Lower Body Workouts That You Need Only Perform Once A Week!

Lower Body Workouts To Build Strength

Lower body workouts can include any weight bearing exercise like walking or running. Even some non weight bearing types of exercise like cycling and swimming will for the most part offer your lower body a great workout.

Here though, I will deal specifically with weight training workouts that you can do in a home gym or a commercial gym.

Whether you are a new or seasoned trainer, you may find it difficult to pick a good routine or set of exercises. So much conflicting advice exists. My experience has taught me that a one size fits all approach definitely does not apply in weight training, as in most things in life.

Perform Exercises That Suit You

I've found that experimenting with different approaches and combinations of lower body workouts is the only way to find out what works for you. Not only have I found that what works for me in a lower body workout may not work for a client, but also what works at one phase of life may not work at another.

For instance, as I've gotten older I have found that I need to take extreme care of my joints with longer warm ups. Also, following a serious injury to my neck and right shoulder, some exercises that previously gave me no trouble I now must use with great caution, performing very careful warm ups, or choosing to avoid altogether.

Top Rated Lower Body Exercises

Below I've listed some excellent lower body weight training exercises to include in a lower body weight training program:

1. Squat
2. Dead lift
3. Trap bar dead lift
4. Stiff leg dead lift
5. Leg Press
6. Lunge
7. Calf raises
8. Leg Curl

For best results I've found that choosing one or two of the top five and two or three of the bottom three exercises works well.

Once A Week Lower Body Training

My experience has taught me that the key with lower body workouts and all weight training is to exercise all muscle groups in a balanced way, choose exercises that work several joints at once, focus on safety, and avoid over training.

Most lower body workout exercises like the ones above use the largest muscles in the body and demand a lot of effort, so for best recovery between exercise sessions perform them no more than once a week.

This may seem like quite different from what you may have read or heard elsewhere. I recommend you try it and track you progress over several months and see for yourself how it works.

If you train too frequently and use long exhausting workouts you will find that you will quickly burn out, lose enthusiasm and give up.

A Short And Hugely Effective Lower Body Program

I've found rotating the following pairs of exercises between exercise cycles as suggested by Beyond Brawn author Stuart McRoberts very useful.

Squat and stiff legged dead-lift;
leg press and trap bar dead-lift;
squat and straight bar dead-lift.

Detailed descriptions of these exercises exist in many places and do not need elaboration here. Below I discuss one exercise that I've found to be fundamental to a lower body workout and if you are pressed for time this is the one to do!

The Squat

The squat has been called the king of lower body exercises, and for good reason.

It targets almost all the musculature of the lower body thighs, glutes, and lower back and abdominals.

Performed seriously it raises your heart rate almost in the way that aerobic exercise does.

The squat's overall stimulation of the body means that besides developing the muscles it directly involves it has the added benefit of putting the entire body into muscle building mode.

Because the squat utilises all of the body's largest muscle as well as some of the smaller ones it has no parallel in weight training for calorie burning.
It also mimics many of the movements used in all land based sports, anyone interested in improving their athletic performance for jumping, and running will do well to include the squat in their routine.
It is one of the most functional movements we use in our daily lives, so being able to perform it safely helps us carry out daily tasks with less effort especially as we age.

This extraordinarily powerful exercise has specifically been shown to improve bone density, which is great news for us as we age - women in particular. By strengthening the joints around our hips and knees it helps prevent injury as well.

I have found that although the squat can be a tough exercise to execute properly especially if you have tight hamstring (back thigh) muscles like I used to or if you have long legs relative to your upper body like my husband has, working on mastering the squat is well worth the effort.

Provided you have no injuries or structural issues such as genuine scoliosis (sideway curvature in your spine) that can limit your performing it safely; that you execute it with perfect form; consistently add small amount of resistance (extra weight) to the squat, eat enough small nutritious meals each day; get adequate sleep; squat only once a week, this exercise can be the most beneficial and productive lower body exercise of all.