Strengthening Your Upper Legs

If you’re looking to add condition and strength to your upper legs – which you should be – incorporating incline treadmill or if you have a hill you can run on is a great way to not only shave fat off your thighs but add muscle as well.

Image: istockphoto

I started off my workout today on the “hard” treadmill.  It felt especially hard today.  I labored to finish 1.85 miles in 20 minutes.  I always knew the “hard” treadmill was on a slight incline, but after how much I struggled I knew as soon as I finished I was going to find out.  The first test was to place a rubber ball (the kind you play dodgeball with) at the top of the treadmill.  It rolled down a little faster than expected.

I next grabbed a sit and rich and used it for its measuring stick.  From the top of the tread belt to the end, there was roughly 2 inches of difference – 13 to 11 inches or a 15.4% incline.  That’s pretty huge but I’m glad I ran it because inclines are 1) a little easier on the knees 2) put more of the onus on your thighs – and mine need to be strengthened.

Also on the chopping block was standing 1 footed squats and 4 notch platform step ups intermixed.  1 set then a 2nd set.  1 minute rest.  Repeat.  This is some of the cardio/strength combination I have talked about before.  For the squats I would squat until by butt touched the end of a sit-up bench (slightly higher than a regular bench) and then come back up for 1.  I had no weight involved in this as just my body weight and the balancing necessary made it difficult enough.

For step ups, I had 30 lbs in each hand, step up with one foot and then drive through with the other foot, ending up with one knee in the air and one on the platform.  The combination of these two exercises was very tough as I don’t usually incorporate cardio, balance, and strength in one exercise.

I finished off my session at the gym with calf raises on a platform with 30 lbs in each hand and hamstring curls.  The calf raises weren’t my normal seated calf raises.  I decided to continue with the balance theme and with only my toes on the platform would raise up, really stretching and pushing my calves to overload.  The hamstring curls were 3×10 with 62.5 lb plate.

I still have a few exercises to go because I didn’t get enough done before the gym closed.  I’ll record what gets accomplished tomorrow.

Remember that running on a level mainly works your lower legs so that running in itself is not going to give you a good overall push for your legs.  Add in more upper leg exercises such as abductors, adductors, squats, leg press, leg extensions, and lower body sled pushes to tone and build thigh muscles.