How to Get Your Legs & Butt Bigger
Building size in your legs and butt is possible if you consistently participate in weight training workouts that are designed to increase muscle mass. A workout that builds muscular size features a higher number of exercises, which is intended to leave your muscles completely overloaded by the time you're finished with your workout. As long as you give your muscles enough time to recover, they'll increase in size as they heal. There are numerous compound weight training exercises that are effective at simultaneously targeting your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. There are also single joint exercises which isolate these muscle groups. This article focuses on the compound or multi-joint exercises.
Lunges may help. (Image: g-stockstudio/iStock/Getty Images)Step 1
Fit in two legs and butt workouts into your weekly routine. Spread the workouts out throughout the week so that your muscles get two days off in between. An appropriate schedule would consist of working out on Tuesdays and Fridays. You could do compound movements one session, and single joint (leg curls, leg extensions, calf raises) another day, or you could go heavier one day. Or you could do similar workouts each day.
Step 2
Do at least three sets of each exercise. Dr. Lee E. Brown of the National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends three to five sets of each exercise for muscle building. Each set should consist of a minimum of eight reps and a maximum of 20. You want to perform each set to near muscular fatigue, so increase the weight you're using if you're able to do 20 reps with ease and decrease it if you're unable to do at least eight with correct technique. (Correct technique applies to all reps.) Twenty reps is at the high end of the muscle-building range and is more of an endurance range. You could make your warm-up sets higher rep sets, and increase the weight and decrease the reps in the following sets. Some of this will depend on your experience, your progress, and your results.
Step 3
Begin your workout with squats, which target your glutes and quadriceps. With your feet set to hip-width apart, bend your knees and bend your hips back to lower to the floor until your thighs are just beyond parallel and then rise back up (See References 2). Hold a pair of dumbbells down by your side or rest a barbell on the back of your shoulders if you need to add weights. Since your goal is size, you should plan on progressing beyond body weight squats. Prior to your weighted squats, warm up with body weight lunges or body weight squats.
Step 4
Incorporate lunges into your workouts, which hit your quads, glutes and calves. Take a big step with one foot to position you in a staggered stance with both feet pointed forward. Bend your lead knee to drop your back one toward the floor, keeping your torso upright as you lower. Stop just before your trailing knee touches the ground and then come back up and return to the starting position. On the next rep, switch legs. Since your goal is size, add dummbells held at your side or a barbell across your shoulder area to your lunges. Reverse lunges target the glutes. These are initiated by stepping back instead of stepping forward.
Step 5
Perform dumbbell straight leg deadlifts, which work your hamstrings and glutes. Hold a pair of dumbbells down in front of your thighs with your palms facing your legs. Keep your knees straight and bend forward at the waist, pushing your hips back behind you. Continue until your back is parallel to the floor and then rise back up.
Step 6
Finish your workout with step-ups to thoroughly overload your butt and thighs. Stand in front of a plyo box or bench or carefully stacked aerobic steps and place one foot atop it. Drive off your leg to bring yourself completely onto the box. Step down and then switch legs. Dumbbells or a barbell can be used to increase intensity.
Tip
As you start out, begin by doing three sets of each exercise. After a few weeks of consistent training, increase your workout volume to four sets and then eventually five. This will allow your musculoskeletal system to adapt to the stress of lifting.
Warning
When performing squats, reduce the stress on your knee joints by never allowing your knees to move passed the vertical line of your toes -- to never allow your knees to be forward of your toes. The same applies to the leading leg in a lunge. Visit a doctor for a check-up before beginning a new workout program.
