Legs & glutes: a bottom that's tops; longing for a head-turning lower body? This results-driven workout will get you there - The Total Package

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, Dec, 2002 by James A. Tindall

Everyone wants sexy, shapely legs; think long and lean with curves in all the right places. If these are the kind of legs you're longing for, then look no further. We may not be able to do the work for you, but we can certainly show you how to do it most effectively.

The exercises we detail here will not only tighten and shape your legs and glutes but also help reduce cellulite in those areas. How? Although activities such as jogging and biking are great for burning fat--which cellulite is--their range of motion is narrow. The best plan of attack when lighting cellulite is cardiovascular training, a healthy diet and exercises that take these muscle groups through a full range of motion. The muscles on the front of the upper leg are collectively known as the quadriceps, the muscles on the back of the upper leg are the hamstrings and then, of course, you have the gluteal muscles. The compound exercises described here work these major muscle groups rather than isolate individual muscles, and will increase leg strength and ultimately the legs you want.

the numbers game

How Heavy? If you're a beginner, master correct form for each of the squat variations using only your bodyweight. Once you feel confident and comfortable with the movement, try it with a straight bar, then add weight to that as you get stronger. The good morning and stiff-legged deadlift are a little more difficult. Again, practice each with no weight until you've gotten the form down, then begin with 15%-20% of your bodyweight and increase slowly as you gain strength. For the hamstring curl (leg curl), begin with a weight that you can lift for 12-15 reps. As you progress, or if you're an intermediate or advanced lifter already, experiment with a variety of weights to determine what you should use. As a general rule, use a lighter weight to do 12-15 reps, moderate weight for 8-12 reps and heavy weight for 5-7 reps.

How Many? This, too, depends on many factors; as you train, you'll learn more about the number of reps and sets you should do to reach your goals. Eliminate from your vocabulary the phrase three sets of 10 reps" unless you're a beginner building a base strength foundation. Beyond the beginner stage, you can start to train in cycles, varying weight and rep ranges, going heavy on some days and light on others. Regardless of the number of reps you complete, we recommend 2-4 sets of each exercise, depending on your performance level and muscle group worked.

tips to train by

* Warm up before training legs by doing light cardio for 5-7 minutes on a stationary bike, treadmill or stair-stepper.

* Use light weight to gain proficiency with technique before increasing the load.

* If you train legs with other bodyparts, you may want to do legs first. Because these muscle groups are large, they require a lot of energy when you work them. Yet for this same reason, some people find that a tough leg workout leaves them 100 tired to train anything else afterward, so experiment with order to find what works for you.

* Allow about 60 seconds of rest between sets. If you're more interested in shaping than building, generally go with higher reps (12-20) and lighter weight, and add supersets to your program. If you want to make progress more quickly or if legs happen to be your stubborn bodypart, train them twice per week, performing different leg exercises on each workout day. Take at least one day of rest in between. Otherwise, training legs once a week should be sufficient.

* Keep moving and maintain a light sweat for best results. Push yourself; it's not party time, it's workout time!

beginners

* Start by doing two sets of three exercises, and keep the rep range around 12-15.

* Since the Olympic bar will most likely be too heavy starting out, perform squat exercises with just your bodyweight first, progressing to dumbbells and eventually the Olympic bar.

* Enlist the help of a qualified trainer if you have any doubt about your form. Establish good training habits and proper form from the beginning.

* You may be sore for the first few weeks after starting a new work out program, so monitor your training carefully. Build up sets, reps 7 and strength gradually.

intermediates

* Progressively increase your intensity over 12 weeks and focus on going deeper (below horizontal) in the squat exercises to work your glutes and quads even harder Do 3 sets of 3-4 exercises. Also learn other leg exercises and regularly change your workouts from week to week.

advanced

* For the front and back squats, you can gradually widen your stance over 12 weeks to 6-12 inches beyond shoulder width, which will place more resistance on the inner/upper thigh muscles (adductor longus and magnus, pectineus, gracilis and tuck area of gluteus maximus). This will enhance that elusive rounding in the lower glutes that women want.

* Occasionally incorporate high-intensity methods in your leg routine such as supersets and drop sets to push your leg development even further.

* Do 3-4 sets of 4-5 exercises, and vary your workouts eve session