete recovery, at least 3 days should pass between classes. In this case, the body has time to regenerate, triggering hypertrophy and weight gain.
Additionally, you should follow a sports diet so that your muscles grow evenly.
What to eat to gain weight high-calorie diet
The diet of people who want to recover quickly should be based on foods rich in carbohydrates and proteins. It's good if they complement each other during every meal. The diet of anyone who wants to gain weight must include fish, meat, eggs, and dairy products. This food is especially rich in proteins.
Drinking protein shakes will help you get better quickly: it is recommended to use both store-bought mixtures and those you prepare yourself. For example, this recipe: take a glass of cream, a pack of cottage cheese, a few spoons of jam and mix it all thoroughly in a blender. Tasty and healthy at the same time - a great reason to pamper yourself.
It’s good to season salads with olive, sunflower or soybean oil, because these products are rich sources of fat. But white bread, potatoes, pasta, sweets, honey, sugar contain a sufficient amount of carbohydrates necessary to gain weight. The daily diet needs to be balanced regarding the presence of minerals and vitamins. They improve all processes in the body, improve appetite, and help quickly gain weight.
Menu and recipes for the week for men and women
To quickly gain weight, men and women can eat the same foods, but their quantities will be different, since the male body spends more energy, which means it requires significantly more calories to gain weight. We bring to your attention a balanced diet for a week for those who want to gain weight quickly.
The first and fifth days of the diet with which you will gain weight.
- Morning: wheat porridge with chicken, cheese and ham sandwich, coffee.
- Snack: nuts, cookies.
- Lunch: pea soup, baked potatoes with meat, vegetable salad with butter.
- Evening: omelet with cheese, mushrooms and meat, tea.
Second and sixth days: in order to gain weight you will have to eat a lot.
- Morning: oatmeal with milk, a sandwich with butter and cheese, cocoa or coffee.
- Snack: fruit, bun.
- Lunch: solyanka, pasta with pork, compote.
- Evening: chicken with a side dish, cheese casserole or pie, a cup of tea.
The third and fifth days will offer a varied menu, the purpose of which is to allow you to gain weight at the desired speed.
- Morning: buckwheat porridge with butter, ham sandwich, tea or coffee with honey, sugar.
- Snack: apple, banana, full-fat yogurt.
- Lunch: Ukrainian borscht with meat, potatoes with fried fish, compote
- Evening: pilaf with beef, pastries, nuts, sweet drink of your choice.
The fourth day, which is considered a kind of fasting day in the race in order to get better.
- Morning: potatoes and lean meat, cocoa with milk, sandwich with cheese.
- Snack: cookies or bun with tea.
- Lunch: pea soup with meat, dumplings, fruit, sweet compote.
- Evening: pasta with fried meat, a few boiled eggs, sweet tea or milk.
Classes in the hall
The leg muscles include several dozen elements. Therefore, they are considered the most complex, interconnected muscle system in the human body. Even small calves have many small muscles located at different depths. Therefore, a well-designed workout includes a “mix” of exercises.
The anterior thigh muscles are easier to work with squats. The buttocks and hamstrings are swayed by swings and lunges. There are also external and internal parts of the thighs that can be worked during the extension and reduction of the legs.
Top 5 exercises
How can you pump your legs? All athletes do this differently. Everyone chooses a comfortable option for themselves. The best exercises include:
1. Slow squats with a load. This is a classic exercise that works your calves, glutes, and quadriceps.
2. Leg press on a platform. These are standard squats, only they are performed on a special platform. You can set the load on the muscles yourself.
3. Leg bending on the simulator. The best option for working out the quadriceps. While performing this exercise, your back should be straight.
4. Leg bending while in a horizontal position. This is a special exercise that makes the back of the thighs and lower buttocks work.
5. Spreading your legs while in a sitting position. The buttocks and outer thighs will also be pumped here.
Barbell squats are a classic exercise that all athletes use. It is aimed at developing leg muscles. Without it, it is impossible to achieve the desired result.
The leg press, while on the machine, is somewhat similar to classic squats, but is not always a replacement. The role is played by technical literacy and the involvement of the press and diaphragm in the work.
Beginners often make the mistake of starting to pump their leg muscles with an excessively heavy load. Because of this, the front of the thigh works, but the transverse abdominal muscle “switches off” and the lower back begins to hurt.
Leg exercise #3: Romanian deadlift + squats
How to do it:
Place your feet hip-width apart, feet pressed firmly to the floor. Dumbbells in your hands in front of you below. Bend your knees slightly, push your buttocks back, lower your body so that the dumbbells are just below knee level. Unwind upward, spread your arms to your sides and squat in the amplitude that your hip joint allows. Watch your back, look at the floor. Remember: when deadlifting, keep your arms in front of you; when squatting, keep your arms to your sides. This exercise perfectly pumps up the back line of the thighs.
How many times to do:
4 sets of 40 seconds with a rest of 20 seconds, and for a more difficult option, increase the time of each set to a minute.
Technical point
Have you decided to squat with a barbell to pump up your legs? While performing the exercises, you should feel the functioning of the leg muscles and the constant work of the body.
At the starting point of the exercise, the equipment should be on the shoulder blades. Hands hold the barbell without overloading your wrists. Movements should begin with the work of the pelvis and abs.
If you are not able to consciously engage your abs during training, then the results of the exercise will decrease. This will not make it possible to correctly perform exercises with heavy loads.
What weight gain pills to take?
Weight gain pills are divided into two groups. The first group includes drugs that contain protein compounds, proteins and various vitamin complexes. This type of medication can be purchased at a pharmacy without a prescription.
Drugs of the first group:
- Potassium orate. Used for rapid weight gain and increased appetite. The drug contains a complex of vitamins that enhance its effect.
- Brewer's yeast. They improve appetite, give you energy, and also increase overall weight gain. By observing the correct proportion of the drug, you can increase weight in the shortest possible time.
- Oxandrolone. A good remedy not only for rapid weight gain, but also as a supplement of nutrients for the comprehensive health of the body.
- Peritol. Accelerates the increase in muscle mass, strengthens the general condition of the body. Peritol is contraindicated if you are allergic to lactose.
The second group of medications are mixtures of hormones that help increase appetite and maintain body weight. They are prescribed only in extreme cases, when the total mass is at a critical level. Self-administration of hormone-containing medications can cause severe side effects.
Drugs of the second group:
- Dexamitazone. In addition to gaining muscle mass, this drug has an anti-inflammatory effect, but has a large number of side effects.
- Diabetes. Increases the body's secretion of insulin. If you follow all your doctor's instructions, this drug will help you gain weight and will also reduce the risk of unwanted effects from accelerated weight gain.
- Duphaston. Provokes rapid weight gain.
