Back in the Fight: Day 25 - Leg Day Essential Fitness

GET BACK IN THE FIGHT WITH US!

START FROM THE BEGINNING – PREVIOUS DAY – NEXT DAY

I know why you don’t do leg day, and why you really should.You ever see those guys walking the beach who have a muscular upper body but his legs are super skinny? Don’t be that guy.Very few people actually like to train legs. It’s much easier to work on body parts that can be seen (like your chest and arms) because they look great in a shirt and they leave their legs alone. This results in a big upper body and tiny toothpick legs. Yeah, it seems all good and stuff until summer comes and you wear a pair of shorts.

Nobody wants the pain your legs go through when you first start training. Since legs are such huge muscles, the amount of lactic acid that accumulates in them is so much more than in other muscles, hence making them hurt bad... really bad. Most people don’t want to go through that pain.Many people just don’t want to train legs because it’s hard. It takes a lot of energy to work half of your body in one work session. It burns a ton of calories and can zap you for days. Plus, after you train them, you are still using them. When it comes down to it, training legs is physically and mentally demanding.People make excuses to not train their legs. “I use my legs for cardio”, “my legs are big already”,” Nobody will notice.” Whatever the excuse is, not training your legs is a huge mistake in overall physic and strength training. Here are some tips on why you should train your legs.

There is always a machine available.

(Just use them properly, please.)

Simple enough, but when you go into a packed gym, you will notice they are working every other body part but legs. This means that there are seldom people on the machine you would like to use (except that one guy who keeps doing curls in the squat cage).

It will increase Growth Hormone and Testosterone.

(You know what that means.)

Yup, that’s right, training your legs will not only help with human cell production, it will improve your sex life. Trust me, there are studies on this, and since your legs are your biggest muscle group, they increase your caloric burn (which means burns more calories during the workout and while resting).

Training legs will actually make your upper body bigger.

(Can't lift that with scrawny arms.)

Exercises like Squats and Deadlifts work your whole body, not just the legs. This will also help you be more proportional. Besides just the fact that you don’t want to look weird by having a big upper body with chicken legs. Want your upper body to get bigger? Train your legs, your body will only let your upper body become a certain size before it knows that it’s too big for your lower body. Train your legs and your body will realize that it can now get bigger because your legs can handle it.

Improves your cardio.

Have you ever noticed some people just use cardio machines and do not have the legs of an athlete? That’s because they do not strength train them. See cardio and endurance training only works a certain part of your muscle tissue. By strength training your legs, you are working that fast twitch muscles, the ones that really grow to help you develop the kind of speed and strength you need to go the distance.

Want abs and a nice butt?

When you train legs it actually tightens all these muscles as well. Lunges, Squats and Deadlifts are excellent for creating abs. Male or Female, everyone wants a better butt. Men, you might have a great chest and biceps, but women do like a man with a nice butt. For the Women, especially if you have children, will want to train their legs as child birth often produces butt sag. If you don’t have a butt, the only way you can get one is by doing squats and other leg exercises.

It will help you be a better athlete overall.

For every sport, lower body strength is extremely important. Every true athlete knows the benefits of having a strong lower body. Any athlete (including weekend athletes) can become faster and more confident as it will also improve your balance. Stronger legs will help you run faster and longer.Leg Day has become one of my more favorite workout days. It basically one of those things that I love to hate. If you take the time to incorporate strength leg training I’m sure (once you make it past the pain) you will be very happy you did.

About the Author: Scott Hardesty is a retired Army Ranger that served 26 years in the US Army. Despite being rated 60% disabled by the military, he successfully lost weight and gained muscle in just 10 months through hard work and dedication. He founded Ranger Nutrition as a way to provide people with the tools they need to get – and stay – in shape, with products made in the USA.