Why Train Legs?!
Out of all the men and women who train on a regular basis, the large majority tend to neglect to a large extent training their legs. Some may “train†their legs but to a much lesser degree and without the same intensity as other body parts.
One of the reasons I know this to be true is because I was exactly the same way. I naturally have very small legs and not only was it more painful to train them, it took more focus, gave less of the “feel good†pump, and wasn’t something that was going to get many compliments after hitting them hard for a couple months.
It wasn’t until I started working out with my cousin, who is blessed in the legs department, that I started to see what all the hype the vets of training where talking about when it came to the importance of training them. Sure, it is much more aesthetic to have legs that are in proportion to the rest of your body, but it goes a lot further than that.
The start up of legs is the hardest part and in my opinion is probably the time that most people decide they just aren’t that interested. I would guess that most men who train in the world probably are able to bench press as much as they squat, and some can even bench as much as they leg press. When looking at only the sheer size differences of the muscle groups, this doesn’t seem to make much sense.
Speaking of size, because your legs are the largest muscle group in the body, guess what, you get to experience the largest set of benefits to go along with them. Fat burning will skyrocket on the right leg plan. There is a reason the squat has been given the nickname the “kind of all exercises†and its because it’s the one that has the most results. Increasing the size of the your lean leg mass is the fastest way to change that mass ratio for your entire body.
Legs get sore, much more so than other body parts, and unfortunately the soreness lasts for about twice as long. Also, unless you sit down all day, every step is gonna remind you that you trained them, and there where more than a couple muscle cell tears in the process. Painful, yes, reminder that they are getting bigger and stronger, of course.
I was sometimes uncomfortable in the gym when first training legs, almost a slight awkwardness of wondering if I was doing everything right. Squats, Dead-lifts, Lunges, Good-mornings, ect, are often done with improper form in the gym. They are also done the least in many gyms. I get more people looking at me doing lunges down the aisles of equipment than most other exercises, but I’ve realized that this is mostly due to the fact they’ve never tried it. Learn the right forms and stick to it. It’s tempting to stack the bar on a squat and knock some reps with partial movement, but trust me, keeping the weights down low enough to enable perfect form will get the real results. Dropping below 90 degrees on a squat will make the weight suddenly get a lot heavier.
Once your legs get used to these new exercises, they become more stable. In the first couple months, you may find your legs have a tendency to wobble during your lifts. The stabilizing muscles develop and a lot of this goes away. It will of course return on your 12th set of squats, but at this point you know your working hard!
When I started legs I hated them, now, they are my favorite group to work out. They last longer than other muscle groups, get great pumps, make me feel powerful, and definitely even you out when looking in the mirror. Besides, I’ve never heard a girl say how much she loves bird legs, but they sure do talk about a guys ass.
I used to call myself a hard gainer, but once you train legs hard, the weight will come twice as fast as it would without. Train hard!
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Originally Posted by DeFelice
