•leg press •lunge •leg curl •calf raise

This circuit would incorporate most aspects of the leg for a full workout.

Instructions: As usual, there are many variations you can use. You can step forward, then back; or, you can step through; or, you can step back into a lunge position (called reverse lunge). In the starting position you stand upright, hands on hips (if you have no weights), or holding dumbbells, or holding a bar which is balanced across your neck area (same as squats). Step forward into a deep stretch, but step out laterally about a foot as well. This gives you more lateral stability. Sometimes people have a tendency to lunge forward as if they are doing a tight wire act. If you are wobbly when you lunge that might be the problem. Also, a little trick to remember here is to draw an imaginary line from the tip of your toe to the ceiling. When lunging into position, get a deep stretch in the glutes, but do not let your forward knee go past that line. If you do, you put too much pressure on the knee and take tension off the muscles where you are trying to keep the tension. Ideally, the lower leg should be perpendicular to the floor. When stepping up, try to use the forward leg to lift you to the upright position as much as possible rather than springing off with your back foot. Naturally you will need to spring off the back foot a little, just don't do it so much that you cheat your legs.

Beware of what's called "cheat pockets" on this exercise. We unconsciously seek to avoid displeasure so cheating sometimes happens without our knowing it. First, you must remember to concentrate on your form and the target muscle throughout the exercise. In lunges, there is a hard-to-catch (if you are watching someone else) cheat where you turn the knee in just a little and sort of bounce out of the lunge.

Yes, there is a little comfort zone or a little "pocket" at the bottom of the lunge. To stay out of it, try to point your knee out at a slight angle. An inch further out could make all the difference in the world. If you must get extremely radical to correct your form (for the skilled cheater), slightly point your toe outward, forcing the knee to point out a little. Even then, some will find their way to this cheat.

Throughout the motion you should focus on maintaining continuous tension in the quads and glutes. It is as simple as that.