BodyBuilding 101

Place a barbell on your upper back. Lift your chest up and look straight ahead. Position your right leg forward in a long stride. Your foot should be far enough in front of you so that when you bend your right knee, your thigh and lower leg form a right angle.

Slowly bend your knees, lowering your hips so your rear knee just clears the floor. Pause briefly in this position, then slowly straighten your legs and raise your body back up to a standing position. Complete a full set, then switch legs and repeat, or alternate legs for each rep.

Make sure your knee does not travel past your toes in the down position! This can also be done with dumbbells in each hand instead of using a barbell.

Rest a barbell on the upper portion of your back, not your neck. Firmly grip the bar with your hands almost twice your shoulder width apart. Position your feet about shoulder width apart and your toes should be pointing just a little outward with your knees in the same direction.

Keep your back as straight as possible and your chin up, bend your knees and slowly lower your hips straight down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Once you reach the bottom position, press the weight up back to the starting position.

Don’t lean over or curve your back forward! You can use a belt to help reduce the chance of lower back injury. You can put your heels on a 1 inch block to further work the quads. You can also use a wider stance to work the inner quads even more.

Many weight lifters tend to focus on the large muscle groups in the upper body, such as the shoulder, chest, biceps and triceps, while largely ignoring their lower body. In order to get a balanced physique, however, it is necessary to also focus on the calves, quadriceps and glutes. Always make sure to warm up and stretch out when working your lower body, ideally beginning with light cardio. Here are some leading lower body exercises to get you started:

Lunges
Working all of the large lower body muscle groups, lunges can also provide a cardiovascular workout if conducted properly. Make sure you have plenty of room to fully extend your step, so that you can get the full stretch necessary for the exercise.

Squats
This is a core, strength building exercise which targets the quadriceps, as well as the hamstrings, hip flexors, and calves. By placing a bar just below your shoulders, you align your body properly (check with a trainer) and bend at the knees until you form a 45 degree angle and then you steadily move upward until you are aligned again.

Calf Raises
By placing weight (force) downward and extending your calves upward, you can work the muscles in your calves and strength an oft-ignored part of your lower body.

Leg Extensions and Curls
Designed to help develop your hamstrings and quadriceps, these machine-based exercises strengthen your lower body core.