Q&A for How to Build Leg Muscles

Sit ups help to strengthen your core, not your thigh muscles. To strengthen your thigh muscles, I recommend trying some of the exercises mentioned in this wikiHow.

Slowly. Patience is crucial. Start with very light weight or just the weight of your own leg. Try 8-15 repetitions per exercise. Very slowly and gradually increase your number of reps over the course of the first 4 to 8 weeks of training. After that, if all is well, consider increasing the reps and sets for another month. If all goes well after that, you can start increasing the weight in very small increments, always giving your body a week to adapt to weight increases before increasing the weight further. Use perfect technique or you risk re-injury.

Traditional leg strengthening exercises include squats, lunges, deadlifts and calf raises, and holding a barbell or dumbbells makes muscles work harder and become stronger, when done in a regular structured routine.

A few great leg muscle building exercises are all kinds of jumps, lunges, squats and calf raises. For some people, running and cycling build leg muscle.

It sounds like your work is doing more than enough to build your leg endurance. Make sure you get some rest days if possible. Your legs may not be getting the recovery time they need.

Exercise your legs for at least 30 minutes, 3-5 times per week. You can do running, or gym-style exercises like lunges and squats, or climbing, cycling, skiing or skating.

To really build functional leg muscle and strength, do a variety of exercises, which include repetitious exercises like cycling and running plus resistance training.

It sounds like your work is doing more than enough to build your leg endurance. Make sure you get some rest days if possible. Your legs may not be getting the recovery time they need.

You need to train regularly. Keep a good schedule so that your brain and muscles know what to do. Always drink lots of water and remember to eat healthy. Don't immediately go farther and faster than usual, but build it up instead. Start running at a normal speed and amount, then try to beat that goal each day.

Rest your legs until your doctor clears you for exercise. Working out with an injury can make it far worse.

This really depends on your current physical condition and what your interpretation of building muscle is. Are you looking to bulk up or are you just looking to start up an exercise routine and get into better shape? Bike riding is aerobic exercise. Aerobic activity trains the heart, lungs and cardiovascular system. If you are already fit, bike riding is unlikely to do much for building bulk. If you are out of shape, starting any type of exercise will initially build muscle and help you get fit. The length of time per bike riding session will depend on what your physical condition is at the time and how hard you ride. It can take six weeks or longer to see any great improvement.

Bananas contain potassium, a vital electrolyte for muscle function. You only need to get your daily value of potassium for this to matter. However, bananas are also full of healthy carbs and other nutrients. Eating a banana or two every day won't hurt you, but you won't get anything out of eating a bunch.

Perhaps you should stick to a diet. Also, thickness of the legs depends on muscles, so adopt an exercise regimen focused on building them.

It depends on where the pain is coming from. If this is your first time trying these exercises, then you might be pushing yourself too much; slow down, reduce the weight, etc. If this is not your first time doing such exercises, then you should stop doing them, and book an appointment with a physiotherapist to find out why your legs are in pain.

DO exercises with free weights and on machines, like squats, leg lifts, dead lifts etc.

Yes. It is a good workout for the entire leg.

I would recommend training your lower body only 2-3 times a week if you are trying to build muscle so that your body has time to repair itself.

Yes! This is a great way to build thigh strength. You could also try squats and lunges.

Do plenty of squats (with or without weight), donkey kicks, fire hydrants, and bridges. See How to Build Butt Muscles for more.

Not all of them, considering the dead lifts and squats could easily be done wrongly or perhaps too hard, but the eating part is mostly possible. As with any regimen, a physician should be consulted first.

Yes, but you should also train other parts of your body too. Just training your legs would give you a bit of a strange physique over time.

I've torn my ACL twice as well and I'd guess you're doing too many reps or not stretching first. Try doing leg lifts, squats, lunges, wall sits, and other leg exercises that don't involve weights or machines. Keep improving your strength little by little, work up to adding weight. Your knees will likely become stronger over time.

If you're doing too much cardio along with these exercises you may see a decrease in the amount of fat, in which case you should try and use heavier weights and do more reps to push yourself further. Also remember it does take time for the muscle to build back up, first the layer of fat hiding the muscles must be stripped away.

Follow a diet given by a physician. Eat high amounts of calcium and protein to make your bones stronger. The best option is to hire a fitness trainer who can guide you through exercises.

Cardio is one of the best exercises for getting lean legs, search it up for more information. Try to get in short runs of about 15-20 minutes 2-3 days a week.

It depends on intensity, diet and your own body. If you do them consistently over a long enough period of time, you will see results.

Do slow, full range exercises. Build up to eventually increasing weight, and use common sense training techniques.

It depends on how hard you train, your diet, and the present condition of your body, but you should be able to see changes in 3-4 weeks.

Full body, multiple joint exercises provide superior results. Bench presses and squats or lunges will grow and strengthen your entire body.

There are few options. You could do biceps and triceps, back and chest, or hamstring and quadriceps (thighs).