I don’t want them them to be too strong, just a little stronger, firmer and more sporty.

ok, here’s the story:

There are two types of skeletal muscle: fast-twitch and slow twitch. There are actually a couple of different types of fast-twitch, but that doesn’t really matter for this discussion.

Slow-twitch muscle fiber is small and slow, but is great for endurance. Endurance athletes (marathon runners, tri-athletes…) have highly developed slow-twitch muscle fiber. You can develop this type of muscle by walking, running (generally over 400 meters), or weight-training with weight that you can perform 15 reps or more.

Fast-twitch muscle fiber is the only muscle fiber that grows in size significantly, is fast, explosive, but fatigues much faster than slow-twitch. This type of muscle can be developed by sprinting, plyometrics, weight training with a weight that you can perform less than 15 reps with (4-12 is typically the best). Walking, long distance running, weight-training with weight that you can do 15 reps or more with, will do very little or nothing for developing strength and speed. Remember: SPEED IS KING.

Most sports rely on fast-twitch muscle fiber and you want to gain some strength and you question suggest that you play sports. So, I suggest something along the lines of:

1>weight-training once/week with a weight that allows you to perform 8-12 reps.
2>Performing “long” sprints (400 meters) once or twice per week.
3>Performing “short sprints (50-100 meters) once or twice per week.
4>Running stadiums once per week.

The three best exercises for your legs are squats, leg press, leg extensions.

1>performing a three-quarter squat will recruit more muscle fiber in your legs (quadriceps) than any other exercise, BUT it does very little for your gluteus maximus. Performing a “full” squat (going down far enough so that your leg passes below 90-degrees) works your quads just about as well and is one of the best exercises for your glutes. There was a recent study done by an NFL strength coach relation knee injuries for 3/4 squats to deep, below parallel squats. He found the deep squats reduced every type of knee injury. If some one tells you that squats are bad for your knees, stop listening to that person – it is a myth perpetuated by people who do not know how to squat.
2>Leg press works the quads just as well as a 3/4 squat, but does almost nothing for your glutes
3>Leg extensions used to be the favorite exercise of doctors and physical therapists, but not any longer. Leg extensions are bad for you knees – stay away from them. One of the many problems is that the quadriceps (muscle on the front of you leg) and your hamstrings (muscle on the back of your upper leg) were designed to work together. Leg extensions eliminate the hamstrings – causing instability in the knee and possible patella (knee cap) misalignment problems.

DON’T FORGET TO TRAIN YOUR HAMSTRINGS
Athletes who do not weight-train often have hamstring and knee problems because their quads are developed, but their hamstrings are not. This causes a muscle imbalance that can cause patella misalignment, patella tracking problems, and hamstrings are not strong enough to deal with the stress placed on the leg by the highly-developed quads.

Leg curls, stiff legged deadlifts, and glute/ham raises are great for your hamstrings.

It is impossible to really know what volume of work will work best for you because everyone adapts/recovers from workouts at a different rate. Age, gender, diet, sleep…all effect how your body will respond. When weight-training, never sacrifice “form” for “weight.”

by: In the Fitness of Things

Based on Studies conducted, about 40% of women are distracted about the appearance of their legs. We cannot deny that having a toned leg is an asset that is sure to make any woman more attractive and more confident. The moment you have great looking legs, you are free to wear short shorts or sexy skirts. There is no need to worry about cellulites, varicose vein and other irregularities that can make one overly conscious about the way their legs look like.

I go to the gym everyday and I used to do the same exercises everyday. arms legs abs all in the same day. I saw the change thrghout my body, my legs got really firm and i saw a lot of muscle as well as my arms and my waist got smaller too.
I heard it was better to train a specific part of the body in obe day and the next day a different part of the body should be trained.
I changed my workputand started doing this but all my muscles got smaller and diminish.
Which routine is better for my body?

The reason why your muscles might have weakened once you started training them only one time is because you were training them way more before. if you went to the gym three times a week and did abs.legs and arms each time and now you only do one each time you go you are exercising less.

it is good to do different sections for lifting at different times because then you give your body time to recover before you work out that area again.

still, try to keep up your amount of exercise… abs can basically be done everyday or every other day. do a little bit everyday and then the day you focus on your abs you Can make it more intense. with arms and legs once a week, maybe twice, is fine but make sure to do other exercises that would work those parts of your body as well.

running is key in exercise and really tones the legs. you can run three times a week and then lift different parts of the body on off days.

just mix it up and have fun so your body doesn’t plateau or you don’t get tired of the smae old thing.

good luck!

i’m looking to lose a few kilos from my legs and some exercises to make my legs and butt more firm. i don’t have any problems with the upper side of my body. does anyone have any suggestions?

lunges, squats, warrior pose, yoga, surfing(so fun!) walking, cycling………and make sure you eat healthily. good luck. x

For about 2 weeks , i climbed up and down the stairs instead of using lifts and i walked for about 15 min everyday just to get firmer legs , I thought the exercise would help me make it firm . I hated those fats shaking on my legs . But why had my legs grew even more bigger than before? ! Please i m puzzled . I don’t know much about exercises Thnx
Then how can i prevent it from swelling up? Will they gonna be smaller again? Now i had stopped exercising . I don’t know what to do , plz help

EDIT: No, you shouldn’t stopped. If you keep on exercising they’ll get used to it and go back to normal. If you want, you can ice it after exercising. That’s why pitchers ice their arm after pitching — to prevent it from swelling.

It’s probably either (a) the muscle swelling up because it hasn’t done that much work in a while and/or (b) the leg muscle getting bigger.