Strengthen Your Legs | Human Resources (2024)

Walking and running are great ways to build leg strength. However, over time, your legs become accustomed to the motion and eventually can hit a plateau. This could also limit your performance. Here are some tips to increase your leg strength, which could lead to longer and more productive sessions.

Change it up — If you find yourself constantly running or walking at the same track or trail, find a new place and give it a try. Go to a place with hills, since they are a great way to build leg strength and add some extra intensity to your session.

Cross Training — Cross training is an excellent way not only to enhance your walk or run, but your overall fitness as well. Combining running and walking with strength training and other forms of aerobic exercise like swimming, elliptical training and cycling can add variety to your workout and can greatly improve your performance. Sports like soccer and basketball are great for improving leg power as well.

Resistance Training — Resistance training with free weights or weight machines is a great way to improve leg strength and add an extra kick to the latter stages of your run and walk. Some good leg strengthening exercises include:

  1. Squats — Squatting is one of the best resistance workouts you can do. This exercise works almost all of the muscles in the lower body and is a great way to build leg strength. This is a must-have in your program if you decide to begin resistance training. While squatting, be sure to keep you feet flat and push up through your heels. Keep your back flat and your torso upright and look straight ahead.
  2. Lunges — Lunges are a great way to enhance strength and stability in your legs since you are forced to balance all of your body weight on one leg for a short period of time. Be sure not to let your knee come over your toes while lunging and keep your torso erect while looking ahead.
  3. Leg Curls — This exercise works the back part of the legs, the hamstring muscle group. This is especially pertinent for runners since most runners have very strong quadricep muscles (the ones on the front part of the leg) and have weak hamstring muscles. Curl your legs as far up as they can go, and slowly let the weight back down, but don't let the weight stack touch and lose all the resistance. Strengthening the hamstrings will restore a balance to the leg musculature and aide in preventing running injuries.
Strengthen Your Legs | Human Resources (2024)

FAQs

Strengthen Your Legs | Human Resources? ›

Leg workouts engage the major muscle groups of your body, which helps to improve overall athletic performance and support healthy movement patterns in your daily life. A strong lower body will also help to prevent injury and manage chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes.

What helps your legs get stronger? ›

10 exercises for toned legs
  • Squats. The squat is one of the best exercises to tone legs. ...
  • Lunges. Lunges work your thighs, butt, and abs. ...
  • Plank leg lifts. Regular planks target the upper body, core, and hips. ...
  • Single-leg deadlifts. ...
  • Stability ball knee tucks. ...
  • Step-ups. ...
  • 7. Box jumps. ...
  • Speedskater jumps.
Nov 16, 2023

How can I strengthen my legs with limited mobility? ›

Top 10 Leg Exercise for Seniors
  1. Seated Leg Extensions. Seated leg extensions are perfect for beginners and can be done anywhere. ...
  2. Ankle Circles. Ankle circles improve flexibility and circulation, reducing the risk of injuries and falls. ...
  3. Chair Squats. ...
  4. Standing Knee Lifts. ...
  5. Calf Raises. ...
  6. Side Leg Raises. ...
  7. Toe Taps. ...
  8. Leg Curls.
Jan 9, 2024

What happens when you strengthen your legs? ›

Leg workouts engage the major muscle groups of your body, which helps to improve overall athletic performance and support healthy movement patterns in your daily life. A strong lower body will also help to prevent injury and manage chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes.

How to strengthen an old person's legs? ›

7 Recommended Exercises to Strengthen Weak Legs in the Elderly
  1. Sit to Stand: ...
  2. Pedal: ...
  3. Walking Heel to Toe: ...
  4. Seated Knee Extension: ...
  5. Step-ups: ...
  6. Lunges: ...
  7. Resistance Bands: ...
  8. Ankle Circles:
Aug 15, 2023

Can weak legs be strengthened? ›

Resistance Training — Resistance training with free weights or weight machines is a great way to improve leg strength and add an extra kick to the latter stages of your run and walk.

What to do when legs are extremely weak? ›

Leg weakness always needs a doctor's evaluation as it may be due to a serious underlying condition that requires treatment. Get emergency medical care if: Your weakness is accompanied by sudden, severe pain in your back or leg. You experience loss of bladder or bowel control.

Which food makes legs stronger? ›

The 25 Best Muscle Building Foods
  • Whole eggs. Another day, another article touting the benefits of eggs. ...
  • Salmon. ...
  • Soy beans. ...
  • Pineapple. ...
  • Greek yogurt. ...
  • Garlic. ...
  • Turkey breast. ...
  • Kidney beans.
May 26, 2023

How do you reverse weak legs? ›

You can recover from muscle atrophy by exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet. You may start seeing improvement after a few months, but it may take much longer for you to fully recover your strength.

How long does it take to regain leg strength? ›

Strengthening muscles and being able to apply the new-found strength to performance takes several weeks to implement. A good strength program usually takes around twelve weeks to see physiological changes to muscle strength and size.

How to get strong legs fast at home? ›

But follow these guidelines, and I promise that your legs and body will change.
  1. Squat every day. The squat serves as the foundation for all lower-body exercises. ...
  2. Get great at goblet squats. ...
  3. Build up strength with Bulgarians. ...
  4. Finish with 10 minutes of lunges or stepups. ...
  5. Deadlift heavy at least once a week.
Oct 27, 2015

Why am I losing strength in my legs? ›

Weakness in the legs may happen for a variety of reasons. These can include DOMS, spinal problems, neuropathy, ALS, stroke, myasthenia gravis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Weakness in the legs may affect one leg or both and may come on suddenly or days or weeks.

Why are my legs getting weaker as I get older? ›

A decrease in both the number and size of your muscle fibers causes your muscles to thin (muscle atrophy). As you age, your body goes through certain changes that play a major factor in developing sarcopenia. For instance, your body doesn't produce the same amount of proteins your muscles need to grow.

Can elderly regain muscle strength? ›

For the elderly, multiform therapeutic exercise, which is a combination of resistance exercises, aerobic exercises, and balance and/or walking exercises, has also been proposed to improve muscle mass, strength, and functionality [45].

How do you cure weak legs? ›

Leg Weakness Treatment
  1. Medications. Different medications can be described to help with leg weakness based on the underlying cause. ...
  2. Surgery. Some conditions that cause leg weakness can be treated with surgery, such as hyperthyroidism or a herniated disc.
  3. Physical Therapy. ...
  4. Dietary Changes. ...
  5. Mobility Aids.

What foods go to your legs? ›

Certain foods can also support your quest for leg bulk, including:
  • steak.
  • pork.
  • chicken.
  • healthy oils.
  • grains.
  • fruit.
  • starchy veg.
  • spinach.

How can I increase my leg strength and speed? ›

Using single-leg accelerated or decelerated movements will have a direct effect on improving overall game speed, maneuverability, and an increase in functional strength.
  1. Jumping split squats.
  2. Lateral squats.
  3. Pistol squats.
  4. Weighted step-up movements.
  5. Reverse/Forward lunges.
  6. Bulgarian squats.
  7. Walking lunges.

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