If you’re interested in fitness, you’ve probably heard a few jokes about “jump leg day.”
If you’ve ever wondered why people avoid training their lower body, I have the answer for you.
Better yet, I’ll tell you what happens when you don’t skip leg day at the gym.
Why people skip leg workouts
Of course, not everyone who jokes about skipping a leg actually does it, but some people do.
People skip leg workouts for two main reasons:
1. Leg workouts can be tough.
2. Movies, magazines, and social media have long prioritized “visible muscles” over lower body muscles, like the chest and arms.
So, are leg workouts harder? It’s possible, mainly because almost everyone can move more weight with their legs than with their arms. And when you train your legs, you often end up using multiple body parts at the same time.
Compare a seated dumbbell biceps curl to a dumbbell back squat. Someone can curl 20-40 kg using only the biceps and a few shoulder and forearm muscles. This is called an “isolation exercise,” and there’s nothing wrong with that if you just want to focus on the biceps during this exercise.
But in a barbell back squat, a person can move 100 kg. The calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes are all involved, but so are all the core muscles, and many great lifters even contract their upper body muscles during a squat to provide the best support possible for a squat. heavy bar. This is an example of a “compound exercise,” and these moves pack a punch!
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t create challenging upper body workouts. You can. But leg workouts tend to require a little extra effort.
Aesthetically, many people want big arms and huge chests, so they work their upper body more than their legs. There’s nothing wrong with this if your goal is only to have big upper body muscles, but most of our clients who have aesthetic goals actually prefer a more balanced look.
What Happens When You Don’t Skip Leg Day
If you spend 90 percent of your time working 50 percent of your body, you can create significant imbalances that don’t translate into athletic performance or daily function.
Again, if your only goal is a monster chest, we can help you build it.
But most of our clients are interested in weight loss, fat loss, functional fitness, sports performance, pain-free movement and greater total body strength.
If you have any of these goals, it’s best not to skip leg day, although I will be sure to point out that we can absolutely help someone with a lower body injury achieve their goals without leg training.
But if someone can work their lower body, it has many benefits. Large leg muscles use a lot of fuel, so working them is ideal for losing weight and fat.
Almost all sports use the legs, so strong, powerful shafts always improve success on the field or court.
In everyday life, the legs are always active, so training them makes everything easier. If you need two examples, imagine carrying heavy bags of groceries up a flight of stairs or picking up a small child from the floor.
Training the leg muscles also prevents imbalances. Imagine if an elderly person has strong arms but weak legs. In this scenario, it is much more likely that the person will experience lower body pain because the muscles that support these joints are too weak.
Finally, people who have aesthetic goals often seek an overall more muscular appearance. In fact, the best bodybuilders train their legs hard to achieve a “balanced” look.
We can help you achieve any goal
Now you know why some people skip leg day.
Our advice: Train your legs regularly unless you have a very specific reason to avoid it, such as an injury or a very narrow focus on one aspect of fitness.
How often should you work your legs? Twice a week is a general starting point.
Remember, whatever you’re looking to accomplish at the gym, we can help. We will meet with you, answer your questions and provide you with a detailed plan to help you achieve your goals.
In almost all cases, your plan will involve leg training. But if an injury doesn’t allow you to train your legs, we can adapt the program to suit you.
Our class schedule ensures that you will train every part of the body, maximizing the hour you spend with us! Sign up for a free trial class here.