You just finished an intense chest or arms workout, and you’ve blasted your body to exhaustion. You might consider a great leg workout tomorrow or the day after, but you skip it again, once again working your upper body muscles.
Is this you? You’re not alone. Not only has COVID-19 made many more people inactive due to staying at home and sitting more, but it’s easy to swap out a leg workout for another upper-body exercise routine that provides a more excellent ‘pump’ to your muscles. A leg workout may also hurt much more the next couple of days after, reinforcing many to skip it and lift dumbbell weights again.
However, the cost/reward to skipping leg day may be more than you think. In this latest post, we detail some great benefits, as well as some great leg exercises you can do anytime you’re home.
Skipping Leg Day Exercises is a Typical Mistake
Beyond just increasing endurance and muscle mass, there are other reasons skipping leg day can be more harmful than helpful. Below are just a few ways blasting your calves, glutes, and hamstrings impact your body and fitness goals for the positive.
Engages the Core and Prevents Injury
If you also skip ab day more than you should, keep in mind that leg day can be a great way to strengthen your core and help your balance.
You are working your core with your legs; your abs are your centre, so you also reduce the risk of injury as you work out by creating better balance and stability.
Boosts Cortisol and Testosterone with a Leg Day Workout
Are you feeling stressed or under the weather more than you would like? You might be surprised to hear that leg day can help! By producing cortisol when you work your legs, this stress hormone can alleviate your stress response while increasing your ability to metabolize fat.
Also, for men looking for the elixir to youth and vitality, leg day is a great way to increase testosterone levels, helping repair muscles and immunity. With testosterone allowing for better muscle repair, you might find leg day can help enhance arm day, perhaps getting you back to lifting faster than you may expect.
Stay Proportioned
Lastly, but not least, there are some excellent reasons why you shouldn’t skip leg day, with one other being that working your entire body keeps your physique proportioned and balanced. While not as compelling as reducing your stress and enhancing your well being, sometimes being symmetrical can just be aesthetically pleasing.
Leg workouts ensure you don’t have massive biceps and skinny quads.
When Should You Skip Leg Day?
They say “no pain, no game,” but when it comes to legs (or rather any exercise), feeling too sore, tired or sick is your body telling you to take it easy. A pained body can lead to additional physical injury if you don’t rest.
A general rule is that if your symptoms are “above the neck,” a moderate workout with a shortened duration can be helpful. The endorphins may make you feel better. Just don’t overdo it!
Leg Day Workout: Critical Muscles and the Exercise to Match
When working your legs, we’ve compiled some great workouts to get you moving at home. Make sure to do a proper warm-up and stretch before you start! Also, be sure to keep your back straight and your core engaged throughout each workout to ensure stability and proper form for excellent results.
What are Quads?
Helping you to stand, walk and run, your quadriceps femoris, or quads, are your largest leg muscles, located in the upper region of your legs. You can find your quad muscles in your thigh, at the front.
Exercise: Plié Squat
This alternate version of a squat targets your abs and also helps open up your hips.
Keep your feet wider than your shoulders and feet pointed outwards at a 45-degree angle. Keep your core tight, and place your hands on your hips as you squat down. Make sure to keep your knees in line with your ankles; a great 60-second exercise that works your quads and hamstrings.
Pistol Squat
This advanced version of a squat uses only one leg at a time, allowing a more significant impact on each leg!
Hold your arms out in front of you with a narrow stance, bend down using one leg, and lift the other leg off the floor.
Did we mention this is an advanced move? A Pistol Squat is a great leg exercise where you can increase the set’s duration from 10 seconds, 15 seconds and then up to a minute, once you keep at it, and get better each time!
Glute Bridge
This elegant exercise is a great way to tone your butt while also strengthening your core and lower back.
Lie on your back with knees bent. Straighten one leg, keeping your thighs parallel to each other. Use your heels to lift your hips, squeeze your glutes, hold for 2-3 seconds, and lower your leg. Alternate several times with both legs!
Swiss Ball Hamstring Curl
One other excellent leg exercise for those with an activity ball, or swiss ball, at home.
Position the exercise ball to the front of your feet and lie down your back flat on the floor. Then, press your heels onto the top of the ball and push your hips off the floor.
Reverse the motion, and push the exercise ball away from your glutes, back to the start position.
Try this for three sets: one at 30 seconds, one at 45, and the last set at 1 minute.
What are Calves?
Your calf or calves are the muscles located to the bottom-back of your leg. You may consider your calf muscles as the powerhouse to running faster, running longer, or even jumping higher.
Calf Raise
With feet hip-width apart and hands-on-hips or behind your head (whichever helps you balance better), lift the right knee to hip level with toes pointed down.
Keep your core tight and hold your right leg in place as you lift with your left heel as high off the ground as you can and hold for three seconds, then lower.
Calf raises are a tremendous 30-second exercise that you can repeat 2-3 times. Remember to rest in-between.
Farmer’s Walk (on Tiptoes)
For this workout, it’s best to pick up a set of kettlebells or dumbbells.
On your tip-toes, walk forward as fast as you can. To ensure you don’t injure yourself, take short steps or use a lightweight. Going too fast or using a weight that is too heavy may impact balance. You can up the weight as you get stronger.
Try this workout for one minute, for 2-3 sets. Rest 30-seconds in-between, or alternate with an upper-body exercise, before continuing.
Leg Day Workouts Made Easy with HOUSEFIT
A great leg workout benefits better recovery, better stress relief, and an overall better you. It seems silly to skip leg day ever again!
Contact us at HOUSEFIT, and we can ensure a rockin’ leg routine to keep you moving as well as balanced in your overall fitness journey.
Also, for more workout inspiration, here are some of our targeted muscle group bodyweight exercises: