Don’t skip leg day! Men who skip leg day at the gym are missing out on major benefits of building and maintaining strong, toned legs. These benefits include bigger muscles all over your body, reduced risk of injury, greater balance and more lean muscle mass overall. If you are looking to get more from your workout, don’t skip leg day! Here are three reasons why skipping leg day can be harmful to your health and fitness goals.
Having strong legs makes everything easier
weight loss, becoming more attractive, and getting an all-around better looking body. Weak legs don’t look good in shorts or any other type of pants, so not having strong legs can leave your lower half seeming disproportionate. We’re certainly not saying leg day is easy (because it definitely isn’t), but it does pay off in spades. As for why guys skip leg day: we probably don’t have to tell you there are much easier ways to spend your time than pumping some iron at the gym – video games, watching TV and eating junk food spring to mind as much easier ways to kill a few hours.
Women love well-muscled legs
It’s true—and men like them, too. I don’t know what it is about muscular legs that make us all salivate, but there’s something about a guy who can bulk up his lower body with squats and calf raises that really turns women on. It’s not only beneficial for your dating life, though; having strong legs also helps improve your overall health by boosting your strength and stability. Plus, working out one of your body’s most visible muscle groups will make you feel good! So if you have weak quads or calves because you skip leg day regularly, now might be the time to rethink things—especially since these six tips will help give your ass a serious boost.
No matter what sport you play, you can benefit from stronger legs
Football players can run faster, basketball players can jump higher, baseball players can throw harder. No matter your chosen sport, muscles in your lower body help power everything you do. At first glance, it may seem like guys are doing themselves a favor by skipping leg day at the gym—until they’re slamming into defenders on game day and just can’t move as quickly or make that explosive leap to block that last-second shot. When it comes to building muscle, don’t be afraid of bulking up. Focus on resistance training exercises that use multiple muscle groups and incorporate compound movements like squats and deadlifts. Also remember: You don’t have to go to extremes.
No matter how much muscle mass you have, it’s hard to look big if your legs are skinny
It doesn’t matter how massive your upper body looks if you’ve got twigs for legs. You may not see it right away, but when someone wears shorts or short-sleeved shirts, their arms are exposed and will draw attention to your legs in turn. A big set of guns paired with skinny legs gives off an unbalanced look that only draws attention to your shortcomings: nobody’s going to be looking at your chest when you’ve got skinnier legs than an underweight child.
It’s cheaper than you think!
Building muscle not only increases your strength and endurance, but it will also help you burn fat and lose weight. Why? The more muscle you have, and thus stronger you are, the faster your body will be able to get through daily activities; boosting metabolism in turn. Not to mention, men with more muscle are viewed as both healthier and more attractive by women. All that from skipping one day of leg day? Yes please!
How to get started with strength training for runners
Runners, like most athletes, love to train. A lot. Most runners spend hours and hours and hours at it! So if you’re already devoting so much time to your sport—and enjoying it (we hope!)—why add more? That’s often what makes strength training for runners such a tough sell. The activities and workouts many of us enjoy are plenty challenging on their own; add another thing to do, on top of all that running, and some people may feel they’re out of their league. They worry they don’t have time to fit in additional workouts or might be afraid lifting weights will mess up their technique or cause injuries.