What are the ways to exercise thigh muscles

I believe that many friends pay more attention to fitness. Fitness can train perfect muscles, but everyone only finds that the muscles of the upper arms are trained, especially the chest muscles and biceps are easier to develop, but everyone often ignores that their lower body thigh muscles also need to be trained. If there are too many muscles in the upper body and no muscles in the lower body, it will look very uncoordinated. So what are the methods to train thigh muscles?

Many fitness enthusiasts first train their upper limb muscles, especially the pectoral muscles and biceps, because they are the easiest to show and are one of the most beautiful muscles. However, most people ignore the training of the lower limb muscles, which eventually leads to an uncoordinated situation between the upper and lower limbs.

The thigh muscles are one of the most powerful muscles in the human body. It can be said that it is not only the basis of whole body strength, but also the basis of a bodybuilding body. If the thigh and calf muscles are not well developed, the better the upper body muscles are trained, the more deformed the person will appear, and the body shape will not be symmetrical and toned.

If you want to exercise your leg muscles, you must first understand the muscle structure of your thighs and calves.

Thigh muscles: divided into anterior lateral group, posterior group and medial group.

The quadriceps femoris is the anterolateral group and one of the most powerful muscles in the human body. It includes the rectus, vastus medius, vastus lateralis and vastus medialis. The function of these four muscles is to keep the femur vertical to maintain the body upright and to assist in squatting and standing up.

The anterolateral group also includes the sartorius muscle, one of the longest muscles in the human body, and the tensor fasciae latae. The former can flex and externally rotate the thigh and flex and internally rotate the calf, such as the leg movements when kicking shuttlecock; the latter can flex and internally rotate the thigh and can also provide auxiliary support for the contraction of the thigh muscles.

The muscles of the posterior group include the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. The function of the biceps femoris is to flex and externally rotate the calf and extend the thigh; the functions of the semitendinosus and semimembranosus are the same as those of the biceps femoris except that they can internally rotate the calf.

The muscles of the medial group are the adductor magnus, pectineus, adductor brevis, adductor longus, and gracilis. These muscles ensure adduction, external rotation, extension, and flexion of the thigh and flexion and internal rotation of the calf.

Calf muscles: divided into anterior, posterior and lateral groups.

The function of the anterior group of muscles is to enable the foot and toes to complete various activities; the posterior group of muscles plays an important role in the back-pushing when running and the take-off when jumping; the function of the lateral group of muscles is mainly to maintain the arch of the foot.

Four ways to strengthen your leg muscles:

1. Weighted squat

Place the barbell on the shoulders behind the neck, hold the horizontal bar with both hands, stand upright, chest out and abdomen in, and keep the waist and back muscles tense. Then bend your knees and squat down until both knees are fully bent, pause for a moment, stretch your legs and stand up using the contraction force of the quadriceps, straighten your legs, and tighten your quadriceps as much as possible, and pause for a moment. Squat down again. There are two breathing methods for this movement: under light load conditions, exhale when squatting and inhale when standing up; under heavy load conditions, inhale first, then squat, exhale before standing up, and then inhale and stand up. During the exercise, if you feel short of breath during the last few squats, you can take a few quick breaths in a row after standing up to breathe in more oxygen. When doing the exercise, your mind should be focused on your quadriceps. This movement can also be practiced by holding dumbbells in both hands or carrying a sandbag or rice bag on the shoulders.

2. Sitting Calf Stretch

Sit down with iron shoes on your feet (you can also tie dumbbells or sandbags to your feet), straighten your calves with the contraction force of the quadriceps, tighten the quadriceps as much as possible, pause for a while, then put them down and repeat. Inhale as you straighten your calves, and exhale as you lower your calves. Your mind should be focused on your quadriceps. Both calves can be straightened at the same time or alternately. Lie on a prone bench and curl your calves. Wear iron shoes (you can also tie dumbbells or sandbags to your feet). Use the contraction force of the biceps femoris to bend both calves towards the thighs at the same time. Tighten the biceps femoris as much as possible, pause for a while, then put it down and repeat. Inhale as you bend your calves, and exhale as you lower them. Your mind should be focused on your biceps femoris.

3. Upright weighted heel raise

Hold the barbell in your hands and place it on your shoulders behind your neck. Stand on a 10 cm thick wooden board with your heels exposed. Use the contraction force of the calf triceps to lift your heels, making the calf triceps tense as much as possible. Pause for a moment, then let your heels fall until they are below the surface of the board and cannot go any lower. Then redo it.

Inhale as you lift your heels, and exhale as you lower them. Your mind should be focused on your triceps surae. Put a wooden board under your feet to fully stretch the calf triceps. In this way, when you lift your heels, you will need to use more force, so that the calf triceps can be exercised more thoroughly. The movement is the same as the weighted squat, except that the weight is carried on the toes when squatting and standing up. When both legs are fully straightened, lower your heels to relax your calf triceps, then lift your heels again and use your toes to support your body as you perform the movement. Inhale when you stand up and exhale when you squat, and your mind should be focused on your calf triceps.

4. Seated weighted calf raise

Sit down with the barbell on your thighs, close to your knees, hold the bar with both hands, and place your feet on a 10 cm thick wooden board with your heels exposed. Lift your heels and tense your calf triceps as much as possible. Pause for a moment, then lower your heels below the surface of the board until they can't go any lower. Then redo it. Inhale as you lift your heels, and exhale as you lower them.

To have perfect leg muscles, it still depends on how we exercise. First of all, we must pay attention to our leg exercises. Through various equipment in the gym, and pushing back and forth with our thighs at home, we can also effectively improve our thigh muscles and thigh strength. Push-ups, running, and sit-ups are all good ways to exercise muscles.