LEGS

The Leg session is the most skipped and shunned gym session by men.  Women seem a lot happier to train their legs.  Why is this?  I think it’s because most men have significantly more muscle mass in their legs, and as such, create a more comprehensive workout effort (burning more calories) than women do.  Additionally, many men appear impatient to proceed to the more intense sessions, such as Chest and Biceps.  

In my experience, women train lighter and with higher reps – their sessions flow better and they end up with an excellent all-round physique with no imbalances.  And of course men ‘suffer’ from the issue of ‘ego-lifting’ which really is a thing, and it always has been ever since I first set foot in a gym as a naive teen.

Whatever the reasons and the psychology behind it, everyone MUST train their legs!  If you don’t do leg exercises for at least 10% of your overall weekly training effort, then you will almost certainly fall behind and ultimately fail to achieve your goals.

I tend to do lots of cycling, walking, jogging, and swimming (whenever I can), and I always fit those activities in before I go to the gym.  By the time I’m in the gym, my legs have already done a fair amount of work (mainly aerobic).  But I still need to give them some anaerobic weight training exercises about twice a week.  I always do my leg exercises close to the gym start – usually mixed in with some Pilates stretches and a few dynamic stretches.

The legs contain a large total muscle mass when you add up the glutes, quads, hams and calves.  That’s why we train legs at the start, and I always fit in some squats – the most beneficial exercises on the planet!

Remember!  Big muscles first, small muscles last. Legs first, Abs last.  So we must work the chest before the biceps and triceps, and we do the large Lat muscles (back) before the smaller and weaker lower back muscles.  Please learn these things – they are so important!