This has to be one of my favourite phrases, hashtags and and general training guidelines. Now, this doesn’t mean that we only work legs, but legs need to be incorporated into every workout for best overall results. Working legs can show significant results for many varied training goals. Here’s the top 5 reasons that legs can be incorporated into just about every workout:-

5) Aesthetics: Guys, the effect of having those huge arms, rounded shoulders, puffed pecs and washboard abs is greatly diminished when someone looks down and sees that your thighs are smaller than your biceps. Ladies, we all know that legs and butt are the latest “sexy” crazy and here’s the reality. Despite all the implants and injections that you can get, the only way to get a “squat booty” is to squat. So we should all get to the gym and squat/deadlift some heavy sh*t.

4) Fat/Weight Loss: People believe that cardio helps you drop pounds. The reality is that burning more calories than you eat (caloric deficit) is what will shed that fat. Your legs are one of the largest muscle groups in the body. Large muscle groups require more energy to work, so training them burns more calories than training other body parts. Here’s where training legs specifically works better than most cardio (most ppl do long, slow runs – more on that in another article): normal cardio burns calories in the moment, but lifting weights require more recovery time so you can continue to burn calories for 24-72 hours (depending on the intensity) after your workout.

3) Bigger Biceps: Training legs is very fatiguing. Norwegian scientists have studied this and found that fatiguing muscles that large increases testosterone and growth hormone production. You can utilise this by working a smaller muscle group right after training legs and you will see improved results (ladies, this is good for you too, as having some arm definition is always a plus).

2) Improved Performance: If you are into any sport, from table tennis, to martial arts, to dancing, to sprinting, to even distance running, it has been shown that having strong legs with high levels of muscular endurance will improve your performance. Think about running a marathon and not having to worry about your legs getting tired too early or being able to stop and change direction quickly in a game of lawn tennis or basketball.

1) Full Body Workout: The two major leg exercises (also the two Powerlifting lifts for legs) are squats and deadlifts. When working squats, you engage calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, core (abs and lower back), rhomboids, traps and a few smaller muscles. Deadlifts engage the same lower body muscles, core muscles and add lats, biceps and forearms to the mix. Thus, your entire body is worked. Also, research has shown that you get a better core workout from those two exercises than working core by itself (crunches and other things).

So no matter your goal, incorporating legs into every workout can improve your results in just about every aspect. It’s time to stop being afraid to work your legs and embrace that every day is, indeed, leg day.