Many amateur athletes know this feeling: you train and train, and you see little change. Even taking muscle-building supplements does not give the desired results. Why? If you question the training habits of these athletes, it shows that they often train according to a fixed training plan with constant exercises and repetitions, or even train without a training plan.

Exercises are often performed in the wrong order, or certain muscle groups are not trained properly, so the overall result is ultimately unsatisfactory. An often overlooked muscle group is the leg muscles. If you want to be successful here, you must start a targeted leg workout that has to follow certain training guidelines. Then muscle building will not be long in coming. There are various reasons for targeted leg workouts. Some focus on the health aspect.

Muscle building plays a subordinate role here, they are primarily associated with maintaining mobility. For certain sports, specific leg workouts are built into the regular training plan for better results. This is especially important in sports such as handball, football or basketball where speed and jumping ability are required. But leg training is also popular in athletics – optimal acceleration is important here. Finally, there is a group of bodybuilders looking to build leg muscles for aesthetic reasons.

Building muscle mass – how does it work?

If you want to complete an effective muscle building workout in general, or leg workout in particular, you must first understand how muscle growth (hypertrophy) occurs. Through complex processes in the body, muscles can move. During this effort, the muscle fibers contract under very high stress – such as intense strength training – damage to the proteins in the muscles occurs. This is called microtrauma.

These small tears and injuries are also known to cause muscle pain. The body is now in tune with self-healing of such injuries. For this, amino acids are used as components of proteins and muscle tissue is built up. This allows the body to adequately respond to future stress. Several important findings emerge from muscle building function. First, it shows that muscle building is stimulated by external stimuli.

The body reacts to unusual stresses by strengthening and building muscles so that it can better withstand stress the next time. For this reason, care must also be taken during leg workouts to keep the leg muscles in constant tension. This can happen, for example, through different exercises and training techniques, weight gain, or increased reps. With a one-sided load, the muscles get used to it after a while, it can withstand the load, you do not need to react, as a result, muscle growth stagnates. Then it’s time to face your muscles and face new challenges.

The second point is the stages of recovery. Only when the muscle has enough time to repair the micro-cracks in the fibers can the desired muscle growth also begin. If you start your next arm or leg workout too early, you will cause new muscle injuries before others heal. Thus, the muscle does not grow, but the opposite happens. The muscle is overloaded and weakened.

Effective leg workout is at least as important as regular and adequate rest periods between individual training units. Finally, there is also a need for adequate nutrition. It is only when the body is adequately supplied with essential amino acids that it is able to stimulate muscle building. Therefore, many athletes use protein foods or special drinks, because proteins are broken down into amino acids during digestion. In addition, there are also nutritional supplements that can be used to supplement individual amino acids.

Leg Workout – How To

Muscle is made up of two different types of core fibers. FT (almost twitch) fiber is a thick white fiber. This provides speed and power. Red, thin ST (slow twitch) fiber, on the other hand, is responsible for endurance. For most people, the relationship between the two fiber groups is fairly balanced.

For effective leg training, both types must be trained. Red fibers respond to multiple repetitions and multiple exercises, while white fibers require multiple sets of low repetitions. To achieve the desired success in leg training, a balanced training plan must be put in place. The exercises can be split so that the FT fibers are loaded one day and the ST fibers the next. There should be adequate pauses between sentences and exercises.

Only as many reps should be performed as can technically be performed flawlessly. Weight should be increased only after reaching the desired number of repetitions and approaches. If you are interested in an intense leg workout, it is best to speak with your doctor beforehand. The training plan should be developed in collaboration with a professional trainer, taking into account personal needs and abilities. When you add in the necessary rest periods and proper nutrition, nothing should get in the way of continued muscle building.