Are you someone who thinks, leg day … no way?
Often guys prefer to train their upper body and leave most leg exercises to the girls. These guys are missing out. And not just on the opportunity to get gains, but also many other positive effects leg day can have on their health and overall physical fitness. Here are 4 reasons to never skip leg day:
1. It helps you build more muscle
By training large muscle groups such as your legs and butt, your body releases more hormones than it would training small muscle groups. This creates a better precondition in terms of hormones that are required to trigger muscle growth. What we’re trying to say here is, training your legs will basically help you build more muscle overall.
2. Leg day boosts your metabolism…
Sounds strange, but working these large muscles in your lower body, burns more calories. This is due to the fact that big muscle groups have more cells that have to be fueled. In order to be properly supplied with oxygen, your heart rate and breath will also increase. With this, your engine – namely your heart – will be trained as well. Resulting in a constant improvement of your metabolism.
3. …and improves overall athletic performance
A lot of strength, speed and stability required for almost every movement, comes from your legs. Whether it’s doing burpees, holding the tension during a plank or performing pushups and pullups, strong legs always play an important role. Also, training your legs will protect you from many potential injuries, especially in the knees and hips. Muscles keep your joints in a good position and release pressure from them, therefore the stronger your legs are, the less pressure on your joints.
4. Leg day works more than just your legs
Many secondary muscles are engaged when you do leg training. For example, “leg exercises” like squats, lunges or sprints, also engage your core, namely abs and lower back muscles. By keeping your upper body in a good position whilst performing these exercises, not only do your legs get stronger but your abs and lower back will also profit from it. And if those weren’t enough reasons to start taking leg day seriously, these exercises also have a positive impact on your posture – just as a side note.