You have probably seen those people that train just the “beach” muscles. You know, the lifter that trains mostly bench press and biceps and does some lat pulldowns just so he can say he is working his back. There are also those “serious” lifters that train hard the upper body but skip leg training.
The gym where I was training a few years back even removed the squat rack because no one was using it…no one except me, that is. After all they had the leg press and leg extension machines. So I had to switch gyms.
Most gym goers and beginners don’t understand why heavy leg training is so important. They run, play soccer, work on the stepper and think they have their legs “covered”.
So you ask why it’s important to train your legs with heavy squats and deadlifts?
-Well first of all if you want to gain muscle mass just remember that your legs make more than 50% of your whole body muscle mass. More muscle in your legs means more muscle overall. Charles Poliquin states that you need about 15lbs of muscle mass if you want to increase your arm size an inch.
-The human body is a fine tuned machine that tends to balance its symmetry. When growth is stimulated in any muscle, then growth is also stimulated in the rest of the body to a lesser extent. The legs are the biggest muscle group in the body, so their stimulation will have the greatest effect of stimulating growth in the rest of the body. That means bigger upper body by doing squats and deadlifts.
-Clinical studies suggest that squats and deadlifts help the production of HGH (human growth hormone) and testosterone production in the body. Those are the most important hormones for building muscle mass and burning fat.
-Your abdominal and lower back muscles are directly worked when doing heavy squats and deadlifts. This saves you time and effort when doing abs.
-The real reason for not training legs is probably the fact that training legs is physically and mentally very hard, and leaves you tired and in pain long after the workout is done. That’s why doing Squats and Deadlifts will build your mental endurance & character like no other exercise.
