SHORTS SEASON IS OVER. CAN I SKIP LEGS DAY?
ASK MEN’S HEALTH 11/20
Though it’s always tempting to swap deadlifts for biceps curls, drop the bro science in favour of, well, actual science and you’ll quickly realise that it’s a bad idea. A true stacksman knows that, even when their ironclad quads are confined to long trousers, total fitness hinges on hard work below the belt.
“Fat loss, cardio fitness, lean mass – whatever your aim, you won’t achieve it without lower-body strength,” says personal trainer Mun Dhariwal. “For starters, legs days not only provide a chance to exercise while your upper body recovers, but they also strengthen the injury preventing stabilising muscles in your midriff and below.” Research confirms this: the University of Central Florida found that your risk of serious injury increases fivefold if you’re unable to leg press 1.7 times your bodyweight.
Even if your sole goal is to maximise mirror muscles up top, lower-body workouts are still essential. Working below your waist spikes testosterone and growth hormone levels that benefit your whole body. According to Danish research, deploying a legs day within an upper-body programme boosts biceps strength by 10%.
And if a six-pack is next on your wish list, you’d better fire up your pistons to ignite your body’s metabolism. “The route to washboard abs is from the ground up,” explains Dhariwal. “To incinerate calories and strip abs fat, you need to work your body’s largest muscle groups, and the biggest single muscle of them all is your glutes.”
But there’s more to it than squats. Introduce step-ups to your routine – they activate your glutes twice as effectively as deadlifts, according to a recent Journal of Sports Science & Medicine study.
For an added kick, carry half of your bodyweight in dumbbells, reaching at least 20 steps on each side. To finish strong and hit your 2020 body goals, you need a leg up.