Even with constant running or walking, building some muscle weight in the legs, calves, and glutes can feel a bit trickier. Sometimes it is easier to build up muscle on the upper body, thus triggering the sense of skipping the leg day. Then appear the question of how to gain weight in leg. Surprisingly, it also needs a special regime which as intense as the upper body workout. Here are the tips.
The Exercises
Not all of the strength and muscle-building exercises need heavy lifting. Some workouts can be done by using a simple routine, such as working out with lunges and squats. The key is to keep everything natural and routine, thus you won't overdo everything. If you are fine with a bigger challenge, try leg presses and calf raises with some weight.
1. Leg Press
The best way to gain mass in the thighs is using a leg press. In this case, you might have to work at the gym since a leg press machine will help more in the process. But every machine has a different procedure. If you are not sure, try to ask a trainer or get some help to avoid injuries. The leg press is a pretty simple answer to the how to gain weight in leg question.
You will start by lying flat on the back or in another reclining position based on the machine design. The next thing to do is to push your weight spread evenly across your foot while keeping your back and head in line. You should not fully straighten and lock your knees, instead slowly return to the starting position.
2. Calf Raises
Calf raises is a simple exercise composing standing on a step with heels hanging off. It is pretty simple but can get a bit tense with your need to keep balance and stability. For the exercise, you will need to tense your abs and raise the ball of the feet similar to tip-toeing. Stop at the top for a brief second, and return to the starting position. Do it a few times.
3. Lunges
Pretty commonly for stretching, lunges are one of the pretty simple yet effective exercises to build legs. In this workout, the balancing movement help develop your quads, hamstrings, glutes, core, and caves. How to gain weight in leg? If you are looking for a big muscle group building, try this workout since it also helps improve balance and overall body coordination.
To make the most of lunges, you will need to tighten your abs during the exercise. Try to make a big or small step with one leg while lowering the back knee to reach a 90-degree angle. You also need to slowly push through the front leg and repeat the action. It is also best to keep your posture upright. It can be hurt at the beginning. But once you are comfortable with it, it will be fun.
4. Squats
The simplest and the most common practice o build up muscle and weight on the leg is squats. The nature of the movement makes it a proper exercise to target the glutes, while also helping increase mobility in the ankle. When done right, it will also aid core strength and increase stability. It is also the best answer for home exercise solutions.
How to gain weight in leg with the squat? You will need to ensure the posture is upright and won't put too much strain on the knees. The key is to keep the sitting motion and keep the position balanced for a long time. You also need to keep the feet shoulder-width apart. Do it slowly while tensing the abs. Don't force everything and make the exercise start to hurt.
The Best Regime
Of all reasons and exercises, bulking up the body will always be with the proper regime. It includes when you are going to bulk up the skinny legs, which is pretty hard to put lean mass on it. In this case, the answer is always a strength training program to trigger and develop the muscle. That is why the exercises you can do are pretty much muscle training.
For the regime, at least you can strength train each muscle group two or three times per week. It is also best to consider a different variation of the exercise, which you can expand from simple leg presses to more deadlifts, sumo, side lunges, and others. That should suffice as the answer to how to gain weight in leg.
Food To Bulk Up
Since workout and exercising are not enough, put your mind to gaining weight with some food. Following many strength routines and exercises to bulk up, the average recommended protein intake is around 2.3 to 3.1 grams per kilogram of your body weight each day. Another good point is to get at least 15 to 30% of calories from fat.
To make it clear, at least you will need to eat some of the muscle-gaining foods. The options include meat, olive oil, grains, spinach, dairy, lentils, nuts, bananas, and potatoes. But again, be sure to balance the food. Don't to engrained with fat-only or nutrient-dense food. Eating balanced food can also benefits your body as a whole.
If you prefer eating supplements, pick something with beta-alanine, caffeine, and creatine monohydrates. But again, eating healthy is better than focusing on supplements since they should not be consumed the same way as medication. Be careful and ask a doctor or trainer before gulping it down.
The how to gain weight in leg tips should also include avoiding some foods. Remember that not all foods are good and eating some unbalanced consumption will only affect the process. Generally, you need to avoid anything damaging your body balance. Avoid alcohol, sugars, high-fat foods, high-fiber, fried food, and other similar junk food.
Bulking up the leg might feel like a less important thing to do. Sometimes, it is reduced due to the wrong exercises. With that, do aim for exercise focusing on the lower leg with squats, leg presses, calf raises, and lunges. Do it at least twice a week or follow your capabilities. Support it with calorie and extra protein consumption to change the skinny leg.