Why You Should Not Skip Leg Day – 8 Benefits of Training Legs Frequently
Maybe you’re a newcomer to lifting weights. But already in your quest to become stronger and gain muscle mass, you hear a constant phrase, “Don’t skip leg day”. It can be easy to think ‘I walk everywhere, what do i need to train my legs for?’ Well in this blog post, we mention 8 Benefits of frequently training your legs. Some of them may surprise you.
Increased Testosterone
This fact is probably less known than it should be but will be of interest to the male reader of this post. Training legs on a regular basis can actually contribute to boosting the amount of testosterone and growth hormones produced by the body. For those looking to increase their size quickly, high levels of testosterone are highly beneficial. Exercises such as the Deadlift and Squat are key exercises to stimulate the growth of natural testosterone levels.
Increased Strength
Training Legs frequently will not only build the strength of the biggest muscles in your body, but also within your core. This will result in improvements in the ease of most natural movements because with most movements, the lower body or core is utilised. So, in theory, doing a few extra sets of leg exercises each week could help to improve your ability on the bench press.
Aesthetics
Another benefit of maintaining the condition of your legs is the fact that it will give your body more symmetry. Your legs will be a proportionate size to the rest of your body. Of course, this benefit is more superficial than the others in this list. Although, we all know someone who supposedly works-out often but still gets called chicken legs. Don’t be that guy.
Increased Balance
This leads us nicely onto the next point, which is improved balance. Leg exercises such as deadlifts and lunges are the perfect exercises for improving the stability of an individual. When performing heavy lift exercises such as these; your legs, core and any other supporting muscles are worked in the same movement. Here lays the key to ensuring all muscles are activated and remain conditioned.
Mental Strength
It is no secret that a leg session is often considered one of the most challenging sets of muscles to train. These sessions can leave you feeling drained, light headed and sometimes quite sick. The reason for this has a lot to do with the fact that the leg muscles (including glutes) are the largest in the body and therefore take up a lot of energy to train. With all this in mind, it can sometimes take a high level of mental strength to persist with training legs on a regular basis. Taking on this challenge can leave you in a better mental position to overcome other obstacles that life may present.
You Get Some Cardio
Its not unusual for experienced gym goers to detest most forms of cardio. Some people find endless running on a treadmill quite boring and tedious, if you are one of them, a good leg session could be a good substitute. A lot of the exercises required to build muscle mass in legs are actually compound exercises. This means that a number of muscle groups work in tandem to complete the movement. As you can expect, Compound exercises such as dead lifts and squats require the body to expel more energy and are therefore a great way to increase your heart rate. In fact, a good lower body session can often burn more calories that running alone.
Better Running Performance
This point is probably the least surprising on the list but well worth noting nonetheless. By consistently training your legs, you are almost certainly going to see an improvement in your running ability. Not only will your legs be able to produce more power but the improvements in your core will also improve balance. This will be beneficial for most sports as the lower body is the home of power and strength. In addition, the cardiovascular benefit mentioned earlier will also contribute to ensuring you have a lot more stamina.
Can Help You to Lose More Weight
Okay so as we know, it takes more effort to train your legs. Arguably more than all other muscle groups, due to the size of them. Although even the after burn effect experienced after your workout will be increased. This allows you to lose weight well after the session has ended. Leg workouts can also be an effective way of speeding up your metabolism. Therefore any calories that are taken into the body are burnt at a more frequent pace.
And there you have it. Hopefully any doubts you had about giving 100% effort when it comes to your lower half have been addressed. If you are interested in some effective leg exercises, check out or social media pages. We release a new workout every week so that will be a great way for you to get started.
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