The Best Workouts to Get Bigger Legs

Leg day is calling. Are you ready to pick up? These five brutal leg workouts can help add muscle mass to any lifter’s lower body. Beginner or advanced, your new favorite lower-body workout is right here.

One of the eternal questions of the weight room is: Why don’t more people have leg development to match their upper bodies?

The answer: Because legs must be forced to grow. Remember, they already get used all day for walking, standing, or going up stairs. Push them in the gym with the best leg exercises, and they will still resist you. They will burn, shake, and burn some more. You need to push through and want it more.

The workouts here aren’t easy. Each one will make you consider taking the elevator whenever possible for days afterward. But along with a growth-focused approach to nutrition and supplementation, they will deliver serious size and surprising strength gains.

Know Your Legs To Grow Your Legs

The legs consist of multiple muscles, so you will need to use a range of volume, angles, and different exercises to stimulate them all. Here’s what you’ll be working and their major function:   

• Quadriceps: extends the knee
• Hamstrings: bends the knee and extends the hips
• Glutes: extends the hips
• Calves: plantar flexion (straightening the foot)

The legs also contain a blend of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers. That means your rep range will depend on the exercise. I like to use a lower rep range (4-8) on the compound exercises like squats and deadlifts to help build strength and a solid foundation. Anything higher, and the lower back usually becomes the limiting factor.