Does it cost you to train the lower train? We give you seven reasons and four exercises to do it
In many occasions we have commented the importance of working the lower train to achieve a perfect body balance and another series of points that we must take into account. In spite of everything, there are still many people who do not touch their legs in their workouts. Therefore in this post we want to give some of the main reasons why you have to train your legs, as well as some simple exercises to strengthen this part.
We are tired of seeing people who simply focus the work of the upper and lower train leave it in a second place. Every day we see in the training rooms that the legs are worked incompletely and in many cases not even that. In Vitónica we have commented the importance of doing it, but we want to continue emphasizing this point and for that we are going to explain the fundamental reasons for doing so .
Why is it so hard for us to train our legs?
In the first place it is important that we take into account that the reason why it is so difficult to train the legs is because it is one of the largest muscle groups in the body. This is the reason why when training it requires more blood pumping , which makes the wear greater and the feeling of fatigue too. But in spite of everything, this is precisely why it is necessary that we work our legs.
Being one of the largest muscle groups in the body, the blood requirement is greater
For many people simply walking, climbing stairs, running … it is more than enough in terms of leg training, but it is not, because if we want to strengthen the muscles of these it is necessary to directly impact them with appropriate exercises . That’s why it’s important to always keep your legs in mind in our training routine and we’ll tell you why.
Better body balance
First of all it should be noted that training the legs will help us achieve a better body balance . the people who only work the upper train end up developing a lot the muscles of this part to the detriment of those of the lower train. This at first glance is seen as an aesthetic point of view, since a decompensation between both zones will be noticed. At the end of the day we must look for a body harmony.
More power for the rest of exercises
This muscular decompensation can have consequences in the performance , since strong legs will guarantee us more general power when carrying out the rest of exercises. Like the abdominals, the legs are a fundamental part of body thrust. As a driving force, we must have them well worked. In this way not only will they be much better aesthetically speaking, but we will also notice it in a better predisposition to exercise and more power at a general level.
More body power, more testosterone, more caloric burning … some of the advantages of leg training
Higher caloric intake
In line with what we mentioned, being a large muscle group, the concentration of fibers is greater and therefore the wear is greater on the part of the body. This higher energy requirement makes leg training a perfect activity to burn more calories than usual. Therefore working the legs will help us to activate the metabolism and achieve greater energy consumption.
Necessary to strengthen more the upper body
The leg training will also help us strengthen the upper body . For example, when doing squats, of course we work all the muscles of the legs, but we will also be affecting the abdominals, shoulders, trapezoids … Apart from getting more power, when training the legs we will achieve a better balance muscularly speaking in all aspects.
Activation of blood circulation in the area
We must not forget that another important reason is the activation of blood circulation in this part of the body. This simple fact will help us strengthen the muscles, tendons and bones of the legs. It is a good way to prevent the onset of problems such as premature osteoarthritis … To this we must add that by improving circulation we will achieve a better tone in the legs, elimination of localized fat, prevention of circulatory problems in the area …
Stronger joints in the legs
In addition to circulation, strong muscles in the legs will help strengthen the joints of this part of the body. This is due to the fact that having stronger muscles, the joints will be reinforced by a strong and solid set. In this way we will be able to avoid the appearance of pains, injuries …
Natural segregation of testosterone
We must not forget that the work of legs subject our body to a high tension, which will help to secrete more testosterone . This fact will make us increase the overall potency of our body, because testosterone will help us not only to develop much better muscle mass, but to face much better training and make them more productive.
Given the main points why we should not neglect leg training, we must take into account that when working the legs we must give the muscles that compose them the necessary intensity. In general, the legs have a developed musculature because we use them to move and perform activities. For this reason it is necessary that the incidence on them is high in order to achieve the best results .
Four basic exercises to train the legs
To achieve this incidence that we are looking for we have made a selection of four exercises that can help us to work the lower train completely.
The squat
The squat could not be absent in this selection, and that is a fundamental exercisewhen working the legs. Above all we must emphasize its direct impact on almost all the muscles that make up the lower train. In addition, as we discussed earlier, also affects the abdominal wall and the part of the shoulders and the trapezius.
We can perform the squat with free weight or in multipower . Both ways of carrying it out will help us tone your legs. Of course, we must be very careful when performing squats, as the risk we run of hurting ourselves due to poor performance is high. For this we must take into account the placement of the back, which should be straight all the time. Avoid overloading the kidneys and place the knees well so as not to block them when lifting the weight and do not load the tension on them.
The squat should not miss in a leg workout
To get a good performance when doing the squats we must stand, with the weight attached to the trapezoids. The feet supported parallel on the floor and separated so that they are parallel to the hips. In this position the back should be kept straight and what you have to do is to bend over backwards, keeping your back straight and concentrating all the tension in the muscles of the legs. It is important that we make the hip movement backwards to avoid the involvement of the lower back and the knees being affected.
Dead weight
Another exercise that we will highlight legs is the dead weight . This exercise can not miss. Although it seems simple, it is not at all. There are several types of deadlifts to work the legs. We are going to stop at an exercise where the part that we are going to work on the most is the hamstring and gluteal area.
Control the back to avoid arching one of the fundamental pillars of leg deadlift training
For this exercise we will stand with legs slightly apart, parallel to the hips. The back we will place it straight and the hips will be those that help us to carry out the exercise, because they are the ones that we must bend, because the legs will remain straight. We will hold the weight with both hands and the movement will consist of bending down only by bending the hips and throwing the rear end without arching the spine. We will elevate the load by the action of the hamstrings and the gluteals.
It is important that when we bend the back we do not arch the lumbar part , because in this way we will divert the tension to this part. Keeping your back straight at all times and throwing your butt back are the main points we must consider. The same as concentrating all the tension on the worked muscles and using the arms only as grip, never to lift the load with them.
Hip Thrust
As a third exercise we will highlight Hip Thrust . This exercise perfectly isolates the gluteal area, but be careful because it is easy to deviate the tension to the lower back if we tend to arch our back too much when lifting the load. Avoiding this, the realization of the exercise is simple because we simply need a point of support for the back. We recommend the use of a training bench as a point of support.
One of the exercises that concentrates the most tension in the gluteal area. High performance and results
The placement will be on the back, supporting the upper part of it on the bench. The feet should be supported on the floor with the knees bent and the load placed on the hips. In this position what we will do will be to raise the load through the action of the glutes . We will simply elevate the body with a hip turn upwards. It is important to isolate this part as much as possible and prevent the lumbar part from intervening.
Alternating strides of legs
As a last exercise we will stop at the alternate strides of legs . It is a simple but intense exercise that works the whole part of the buttocks and quadriceps . This exercise can be carried out with or without a load. If we do it with load we can grab a dumbbell with each hand and place it on each side of our body.
Important the placement of the legs during the stride to make an impact in the right way
The posture for this exercise will be standing, facing forward and back straight. In each hand we will hold a weight and the placement of the legs is the key of the exercise , since one of them we must advance it, so that the knee does not exceed the tip of the foot, and the other we will back it supported only by the tip from the foot to the ground.
In this position, what we will do is raise ourselves through the action of the forward leg , since the back leg will only be a point of support. It is important to slowly raise and maintain balance so as not to destabilize and fall to the side. We have to do this same movement with each leg in order to have an equal impact on both.
