Leg Day. The most dreaded day in the gym right? Well it doesn’t have to be, as a matter of fact I love leg day.
It really does separate the men from the boys, lol. Whether you grow to love leg day, already do, or never will, you definitely should make it a priority. Not only will it help you from falling over on a windy day from being top heavy, but it’ll help release extra amounts of natural growth hormone. Causing you to burn more body fat and build more lean muscle. That’s right, symmetry and an added bonus! Building your legs also helps your upper body develop as well. So since I’ve told you the benefits to make it more of a necessity not to skip leg day (not to mention the constant ridicule on social media) lets break down the best way to work them.
Your legs are hands down your strongest muscles in your body. They are capable of pushing more weight and for more reps than you do, or maybe even realize. That’s because it’s so challenging for you mind to tell your body to work that hard but your legs definitely have the power and strength to do so. I’ve done many routines for legs and obviously you have to build up experience to get the most out of certain routines, but as of now I get the best results from splitting up my legs. That’s right, two leg days in one week! Quads one day, and Hamstrings another. I usually try to have 1-2 days in between the separate leg days, and focus on exercises that hit the part of the leg I’m striving for that day. It’s given me better lines, separation, size and strength in all aspects. I do extensions, presses, squats, and forms of machine squats (hack squat, super squat, etc.) on quad day. On hamstring day I do lunges, stiff leg deadlifts, deadlifts, hamstring curls,and Jefferson’s.
Now I use to be the “set master” on legs, but I get much more out of heavy, heavy volume. So I’ll do less sets and/or exercises, but pound out far more reps. I really focus on the mind muscle connection, and can feel a huge difference. Now don’t jump the gun, just because I’m doing high rep sets doesn’t mean I’m doing light weight! Actually on some lifts, I’m doing even more weight! Such as 25 plates on the leg press for sets of 15-20. Man does it burn but I feel it so much better and my knees and back don’t ache like they use to when id do 6 rep sets. You really have to go as hard and as heavy as you can and force yourself to get 5 more reps out of your comfort zone, and you will feel your legs grow and engulf with a wicked pump.
Training like this also makes it more beneficial splitting your legs up, because you will be so worn out you won’t be able to get a proper workout with the latter (which ever part you do second). Work up to adding an additional leg day and training this hard, you can’t start off this way your first week in the gym to say the least. But once your experienced enough and ready, its really the best way to go. Again go as heavy and as hard as you can without sacrificing range or form, and push yourself to get 5 more. You shouldn’t need a spot most of the time.
So go out a stop skipping leg day! If you are going to skip a day, skip arms because they get used and worked on with every upper body day!
You can’t flex fat, so get out there and lift.
