How to Get Bigger Legs

Leg day might be the most hated day in the gym with people suffering through a love-hate relationship with any kind of lower body training, but strong legs are important.

Building well-developed, muscular legs not only improves how you look but also how you perform. Skip leg day and at best you’ll suffer the humiliation of looking like an upside-down triangle or piece of cheese on a cocktail stick.

At worst, you risk not being able to perform simple movements like squat or lunge, open yourself up to injury and inability to perform at a normal level.

Muscles of the Legs

When trying to build bigger, stronger legs there are 4 main muscle groups you need to be aware of;

• Quadriceps: a group of 4 muscles that make up the front of the thigh
• Hamstrings: a group of 4 muscles that make up the back of the thigh
• Glutes: a group of 3 muscles, commonly referred to as the butt
• Calves: a group of 2 muscles found at the back of the lower leg

This combination of these muscles works together to help you move from sitting to standing and back again, as well as run, jump, kick and much more.

Complete leg training uses exercises that work all the muscles in the legs creating a strong, stable and muscular lower body.

The 3 Pillars of Muscle Building

When it comes to building muscle, whether it’s in the legs or anywhere else, there are 3 things you need to take into consideration.

I call these 3 things the pillars of muscle building.

They are the foundation for your ability to build muscle and without the application of all 3, you will struggle to see the results you want.

#1: Training

The physical training you do i.e. your workouts are the main driver of muscle growth. It’s by working out and getting stronger over time that you’ll build bigger muscles.

When planning your lower body workouts, you need to take into how often you train, what exercises you’ll do and your reps and sets.

• Frequency: this refers to how many times per week you’ll train and depends on the type of split you use and how much time you have. Some of the most effective workout splits for muscle growth are the push, pull, legs and upper, lower splits which would see you train 3 – 5 times per week
• Exercises: the type of exercises you use will directly impact your ability to apply progressive overload and get stronger over time. This is something you must do if you want to build muscle. For this reason, the bulk of your workout should be made up of compound exercises like the squat, lunge or Romanian deadlift. Pick 2 – 4 compound movements and 1 – 3 isolation movements for each workout
• Volume: this refers to the number of sets and reps you’ll do in each workout. When eating to build muscle your body can recover faster from workouts which means you can handle a higher training volume. 2 – 4 sets of 6 – 12 reps per exercises will be enough volume to build muscle
• Overload: the main driver of muscle growth is progressive overload which means you need to continually put your body under an increased stimulus to forces it to adapt by getting bigger and stronger. The best way to do this is through a combination of increasing the weightlifting and the number of reps you do.

#2: Diet

To build muscle you need to provide your body with more calories than it needs each day. It’s this excess that will fuel the muscle building process. However, if you eat too much, you’ll gain fat faster than you can gain muscle.

What you want to do is use a small calorie surplus to encourage muscle growth whilst minimising the amount of fat you gain.

• Calories: to calculate your calorie needs for muscle building you want to take your body weight in pounds and multiply it by 16. This will give you a good starting and from here you can adjust your intake based on how your weekly weight changes
• Macros: protein, fat and carbs are an important part of your diet when building muscle between them they help build muscle, fuel workout performance and support overall health. Aim for about 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, 30% of daily calories as fat and the rest from carbs
• Meal Timing: this refers to when you eat not what you eat and ultimately is of lower importance if you’re hitting your calorie and macronutrient goals. However, if you’re looking to get the most from your workouts then using pre and post-workout nutrition may be beneficial
• Supplements: truth is you can build muscle without taking any supplements at all. However, it can be useful to use protein shakes to help hit your protein goal, coffee to help boost your workout performance and creatine monohydrate to support the muscle building process

#3: Recovery

Rest and recovery are a vital but often overlooked part of the muscle building process. If you really want to build bigger legs, then you also need to factor in time for recovery as it gives your body a chance to repair and rebuild.

It’s during this recovery period that your body sets about building muscle.

• Rest: as important as your training, rest here refers to the period between workouts, particularly those that train the same muscle group. For the best results, you want to leave 24 hours between workouts where possible. If you are training back to back days, then make sure you’re training different muscle groups and you allow a day’s rest after that
• Sleep: another important part of your recovery from working out is the quantity and quality of your sleep. Current research shows that reduced sleep can impact workout performance which will affect your ability to build muscle. If you’re serious about building bigger legs, then set a regular sleep schedule to ensure you get at least 6 – 7 hours of quality sleep per night
• Flexibility & Mobility: your ability to correctly perform the exercises you do in the gym will have a big impact on whether you’ll build muscle or not. This is because your exercise technique is directly related to your injury risk, ability to lift more weight and the quality of your repetitions. Take the time during rest days to work on any problems areas and improve your mobility and flexibility

Related: 5 Reasons You’re Not Building Muscle

The Best Leg Exercises

As we touched on earlier, complete leg training means working all the muscles in the lower body. To do this you want to pick a range of compound movements that emphasis each muscle group.

Quadriceps

• Back squats
• Front squats
• Goblet squats
• Lunges
• Leg press
• Leg extension

Hamstrings

• Romanian deadlifts
• Leg curls
• Back extension
• Kettlebell swings

Glutes

• Hip thrusts
• Glute bridges

Calves

• Standing calf raises
• Seated calf raises

Note that whilst different exercises emphasis different muscles, most leg exercises will train multiple muscle groups. For example, squatting trains the quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves and the Romanian deadlift works the hamstrings and glutes.

Related: The 100 Best Exercises to Train Each Muscle Group

Summing Up

To successfully build bigger legs you need to take in account the 3 pillars of muscle building to create a workout routine that provides the training stimulus you need, a diet that provides the energy you need and a recovery plan that allows properly rest and rebuild.

If you can do these 3 things, you’ll be able to build a set of legs you can be proud of.

What next?

• How to Breakthrough A Weightlifting Plateau
• The Best Exercises For Bigger, Stronger Legs
• Everything You Need to Know About Building Muscle and Strength