Don’t Miss Out on the Great Benefits of Leg Day

If there is one day that most people dread at the gym, it is leg day. Often, people tend to skip training their legs in favor of other parts such as the arms or chest. However, there are many benefits of leg day which means that you should absolutely not skip your leg training. To get you motivated to train legs, here are the reasons why leg training day is so important.

What Are the Benefits of Leg Day?

Work Out Your Entire Body

While the arms, chest and shoulders seem to reign supreme in the gym in terms of aesthetics and perceived strength, skipping leg day means that you can create a muscle imbalance in your body. Your upper body will be more toned and stronger than your lower body, which is not what you want.

You want an overall, proportionate figure that is in symmetry. Not only is that better for your body on the inside, it also makes for better aesthetics.

So don’t skimp out on the legs and make sure you evenly workout your entire body.

Reduce Injury Risk

The benefits of leg day also extend beyond appearance. It assists in reducing injury risk. This is because you are training and strengthening your lower body, which can help you across all other sports and activities, even just walking and running.

By incorporating functional leg strengthening exercises, you will be able to work on your hamstrings, quadriceps, and even hip flexors. These are all muscles that you use in your everyday life, so by working on them, you increase stability and endurance.

Leg training is especially important if you play other sports in minimizing injury. Runners, for example, can prevent runner’s knee by incorporating lower body strength training into their routine. So ensuring that you remain in optimal health is always a good reason to do something, like training your legs.

Burn More Calories

Your lower body holds the largest muscle in the body, which is your gluteus maximus. By training this area more, your body will work harder, meaning that you will be burning more calories.

Your metabolism will also increase. This is because the body will require more calories to repair the muscles in this area than it would for the smaller muscle groups.

Improve Your Lifts

Legs are such an important part of your body, especially in terms of lifting and sports. The benefits of leg day mean that you will be able to actually improve other areas of your workout, even if it doesn’t seem like it.

For example, the bench press uses your legs as well. Your legs play a vital role in the bench in providing support and stability, so by working on your lower body, you will be improving your other important lifts.

Help with Other Sports

Not only is training your legs beneficial for gym movements but it is also advantageous for other sports. You get your source of power from your legs and training them means you can increase explosive leg power and balance.

Just think about how much work your legs do when it comes to running and cycling. If you think about it – you really do use your legs a lot and by working on this area, you can really improve your athleticism, speed and endurance.

Work Other Parts of the Body Simultaneously

When we talk about the benefits of leg day, one thing to remember is that it is not just your legs that are going to benefit. In fact, when you work out your legs, you also train other parts of your body as secondary focuses.

Take the squat for example. When you squat, you should also be engaging your core, giving you a good ab workout. When you deadlift properly, you should be working your chest as well.

So if you are thinking about skipping leg day, just remember you will be missing out on more than just leg training.

What Leg Exercises Should You Do?

So now that you know what the benefits of leg day are, what exercises work best? Compound movements are those that engage more than one muscle group. By using two or more different joints, you really get a good workout that forces muscles to work together.

For leg day, focus on compound movements like the squat, deadlift and leg press. Lunges are also a great move that works the hamstrings, glutes and quads.

It is also a good idea to go heavier (but remember to do fewer reps) to really encourage muscle growth throughout the body.

Jefit is a gym workout app that helps all gym goers and athletes keep on track with their fitness goals. Not only does it you the ability to update and share your workout log with the supportive community, it has the largest exercise library. It comes free workout routines to help mix up your training, with many lower body exercises so you can reap the benefits of leg day.

Do you agree with these benefits of leg day? What are some of your favorite leg exercises? Leave us a comment below, we would love to know!