If you are a regular gym-goer, you know that the most common conversation topic is “leg day”. It’s as if we all have to justify why we don’t do it. I get lots of questions about this, so thought I would put something together for my blog. Here are 10 great reasons not to skip leg day!
No-one Will Call You Chicken Legs!
We all know someone who’s got chicken legs, getting called chicken legs is not fun. Don’t be like one of them. Start working them legs out before someone calls you chicken legs!
You'll Build Muscle In your Legs and Butt
The muscles in your legs and butt will get toned. That means your butt will look better in jeans and yoga pants! Also your calves will look amazing.
Your Back Will Thank You For The Extra Support
Strengthening up your legs will also strengthen your core muscles. Your core muscles are vital muscles that help decrease back injuries. So by not skipping leg day, you’ll have stronger core muscles to support your back while lifting heavy things.
You'll Have More Energy To Do Other Activities With Ease
Having stronger legs, means you’ll be able to perform daily activities much easier. For example, mowing the lawn will be a lot easier when your legs are stronger. Also, having stronger legs will benefit those whose work require them to constantly lift heavy things.
You'll Improve Your Balance And Stability
By not skipping leg day, your balance and stability will improve. Greater balance and stability means that you’ll less likely to fall and hurt yourself. Did you know according to the CDC, each year 3 million older people are treated for fall injuries.
It's Good For Your Mental Health
If you didn’t know any exercise activity helps with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our legs contain large muscles, which helps with our metabolism. According to experts in recent studies, intense exercise increases cortisol for a short period post exercise, but then cortisol levels will later decrease.
It'll Help Prevent Injuries To The Lower Extremities
This goes back to number 5. Having stronger muscles around your knees and ankles means less injuries.
Have you ever rolled an ankle before? If not, it hurts a lot. When you start working out your legs, not only you’ll help yourself prevent rolling your ankles, but also when you do roll your ankles, the recovery won’t be as long.
It'll Help You Lose Weight
If you’re looking to lose weight, it can be an effective tool for burning calories at a faster rate than cardio workouts alone.
Building stronger muscles is one of the best ways to burn fat without losing any muscle mass (or even gain some) while still getting that calorie-burning effect we all want! Plus, it makes everyday tasks easier on joints by decreasing pressure on them over time as they get stronger through resistance training exercises like squats or lunges!
Leg Day Is Where The Magic Happens
Squats make everything else easier by building up those glutes so they can support your body weight while doing other exercises like deadlifts or lunges; it also strengthens hamstrings which help stabilize hips during other movements like running or biking; finally, strong calves keep ankles from rolling inward when we walk or stand on uneven surfaces- this is called pronation and it can lead to ankle sprains if not corrected with regular strength training.
It's A Confidence Builder
Not only you’ll start shedding more fat, but you’ll start to notice that your clothes are starting to fit better. Once you start noticing small changes, your confidence will sky rocket. It’ll give you a sense of a better quality of life. You’ll Be Happier!
It’ll keep rolling too! It’ll motivate you to go the gym even more often.
Tips For Leg Day
Here’s some tips you can use to get through leg day!
Tip Number 1: Start out slow, don’t go all out on your first exercise set. Make sure you’re fully warmed up before performing a high intensity/volume exercise.
Tips Number 2: Grab a friend! I know that leg days can be a drag sometime, so grab a friend to find some of that motivation.
Tip Number 3: Last but not least, JUST DO IT! If you find yourself procrastinating and trying to find an excuse not to do legs, just get up, take your pre-workout and head to the gym. Sometimes telling your self to just do it is all it takes.
