Best Gym Machine Workout For Your Legs

Check out this awesome leg machine workout in the gym. Nine of the best leg machine exercises to tone and sculpt every major muscle group in your legs.

Leg Machine Workout In The Gym

Leg Press
Leg Press Heel Raises
4-Way Hip
Seated Calf Raises
Quad Extensions
Hamstring Curls

Keep reading below for video and written instruction for each of these great exercises.

Are you ready to tone the best legs of your life but aren’t too familiar with some of the machines in the gym to do it?

I’ve totally got you covered.

Sometimes the machines in the gym can be intimidating if you don’t know how to use them correctly. Conversely – they can be a great addition to any of your workouts if you’re confident in their proper use.

Well today we’re all about the gym leg machines. I’m sharing with you my top six leg machines in the gym and combining them into one amazing leg workout.

I’m including video and written instruction with pictures to eliminate fear and hesitation and ensure you’ll perform every rep correctly – every time.

So let’s get to work! And goodbye for today, walking normally!

What are the best exercises for your legs?

In order to tone and sculpt your legs, the best workout routine is one that’s going to include resistance training for all your major muscle groups. You want to focus on exercises that are going to target your hips, quads, hamstrings, and calves.

Cardio or strength training for muscle definition?

While cardio is important in weight loss and endurance, in order to tone and sculpt muscle definition you have to participate in some resistance training. If you want to strengthen an define the muscles in your legs, weight-training is going to be the way to do it. There are a wide variety of ways you can incorporate this resisted training; today we’ll show you some of the best machines to get the job done.

Are leg machines better than free weights?

There are pros and cons to using both. I like barbells and dumbbells because they add a degree of instability which your body then has to work hard to overcome. You use more of your smaller “stabilizer” muscles during these exercises. Machines are a great way to add power and speed to your workouts as well as isolate muscle groups through very guided contractions.

The bottom line is you should be doing a combination of both; READ HERE for more details.

How much weight should I lift while working out?

The standard rule to follow is 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps for muscle tone; 4-5 sets of 6-8 reps for muscle mass and strength. For toning sets try to keep your weight consistent with each set; for mass sets increase your weight with each set.

You can read more about “how much weight to lift” recommendations RIGHT HERE.

Will lifting weights make me big and bulky?

Contrary to popular belief, lifting weights alone will not cause you to put on mass. It actually has the opposite effect – it promotes lean muscle mass and boosts your metabolism to create a slender, muscular effect. If you would like to increase muscle mass, you have to supplement your lifting with eating… A LOT. The common rule is 1+ grams of protein per pound of your bodyweight daily to increase muscle mass. Most of us would never do that without some kind of supplementation.

Check out some of our other popular gym machine workouts!

Best Upper Body Gym Machines

Cable Crossover Leg Workout

Butt and Thigh Gym Workout

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The Best Gym Machine Workout For Your Legs

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Leg Press (a.k.a. “Leg Sled”): Great for your quads and glutes. Weights are usually loaded on a couple of posts up around chest eye.

Sit in the seat, put your feet up on the footpad above you, and extend your knees.
Unlock the sled and slowly lower the resistance down towards you. Focus on keeping your knees right over your toes.
Push with your legs to return to starting position.
Three sets of 10–12 reps

Leg Press Straight-Legged Calf Raises: There are actually two muscles that make up your calf: your gastrocnemius and your soleus. Your gastrocnemius crosses your knee joint and is primarily worked out when doing heel raises with your knee in a straight position. An easy place to do this is while seated on the leg sled.

While seated in the leg press, drop your feet down to the bottom of the pad so that just the balls of your feet are supporting the resistance.
Extend your knees and perform ankle pumps/heel raises to move the resistance up and down.
Three sets of 15-20 reps

Four-way hip machine: My go-to for strengthening the hip flexors, abductors (glute med and min), adductors (inner thigh), and extensors (butt). Typically, there is a platform that you stand on with some sort of small pad that can be adjusted to various heights/positions depending on which exercise you are performing.

Hip flexors: worked with the resistance on the front of your leg while you lift your leg to the front.
Hip adductors: use your groin muscles to pull the resistance in towards your stance leg.
Hip extensors: push the weight behind you using your glutes.
Hip abductors: uses the muscles on the side of your leg to push your leg out to the side.
3 sets of 10 reps of each on both legs.

Seated calf raises: As mentioned previously – there are two muscle in your calf. We’ve worked the gastrocnemeus, but we can’t forget about the other muscle – the soleus. This muscle is worked as the knees are bent which unlocks the gastrocnemius muscle.

Sit in the machine and adjust the top pad until it rests on top of your legs
Lift the resistance by lifting your heels and unlock the machine.
Continue to “pump” your ankle up and down to perform the exercise.
3 sets of 15-20 reps

Leg extensions: Great exercise to really focus on the quad muscle.

Start in a seated position with your legs bent and the lower pad resting on your shin just above your ankles.
Contracting the quad muscles in the front of your leg to elevate the pad and bring your legs into a straight position.
Slowly return to starting position.
3 sets of 10 reps

Hamstring curls: As its name implies – we’re going to really isolate that hamstring group on the back of your leg with this one. With most machines this exercise is performed either seated or laying on your stomach.

Start with your legs out straight and your heels/lower legs resting on the top of the pad.
If you are on the seated machine there is another pad which you have to bring down a pad on top of your quad muscle just above the knees.
Bend your knees and pull the resistance towards your butt.
Slowly return back to the starting position.
3 sets of 10 reps

I hope you found these useful in adding a little variety to leg day. Try to incorporate these exercises regularly into your leg day routine and I promise you won’t be let down with your results.

So what are the best gym machines for your upper body? Check them out here:

Did I miss your favorite gym machine in this roundup? Let me know about it! Leave me a comment below or drop me an email jared{at}toneandtightenfitness{dot}com

Make it happen,

Jared

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