I hope by now your bored of hearing this... DON'T SKIP LEG DAY! I might be alone here but I LOVE leg day! If I do my job right, you will too by the end of this weeks article. I don't love split-squats any more than you & I definitely don't have huge legs, however one thing that spurs me on is the well researched benefits of resistance training your legs on the growth of every other muscle in your body. that's right, stronger legs really can mean bigger arms, pecs, abs, everything! Don't worry I wouldn't believe me either, so I've attached some examples from stupidly smart people to explain it better for you.
The first thing to understand is that the legs are by far the biggest muscle group in your body, they're also the most used muscle group & the strongest relative to size (apart from the jaw). Therefore when we weight train the legs, the body has to realy prime itself to repair them, more so than any other body part. This results in a release of both testosterone & human growth hormone from the gonads & pituitary gland. But here's the catch, those hormone affect the whole body, not just the legs. So when you then go to train your chest you have a higher amount of these hormones pumping around your body, just waiting for a chance to grow your muscles. This only happens with the legs, you won't see the same increase when training without leg day, which the National Centre for Biotech found out in the following study:
This study uses sexy words to show us that those training their legs with weights saw an increase in there bench press, arm strength & even fat loss, far superior to the group who didn't train their legs using weight.
This does all make evolutionary sense if you think about it; you stimulate the muscle groups we rely on to hold our bodyweight, walk, run, stand up etc. & the body gives them more resources for growth than if you train those biceps which you rely on more for the less important (evolutionarily talking) teeth brushing, computer using, beer drinking endeavours. It also adds up just from a size standpoint. The legs have more muscle fibres than any other muscle group by some margin, more fibres to work & repair means more feul (calories) is needed. This results in a higher metabolism &, so long as you don't over eat, more fat burnt. This extra size usually means a higher insuline sensitivity in those who weight train their legs. In layman's terms, this means your body can process carbs much better, resulting in less of them being stored as fat.
Leg strength also gives greater stability & body function, which results in more confidence in most cases. You want to get that 50KG military press you've been working towards? That leg & core stability from last weeks squats will undeniably fast track you there. 100KG bench press? The posterior chain work & anchoring from your RDL's will be the extra help to achieve it.
This is particularly true for those over 50 whose balance & natural muscle mass will be rapidly decreasing. A strong lower body will give you the support to feel good, avoid injury & play with the grandkids. This controlled study from the 'National Institute of Health' of adults over 50 shows a direct correlation between those with stronger legs & those who fend off common later-life diseases which affect everyday body function:
We haven't even touched on the more commonly known benefits of leg day (joint health, bone density, core, aesthetics etc.), but the takeaway... to cheat the system & fast-track your gains get squatting!
'Jeff Nippard' is a great place to start on youtube if you aren't too experienced, or just message us & we'd always love to help you out. If you want to take it a step further, reach out to chat through working with one of our coaches to achieve your goals. Find some more articles below to broaden your fitness, nutrition & wellbeing knowledge!
Elliot Hutchinson // 04.08.2024
© 2024 The Coaching Collective
Comments