Updated April 2024
If you’re a newbie to the gym or a casual gym-goer, you may hear the phrase “don’t skip leg day” from your fellow members and online videos. Working out your legs is just as important as other body parts and cardiovascular training but so many people dismiss this idea! For those who use a treadmill, elliptical trainer and other machines that require the use of your legs, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to strengthen your legs even further.
In this beginner’s guide, we outline the top five reasons you should incorporate strength training for your legs in a workout routine and the benefits of leg day.
Contents:
- Burns more calories
- Strengthens and builds muscle
- Improves cardiovascular performance
- Helps correct muscle imbalances
- Builds core strength
- Why you shouldn’t skip leg day
- Other benefits of training legs
Benefits of Leg Day
Let’s look into the five main benefits of working out your legs as part of your fitness routine:
1. Burns more calories
Some of the largest muscles in the human body are in your legs, including your gluteus maximus (bum), quadriceps and hamstrings. Studies show that the larger the muscle is, the more blood is needed to get oxygen and fuel to the muscle during exercise, which will result in more calories being burnt.
Leg muscles are also located further from your heart than the muscles in your upper body, therefore the heart must work more to get blood sent to them. This too leads to burning off more calories when you are strength training your legs on a regular basis.
2. Strengthens and builds muscle
Resistance training naturally builds and strengthens muscle – that’s bodybuilding 101.
If you’re looking to get stronger and bigger legs, compound movements and exercises such as Romanian Deadlifts are absolutely the way to go. Not only does it incorporate explosive movements from your leg muscles, but it also recruits fast and slow twitch muscle fibres from elsewhere in the body. According to a recent study, you continually cause mechanical and metabolic damage to your muscle fibres when performing compound lifts, which release all sorts of responders in the brain and body – this is why you end up building more muscle in your legs.
3. Improves cardiovascular performance
Cardiovascular health is described as the function of both your heart and lungs and how well they perform when under pressure. So, not only is having a good cardiovascular system important for day-to-day tasks, but it can also help you with other areas of resistance training too.
A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology tracked energy expenditure and metabolism after a series of heavy resistance moves that included the use of the participant’s legs. The results indicated that after 90 minutes of training legs (including compound lifts such as squats and deadlifts), participants’ metabolic rates (the amount of energy expended) elevated sharply and continued to do so for several hours after. This essentially means the heart was pumping rapidly and over time led to an increase in cardiovascular performance.
4. Helps correct muscle imbalances
Incorporating exercises and machines that require the use of both legs at the same time can lead to muscle imbalances over time. Training each leg individually will help to align your body and correct muscular imbalances in your legs because they require you to use both legs equally. Working individual legs ensures your dominant leg isn’t overcompensating for your non-dominant side in terms of strength, mobility, or flexibility.
Great exercises for correcting leg imbalances:
- Leg extension
- Lying leg curl
- Walking lunges
5. Builds core strength
One of the optimal ways to build a lean and powerful core faster, is to find ways to incorporate your core in other exercises throughout the course of your training programme – that way, even when you’re targeting your hamstrings, you’ll still feel it in your abdominals and obliques.
Building a solid core will not only help you with your gym performance, but it will also help in everyday life. Sitting a desk for large amounts of time requires a relatively straight back and you guessed it, a strong core will help achieve this!
Reasons why you shouldn’t skip leg day
Leg workouts and leg exercises are crucial aspects of a balanced, whole-body fitness routine that builds strength, speed, and stability. It’s important to stay consistent when training your legs because these large muscles are an integral part of your overall fitness. Plus, it’s easier for your body to adapt to the gym workouts and develop good habits that will help you to meet your fitness goals.
Whilst you shouldn’t skip leg day (you’ll look rather imbalanced), you should avoid overtraining your legs as this can cause more harm than good!
Other benefits of leg day workouts
- Tones and sculpts legs
- Improves overall fitness
- Reduces joint pain and inflammation
- Boosts cognitive function
- Strengthens bones
We have a range of facilities at Bicester Gym to suit a variety of workout goals (yes, legs included!). Our facilities include our High Performance Gym or our Health Club which is excellent for beginners. If you would like to take a look at the range of facilities we have to offer at Bicester Health Club, then feel free to contact us today, and one of our friendly members can arrange to give you a full tour and discuss your goals and needs.
