Don't skip leg day.
Why Lower-Body Training Is Non-Negotiable
Your legs are the largest muscle groups in your body. And when you’re not training legs, you are not getting the benefits of testosterone boosts.
Also, your brain is heavily reliant on movement to function optimally.
Your legs are basically the foundation of human movement…
They are responsible for your ability to move, for bipedal. So not just walking, but running, lunging, squatting, bending over, picking up your kids, playing sport or being able to pick up a golf ball out of the hole when you’re 60 years old!
All these things require optimal leg strength for stability, to maintain your independence, your ability to get off the toilet, stand up from a chair, etc.
Another thing is when you train legs, it improves your insulin sensitivity.
Insulin is that hormone made by your pancreas.
When you consume carbohydrate, your body secretes this hormone called insulin. Insulin is the key that attaches to your cells that allows sugar to enter.
This allows you to burn calories. When you have more muscle mass, you don’t need as much insulin in order to do the same work. Especially if you’re training, there’s a certain amount of calorie and sugar that is burned without the use of insulin.
Another important thing about training legs is when it comes to pulses of testosterone….
I found this study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and they examine the effects of doing 6 sets of 10 reps of just squats and leg presses.
And what they found is that both, both groups had increased testosterone.
Even though both acutely increased their T levels, the squats elicited an even higher hormone response compared to the leg presses (compound lifts for the win!)
There is also a ton of other benefits training legs just name a few more.
Training legs actually improves your digestion health by increasing blood flow...
When you increase blood flow through your body, it just helps everything.
So whether it’s Squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, leg presses single leg training like Bulgarian split squats, reverse sled pushes, etc...
You should be programming most if not all those multiple days a week. You don’t have to do all of these everyday, but just getting most of those things in a couple days a week.
Personally, I’m a huge proponent of training legs twice a week so I can turn up the intensity dial and spread out the pain and volume of work.
Remember this above all else above…
You can’t be a functional human being without leg strength.
Don’t skip leg day!
Yours in Health and Fitness,
-Steve
Co-Founder of Lean Nutrition
DISCLAIMER
This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Please consult a medical professional before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol.
