Hey Total Gym men – it’s Master Trainer JayDee here with some great info and exercises about building up those legs.
I’ll admit it, I’ve never looked forward to “leg day”. I do cardio almost every day, so I feel I’m working my legs consistently already. That is how I would justify slacking off and skipping my leg day anyway! However, “using your legs” doing cardio is much, much different than “working” your legs to build strength and muscle like you do during your upper body workouts. So I have to talk myself into leg day by reminding myself of all the great benefits of properly working the lower body.
Benefits of Burning Those Legs:
Increases Metabolism
This is my favorite because one of the reasons I enjoy working out is so I can eat and drink what I want (with moderation of course). But think about it – the biggest, most powerful muscles in your body reside in your lower half – the hips, gluteals, quadriceps and hamstrings specifically. If you’re looking to build muscle mass to increase or maintain your metabolism, this is definitely the best place to start.
Increases Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and Testosterone
There are numerous scientific studies that prove that doing powerful, explosive leg training naturally increases HGH and testosterone. This will not only aid you in building up your lower body muscles, but your upper body muscles as well.
Aesthetics
Let’s face it guys, many of us also work out to look good for the ladies. Nothing is goofier than seeing that guy at the beach or the pool with a big ole’ buff upper body and skinny, little chicken legs. I know because that used to be me! Check out the video and I’ll share the funny nickname the bodybuilders gave me at my gym back in the day. This demeaning nickname also motivated me to hit the legs hard!
Training your legs will also reduce ankle, knee and hip joint injuries and improve almost every sport you play.
Check out the video to also see the awesome Total Gym leg workout I designed that you can do at home. Here’s a sneak peak in written form:
- Two Legged Squat with a Pilates’ Semi-Circle to warm up the entire lower body and the lower back
- Single Leg Squat with a dynamic hamstring stretch, calf raise and abdominal crunch
- Two Legged Plyometric Squats – focus on a controlled, soft landing
- Plyometric Calves – Keep the knees slightly soft so most of the movement comes from the explosive push-off through the heels
- Single Leg Plyometrics – Now we’re partyin’ – again, soft landing
- Single Calve Plyometrics – Great ankle joint strengthener too
- Hamstring Curls with abdominal work to multi-task and save time
Enjoy all the benefits of building leg mass and getting large calves on your Total Gym and we’ll all head to the beach looking balanced and buff!
Please leave some comments as I’d love to help
