Free Muscle Building & Health

If you are wanting to add some muscles to your legs, you don't always have to go out and join an expensive gym thinking that you have to use weightlifting equipment in order to achieve your goal. Doing complicated leg weightlifting machines just isn't always needed to build as well as maintain your leg muscles. If you set up a regular exercise plan you can simply do this in the privacy of your own home. You will need to combine strength training along with some regular aerobic exercise and a healthy diet.

You should begin your day by doing some leg stretches. This is going to get you prepared for your daily activities as well as your exercise. You can stretch the hamstrings by sitting down on the floor and put your legs straight out in front of you. Lean forward and reach for your toes, breathe deep for at least 20 seconds. You should do this at least 3 times and then go on to stretch your quads. You can do this by standing up and make sure that your legs are hip width apart. Take one foot and bring it up toward your buttocks making sure to bend your leg at the knee. Hold this position for 20 seconds and then do the same thing with your other leg. You also will need to stretch your calves and you can do this with standing calf raises. Just stand up erect and then slowly get onto your tiptoes and do that for 1 second and then lower. You should repeat this 20 times.

Unless you happen to be overweight you should have no reason to worry about lowering the calories that you take in each day. However, if you are overweight you might want to take in a few less calories each day. If you want to build good muscle you actually should increase the calories that you eat every day. So you need to pick foods that are high with lean protein, good carbs, fats that are healthy. This would be lean meat, fish and whole grains. You need to limit your fried and processed foods as well. If you happen to be a very active person it's probably a good idea that you eat several small meals every couple of hours. This will keep your metabolism going at a higher rate.

You should only work your upper legs out every other day. The kinds of exercises that work out the upper legs are going to isolate your quads, thighs, hamstrings and glutes which is the only way you are going to build muscle. Good examples of upper leg exercises would be some squats as well as lunges. You also can do these with dumbbells in each hand and hold them over your head to make it more challenging.

The days in which you don't do your upper leg exercises you should do your lower legs. This would be the calves that have two main muscles, the gastrocenemuis which is the back of the leg and then the soleus which is under the gastrocenemius.

When you combine good strength training with a good diet and some aerobic exercise you are going to improve all of your muscles and will also help you to lose fat. So make sure to pick the kind of aerobics that will also target your legs. Examples would be walking, biking, jogging and running. Start with just three aerobic sessions a week and the maximum amount of time should be for 30 minutes each day.