Today after my training, I was talking with a guy in the locker room who complained to do the legs today. I motivated him because it’s important to train your legs but even me, I confess, sometimes I didn’t want to train legs and I force myself a little.
Why we don’t like train legs ?
I started to think and I think I have some ideas on the subject but perhaps you have some better reasons ? Anyway here is what I found.
Risk of injury
Many people are afraid to hurt legs, especially with the squat. The pressure on knees and back, that makes scare . Stop scare, it’s like for each exercise you taught, you lift light and you learn the technique. Looking for the strongest guy in the gym in squat and you ask him to help you during your sets, you will see it’s easier than you might think (warning : not Smith machine because the movement isn’t natural).
Squat
Squat is hard. It’s the best exercise for legs and it takes a lot of physical effort (not just the legs). But once you have understood the technique (warning not with Smith Machine), it’s cool and it’s the only exercise where you can quickly lift more than your bodyweight. Once it gets too easy, you increase weights to continue your progress, it’s simple.
It takes time to recover
It’s clear after squat, deadlift, lunges, you feel pain after several days. Walking Up / down stairs, sit down / stand up. It’s hard, sometimes you holds to the wall, it seems to be 100 years old.
Slow results
When you start and you got skinny / thin legs, it takes time to see muscles grow. I was really happy to see for the first time my quadriceps flex but a guy taught me something. I’ll tell you, with your naked eyes, you don’t see results, the trick is that you must measure your legs and see how many inches (centimeters) you have gained.
Sickens exercises
With your power’s legs, you can quickly lift heavy compared to other body parts. So you’re quickly on the limit and sometimes feel dizzy or you have unpleasant sensations. Personally, I threw up 2-3 times after some really heavy squat, well, in the moment it sucks but when you see how much you lifted, you’re happy. And it’s always funny to see people’s faces when you tell it (don’t worry Arnold Schwarzenegger has also threw up after the squat).
A waste of time
I’ve heard people say it’s a waste of time to train legs. Ok, in western countries, you wear pants 9 months in the year. This is the body part that people don’t look (except if you’re a girl). Because of that they focus on the upper body and as the results come faster, they continue until summer arrives and there is the DRAMA
Well I tell you everything I found, maybe you have other reasons, let’s me know.
P.S. I put beautiful pictures of people who don’t train legs day. I’m sure you have a good laugh but be warned it could be you.
-Steph