I still squat, but not as often. At this juncture in my career, the primary purpose of leg work is building balance and deep definition. Size increases in its own time, but the art of bodybuilding is creating an aesthetic look, not just more size. One of the best methods for continuous gains in an area is constant change. Change the exercise, the type of intensity, the set of progressions, the reps. Some days I train heavy with fewer reps, other days light with high reps. Often, I do some exercises heavy, others medium, and the rest light.

One thing that never changes is strict form. You know the old saying. Haste makes waste. That applies to bodybuilding. With quick movements, you could bounce up much heavier weights and impress your gym mates, but is that really your goal? Shouldn't you aim for maximum muscle building results?

Swinging, bouncing and using body momentum are very taxing on ligaments and tendons. You'd hate to see your progress stop or reverse while you recover from an injury. That is why I believe in quality reps. I slow the movement and focus my mind on the muscles being worked. At the lockout of each movement, I feel the muscles contract, forcing them to squeeze together. Then I use a slow movement. This way, I benefit from both the positive and negative movements rather than rely on just one direction of movement to build muscle (Continuous Tension).

I work my entire body over four days at the present time, training once a day. My second day training is just for legs (quads and hamstrings). I work calves three days a week on whatever day they fall upon. Leg work is even more important, because fat is often stored on thighs. That is why aerobic exercise is so vital in addition to weight training.

Since I change my leg work frequently, I can't pinpoint what I do, but you can plan numerous routines with different combinations of exercises. Make sure you divide them evenly among pushing, extending, and curling movements. Apply full effort and never surrender to difficulty. You'll be rewarded with muscular, prize winning, shapely legs.

Shapely Legs - Exercises

Squats

I begin with some stretches and a light warm up. Today, I do these light using 135 pounds for four sets of 20 reps. I begin with my feet close, toes forward to build those vastus medialis teardrop muscles of the inner thigh. I move slowly in both directions, going as deep as possible, taking no more than a minutes rest between sets.

Lunges

This is one of my favorite leg exercises. Bodybuilders think of these as merely a pre contest shaper when, in fact, they can be a very dynamic thigh builder. In this workout, I do these heavy. Perform lunges one leg at a time, putting full effort into that area. I step up onto a low box. Beginning with a 95 pound barbell across my shoulders, I do 20 lunges with each leg. Progressing to 115 pounds, I do a set of 15 reps. The third set is with 135 pounds for 10 reps. Now comes the tough part, taking the weight back down to 95 pounds, where I do a final set of 20. At this point, my legs are tired and shaking. I have to be very careful to keep my balance or I could fall.

Leg Extensions

Descending Sets Principle: but for this workout, I use the same weight for all four sets. The first 10 reps, I do slowly, holding the lockout for a fraction of a second and contracting the thighs. The weight is brought down slowly. The final 10 reps of the set are done faster. The harder they get, the faster I move to allow extra reps.

Lying Leg Curls

Hamstring work is next, beginning with lying leg curls. I start light, for a set of 25 reps. I increase the poundage with each set, decreasing reps to around 20, 15, then 8 or 9 on the heaviest set. Next, I drop the weight stack to half of my heaviest weight and try to double the number of reps I did on that last set.

Standing Curls

I do these as I would do a concentration curl for the biceps. I bring my heel up as close to the glute as possible with each rep, moving slowly. Flexing the ham and glute at the top, I then lower slowly. I do 3 sets of 15 for each leg, using the same weight.

Good Mornings

A good alternative to stiff legged deadlifts. I do these, primarily to stretch the hams. Weight is not important. If you do them correctly, you'll really feel them and not be able to use much weight. I place a barbell across the back of my shoulders, keeping my knees straight, my chin up and my back straight as I bend forward. I go down to a deep stretch, then come up slowly. I do 3 sets of 20 reps.

Calf Raises

My most effective calf workout consists of just two exercises, 3 sets each. Doesn't sound like much, does it? But wait till you try it. The first exercise is standing calf raises. I use a light weight and do all my sets with toes forward. If I want to work my outer calves, I put pressure on my little toe, by shifting my feet. If I want to work my inner calves, I put the pressure on my big toe. Otherwise, I keep the tension in the middle.

I do each set slowly, going very deep at the bottom for a full stretch, then I come up as high as possible, contracting the gastrocnemius at the top. Toward the end of the set, I'll speed up the movement to complete 50 reps for each set. Between every set of calf raises, I stretch the area for two minutes with the ball of my foot on a block. I also do some squatting stretches.