Do you want to burn a ton of calories while getting extremely strong? Training your legs is the answer that you are looking for. Legs are not given enough attention by far too many gym goers. While a big powerful chest and broad shoulders may look impressive, legs are a much larger muscle group with the capacity to aesthetically improve the appearance of the entire body. It is important to know the basics of toning your legs so they are not neglected. Legs are after-all, what carry you around everywhere. They are pretty important.
Pay Attention To Your Posterior
When it comes to legs we tend to think about quads the most, again because of their aesthetic qualities. It may be the first thing that people notice when they see your toned legs, but you don’t want to only focus on them. The hamstrings and glutes on the posterior side and the adductors on your inner thighs are all just as important. Incorporate exercises that work all of those areas equally. That will help burn more calories, it will look better if your legs are proportional, and the chance of injury will drastically decrease. Having strong quads and very weak hamstrings and glutes can be a hazard for your knee joints.
Don’t Rely On Isolation
Typically leg machines do a pretty good job of isolating leg muscles. The leg extension exercise isolates the quad muscle and the hamstring curl almost exclusively works the hamstring muscles. These exercises are not the best option for toning and strengthening your legs.
Don’t misunderstand me on this. These exercises need to be done, but should absolutely not be the focus. These exercises should come second to functional movements. Bodybuilders are masters at combining the perfect ratio of functional exercises and isolation exercises.
Focus On Functional Exercises
It is much more important to do free weight leg exercises because they get more muscles involved. Exercises like the squat, front squat, and lunge burn more calories and do a better job of strengthening. Doing these exercises allows you to lift much more weight which will create a much higher intensity lift. Don’t be conservative with the amount of weight you use on these lifts as long as you are using good technique. The more weight you use the more stabilizer and core muscles will get involved to help perform the exercise. 
Implement Instability
When you master exercises on both legs, try them on a single leg. For example, the single leg squat. These exercises will not allow you to use nearly as much weight as you normally would. The purpose is to challenge your stabilizer muscles. Maximizing the muscle involvement creates greater calorie expenditure. Training your body to handle proprioceptive exercises decreases the chances of any kind of joint injuries.
Legs are often neglected because it may not be the first thing people see on your body. Having a bulging chest and broad shoulders are great, but they are smaller muscles than your quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Apply the basics of toning your legs to your workouts. Your whole body will get stronger and leaner. To learn more about resistance training go check out the article, What Everyone Should Know About Resistance Training. You can also read about How Training Full Range Of Motion Can Help You Gain Strength Faster
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