The popular idea in the gym is to build a big upper body, so you can show off those powerful muscles to everyone you meet. Most of the time, the choices we make earlier are the best. Somewhere along the way, you start hearing things like, this guy or that other guy looks goofy with his huge upper body and skinny legs. You start thinking about building big legs so that your physique looks more in line with the people you’re with in the gym.

The times when it’s right to build your legacy

In particular, at specific points in an individual’s life, routine leg training makes sense. When you’re new to weight training, this is the only point at which I suggest a person perform any routine leg strengthening exercises. To guard against any potential damage later in the training lifespan, a person who is new to weight training can practice a small leg-work regimen so that she can build some core and quad strength. Younger children who are just beginning to exercise with weights also fall into this category.

If a person has very skinny legs, I would make a second exception to my personal rule. In such cases, some deadlifts and squats might be necessary. The two most efficient leg exercises that will build muscle quickly are the deadlift and the squat.

I only suggest such routine leg training once or twice a week for no more than six months, in the two situations I discussed.

Building huge legs destroys your physique.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when bodybuilding started to become more accepted in popular culture, this concept of building huge legs caught on. To have a good proportion, you had to develop that “hourglass” physics, but this concept was only in the heads of men.

To strengthen my legs, I used to stack 315 pounds of weight on the squat rack. That turned out to be a terrible mistake. What did he really need such huge legs for?

Huge legs make you look ridiculous.

When you look at a man with huge legs dressed up for a night out, have you considered that something about him doesn’t seem exactly right? Either he wears baggy jeans that look ridiculous, or his pants are too tight and his legs are tight like sardines in a can. What if you see a big man in a suit? It just doesn’t seem right.

You don’t want them to think when they see you in the gym, man, that guy probably spends all his time here; this is exactly my point that I want to convey. All you want is to appear pleasing to the eye, like a man who keeps himself in good shape.

So what do I do to slim down my legs without doing heavy leg lifting?

You will see that they have something in common when you see the NBA players and speedsters. Most of them have well defined legs, but not huge ones. In order not to overgrow their legs, most of them stay away from overgrowth. Huge legs would only interfere with his natural abilities to compete effectively. Without the oversized legs you see when you look at bodybuilders, these sports just build good dense muscles in their legs.

To make sure I get enough leg work without routine heavy lifting, I have a certain regiment that I do; let me share it with you.

On Monday: back, abs, chest.

On Tuesday: biceps, triceps and shoulders.

Repeat this regimen on Saturday and Sunday.

I put a lot of effort into cardio training using High Intensity Interval Training after each type of resistance training; that’s my secret. I alternate between the treadmill and the treadmill.

Remember: another advantage of performing a leg workout of this type is having a good butt. Better looking than with squats, your glutes will gain that lean look. Running stiffens the butt to give it a firm appearance. Making it look too big, squats build the butt instead.

I did a blog post about having torn legs