You hurt Your Body if You Skip This Day
I discussed some female physique concerns the other day. For guys, I have previously discussed some key aspects and exercises to turning those itty-bitty biceps into big, blasting cannons. Today, I’d like to be real with you all. There’s something that many of us see on a daily basis, many of us point out, and many of us are doing. Personally, I understand people doing this, however couldn’t fathom doing it myself, at least on a reoccurring basis. And frankly, trying to cover it up doesn’t help either. We all know that by wearing longer shorts you’re trying to hide and cover up those chicken legs. I’m not trying to make the stereotype, and don’t get me wrong, I know not everyone does this, however it’s easy to spot those who do.
Don’t skip leg day!
At best, it’s a classic case of not working your lower body at all. You’ll grow old with a larger, sculpted upper body; meanwhile your legs will have a hard time supporting the swole upper body you’ve gained. Your pants won’t stay on your hips because you won’t have a butt to hold them up. You’ll forever be destined to wear long shorts or pants for the rest of your life. Ok, ok, maybe that last one was a bit over the top, but you get my point. So…how do you remedy this?
Don’t skip leg day!
Beyond the obvious of developing stronger, sculpted tree trunks to walk around on; working your legs has other great benefits:
Burn more calories – Simply put, the larger the muscle group you exercise, the more calories you will burn. Given that the glutes are the largest muscle group in the body, you’ll burn the most calories by working them.
Increase your gains – By working muscle groups, specifically larger muscle groups, your body releases many different hormones; specifically growth hormone (Somatotropin). What does it do? I’ll give you a hint, it doesn’t help you gain a lot of fat and turn into a cow. It helps your muscles grow. The benefit? This is not a localized response. In short, it helps ALL of your muscles grow.
Work your abs – Generally all complex (multi-joint) leg movements work your core/torso. You will gain great strength and stability in your core by doing complex leg exercises, specifically those not on machines.
Eat more – Training legs will increase your lean body mass (LBM), which increases your metabolism or basal metabolic rate (BMR)- this is the amount of calories burned while NOT doing any movements. Meaning, you burn more calories throughout the day and thus can eat more in order to sustain this LBM and even more to increase your LBM.
Get more attractive looks – Plain and simple…Who wouldn’t want more people admiring their figure, in this case their butt?
*I generally don’t focus on appearance as a strong pro for something. I like to promote the health benefit of achieving a healthier life as the primary motivator, especially in the long term.
I have always been a huge advocate of training legs. Honestly, I used to be in the opposite boat. I would always do leg training, with some supplementary/secondary upper body training. I did this because I competed in obstacle course racing (OCR) and would place well (podium) in the races that I did. Only needing strong legs and exceptional cardio and endurance, I would do minimal upper body strength training. Unless you are in a similar boat as I used to be, training for a specific sport or activity, a healthy, well-balanced workout includes LEG day. If you need some additional help in what exercises to do for leg day or an individual workout regiment, please email us at becomestressless@gmail.com
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