Why You Should Never Skip Leg Day
2nd May 19
Weight training is gaining in popularity across the board and pretty consistently too. More and more people are beginning to use it to reach their fitness goals, no matter what these goals may be. When it comes to training to build strength and muscle, many people have the awful and very unwise tendency to skip out leg day. It makes no sense, and there’s no real reason behind it, either. In fact, it’s hugely detrimental to your progress.
There are a lot of different reasons for why it’s happening, and even more as to why it shouldn’t be. Here, we’re looking over what important factors leg day has and how it impacts your training both in the long and the short term.
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Muscle Size
First, we must look at the sheer size of the leg muscles. They are some of the biggest muscles in the body, and they need to be trained like it. They have so much potential in terms of their strength that not using them is almost wasteful. You can reach new heights in your training if you just add a few compound leg exercises in there, and they can help your performance in other areas too. Squats and deadlifts are two of the biggest strength exercises out there.
Impact on Upper Body Growth
This is one of the lesser-known benefits of leg day that you might not have even considered. It’s such a hugely important factor that goes under the radar far too often! When you’re working out muscles that are the size of those in your legs, you’re actually making a huge impact on the rest of your body, too, including the upper body! When you’re using these muscles, you’re releasing much more growth hormone, which stimulates muscles all over your body and will ultimately help your progress in other places too. So even if you don’t like leg day, do it for the upper body benefits!
Performance Boosters
Another important part that your legs play in your fitness training is your performance ability. You use your legs a lot more than you give them credit for in the grand scheme of things. Whether you’re powerlifting or you’re playing a sport, the ability of your legs is vital to a good performance. You need to keep them at the top of their game if you stand a chance at being at the top of yours, no matter what you’re doing. No weakness is a good weakness, especially when it’s the size of your legs!
Injury Prevention
Chances are if you are willing to skip leg day, you are putting yourself at a greater risk of an injury too. Your legs are often the stabilisers or even a power source for a huge number of exercises and activities, even without you realising it. If you’re undertraining them, it makes things very easy for you to put yourself in a dangerous situation. Training your legs means you’re giving yourself the best chance at keeping safe and not risking an injury, both in and out of your exercise.
Training Imbalances
Finally, it’s a good idea to look at training imbalances in general. There are multiple disadvantages, both in terms of muscle sizes across your body and performance issues. It just makes sense to have everything in its prime. Forgetting about any muscle group is a bad idea, and it will let you down in the long run in some way at some time.
Overall, there’s really no reason for you to be skipping leg day. It’s a great way to build up your lower body and back strength, and it’s vital for your training progress. The leg muscles have so much potential, and the number of muscles in your legs is huge. Even if you don’t enjoy it, or you don’t see the point in training them, there is worth in doing so. Push through it. It could even be your next favourite thing!
Before beginning any exercise or nutrition program, consult your physician, doctor or other professional. This is especially important for individuals over the age of 35 or persons with pre-existing health problems. Exercise.co.uk assumes no responsibility for personal injury or property damage sustained using our advice.
If you experience dizziness, nausea, chest pain, or any other abnormal symptoms, stop the workout at once and consult a physician or doctor immediately.
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