Most workouts out there tend to lean too much on upper body routines. You really don’t want to have a huge upper body with skinny chicken legs. It’s not a good look to have cartoon-like body proportions. That makes it paramount that you balance out your upper body with your leg development by including some strengthening exercises for legs in your program.

The more muscles you use with multi-joint compound exercises, the better the results will be. It’s because the big exercises like squats and deadlifts require multiple muscles, which in turn increases your testosterone levels and metabolism.

Once again multi-joint exercises are superior compared to isolation exercises such as leg extensions, calf raises and hamstring curls. If you want more bang for your buck and less time at the gym, then you must avoid these types of machines.

The number of sets in a session should be 2-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions per exercises. You only rest for 60-90 seconds after the last exercises of your circuit. Pick 4 or 5 exercises that you want to do in a full circuit or for a legs-only routine. Full body workouts should include movements that have pushing, pulling, twisting, squatting and lunging elements to them whenever possible.

Always start each routine with the most challenging exercises and then finish off with the least demanding. You will know through trial and error, as this is dependent on each individual’s own strengths and weaknesses, regardless of whether your leg workout is for building muscle mass or toning.

Be sure to change your leg workout routine every few weeks or when you hit a plateau. This provides your muscles a consistent guess work and it will keep yourself from becoming bored as well. So spice it up!

Here are my Top 5 leg exercises:

• Step Ups – Can either be performed with a dumbbell or barbell. The degree of difficulty can also be increased with the height of the step.
  
• Squats – I prefer front squats over the normal squat which has the weight over your back shoulders. Squats can also be performed with resistance bands placed under your feet for added resistance. There are lots of variations to the squat so you never get bored. More advanced individuals may want to try the single leg squat or otherwise known as the pistol.
  
• Deadlifts – Like the squats, this is one of the best exercises for the legs and it has also a few variations. Make sure you bend your knees properly and have your back as straight as possible to protect it. If you can lift twice your bodyweight in a deadlift then consider yourself very strong!
  
• Lunges – Lunges can be performed with dumbbells, barbells, cable machines and resistance bands. Front, back, side and crossover lunges with weights can all be performed.
  
• Leg Presses – The only machine exercise I recommend. It’s a compound exercise unlike the leg extension, hamstring or calf raises. A great alternative if you want something different.
  

Inactivity, muscle imbalances, pelvic tilt, overtraining, injuries and lack of variety in your exercise routine may lead to certain muscles in the legs becoming stiff or weaker over time. Stiff muscles may also indicate an improper recovery and post nutrition intake after training. That’s why it’s very important to make stretching a part of your workout routine. This will minimize the risk of injury.

You need to incorporate your flexibility and mobility exercises on a daily basis to improve your muscles range and length. When a muscle becomes fatigued it easily becomes shorter which leads to stiffness in the muscle itself. Stretching alone can improve your muscles length by up to 50% which helps the muscle to last longer and become less fatigued or stiff.

To start we need to look at each muscle to see the connection to other muscles which may cause the problem. Training the same routine may lead to repetitive stress syndrome. The lack of variety will lead some muscles to be neglected or overused by repetitive movements.

Stretching at least 10-15 minutes a day is vital to get the most benefits from stretching. Also, you have to set aside more time for stretching your tighter leg muscles in comparison to your stronger ones. This will improve your stiffer or weaker muscles in comparison with your stronger muscles, thus restoring balance and symmetry.

It’s best to stretch your leg muscles 3 to 5 times for 20 seconds at a time. Let’s have a look at different stretches for each of the main muscles of the leg. You must always start stretching the larger muscles first. Do not stretch muscles when they are cold, as they are less effective to stretch. A good warmup is ideal before stretching, as it helps get the blood and circulation going through the different parts of the muscles. Stretching should never be painful and is always an individual thing. So don’t compare how far others can stretch, stick within your flexibility and muscle range when you begin.

You may discover some muscles are tighter than others while performing all the stretches. The stiffer muscles are the ones you need to stretch more. They are more prone to cause fatigue and injury. Have in mind that these stretches for stiff leg muscles just scratch the surface in correcting muscle imbalances.

1. Hip Flexors stretch – As shown, you stretch until you feel a slight stretch in your hip flexors.
   
2. Thigh/Quad stretch – Place your freehand against a chair, sofa or wall and stretch out the thigh.
   
3. IT Band Stretch
   
4. Hamstring Stretch
   
5. Groin Stretch
   
6. Calf Stretch