Whether it’s your favorite day, or just the day before your sorest day, if you’re strength training and toning, you know that leg day is essential for a well-rounded workout regimen. Strengthening and toning the muscles in your legs is important for nearly every activity you want to be able to do, whether it’s running, cycling, or just keeping up on walks with your family. Leg day also burns a tremendous amount of calories because of the size of the muscles in your legs.
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Whether you’re new to strength training or a seasoned pro, everyone can increase muscle mass in their legs, and learn to love leg day.
Set goals and track progress. You may already be doing the right moves to get the most out of your leg days, but if you don’t increase your reps or weight, you’re losing a lot of potential progress. The best way to determine whether you’re improving or you’ve hit a plateau is to set reasonable goals for reps and weight and track your progress after each workout. Reviewing your progress before your next leg day will let you know where it’s time to step it up or where you might need more work.
Try something new. If you’re doing squats or lunges regularly, try adding free weights to increase your challenge and build your strength. If you find yourself getting bored with your leg routine easily, check out one of FitClub’s classes that focuses on legs and strengthening. Adding a new FitClub class to your leg day repertoire will break up the routine you’ve been using and add a new challenge for your muscles. When you’re focused on building your leg day routine, make sure FitClub’s Step, PiYo, Pilates, Yoga and BarreFit classes are on your schedule.
Stretch, foam roll and rest. The day after leg day doesn’t have to be painful. After you’ve given your legs a great workout, be sure to finish your workout with a thorough stretch of the muscles you’ve just used. If you have any spots that are prone to soreness, or feel extra tight, be sure to use the foam rollers to roll out any areas that need extra attention. Most importantly, rest your tired leg muscles. Strength training creates tiny tears in the muscles used and with adequate rest, those muscles will grow back stronger and leaner than before.
Revisit your goals. After you incorporate a regular leg day into your strength training routine, you will need to revisit your goals and maybe even set new goals. Do you feel faster, lighter, leaner and stronger? Great! But don’t let that be a reason to stop working hard. Instead, return to your goals and set new goals for yourself by adding more weight, more reps, or a new class.
How do you feel about leg day? Love it or hate it? How do you keep it interesting?
