I am amazed that not many people train their legs

joejccva71

Case point. I rarely, RARELY see anyone train legs other than about 5 bodybuilders I see in the morning, and 2 of the guys are juicers, 1 of them being a guy who always spots me on HEAVY lifts. I also one have seen 1 woman work legs on leg press, squats, and lunges.

Time to ramble a bit....

I weight train 4 days out of the week, do HIIT cardio 2 days, and take 1 day off completely. So another words, I am in the gym 6 days out of the week. I wake up every morning at 4:30am, I'm at the gym by 6:00am and I always see the usual morning crowd at my Gold's, and it's pretty crowded. Mostly it's the same men and women at the gym at that time. Occassionally you will see a new college student come in that thinks he's Jay Cutler and they either end up hurting themselves or they leave a bad impression with the rest of the normal crowd.

There are quite a few lifters in my gym in the morning, both men and women. There are a few women that even go on the barbell side of the gym where all the compound lifts are. They will put some weight on a bench press, military press, etc., and usually ask for a spot which is no problem. But I never see them train legs. I asked one woman if she does barbell squats, dumbell squats, or even lunges.

She said "No, I just run." I nodded and went back to my training. Couldn't believe it. Do people really have this misconception that running whether it's outside in 100% heat or on the treadmill works your legs enough? I mean seriously? How many marathon runners do you know out of the millions that there are have fabulous and porportioned legs? Probably less than 5%. Their legs look horrible. They may have great endurance but you can get endurance doing any HIIT training or sports.

(We'll get back to the entire "running" thing in a moment.)

Then I see quite a few men that don't train legs either, and these guys seem to be pretty serious about bodybuilding. You can always tell the guys that are serious versus the guys that aren't. It's pretty obvious. It's truely mind boggling to me how many people just neglect their leg workout but they bust their *kitten* on their upper body. Or worse, they'll spend 60 minutes doing nothing but crunches for their entire workout sweating up a storm. These guys know that doing that many crunches in your core is actually counter productive right? Apparently not.

Onto the running thing.

People love to run and I respect that. Everyone likes their own version of cardio. Some runners are also training for marathons or 10-15k runs, etc. Awesome.

What boggles my mind is when someone told me the other day that it's better to run outside than on a "stupid treadmill" as they called it. I laughed and asked him why and he said "because you get a better workout running outside in the heat". Needless to say I educated him a little bit by explaining to him that first of all, running out in 100% heat isn't brave, it's stupid. He got offended. Then I proceeded to explain to him that running on the treadmill requires more than DOUBLE the amount of coordination and balance in your entire body over running outside thus giving you more of a workout.

He shook my hand, scratched his head a few times, and then agreed.

Anyways, I'm done here my friends. Just wanted to see what everyone's thoughts were on training legs. It's just as important as training upper body. And no, I don't mean just doing leg extensions.

dragonfly__

I run... and I work my legs at least 2x a week.... makes me a better runner!

meemo88

yeah tell me about it. yesterday i saw some guy .. his upper body was hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee but u look a few inches down and his legs look like they belonged to a chicken!! lol

alleyag

I see this all to much. There is like you said the occasional guy or woman that does a full out brutal workout on their legs. I hate doing legs. Mainly cause I'm so sore the next day I can barely sit in a chair without grasping something for assistance. But this is because I know I hate legs so I put more intensity into that workout then any other! Legs are very taxing and not really a show body part I guess that's why not many people do them. You can usually tell with male body builders. They look like they will topple over with there huge broad shoulders and teeny tiny stick legs. You need all around training. And as far as running goes it will improve your performance substantially! Do some squats dammit! Stay motivated mfp!

BerryH

I run... and I work my legs at least 2x a week.... makes me a better runner!

^^^ This, and it prevents injuries.

rlawrimore

I see this a lot. Big guys with massive arms and toothpick legs. I always work legs at least once a week.

msblueyes5

I run all week and do squats...the squats are what makes my legs look great!! I feel running and squats is all I need right now at this age and health. Without squats I can totally see a difference!

Huskeryogi

I'm going to open myself up to criticism here, but I have lifted my legs in the past and they get bulky REALLY fast. People can say what they want to say about women not being able to get big muscles but I know how my body responds to weight lifting.

I get the leg shape I want I've been sprinting and doing yoga and yes I have seen a difference. Right now my legs are still covered in an unattractive layer of fat, but I'm happy with the results I'm getting.

bry_all01

Hmm, I am surprised that more people don't, too. I do leg presses, squats, lunges, leg extensions, standing calf extensions, etc. along with my upper body workouts and cardio on the days in between and also take one day off. I cannot say I pay much attention to the others in the gym as I am usually in a zone, but I will definitely pay more attention now. Oh, and I don't run inside or out, but I do take full advantage of the treadmill and stationary bikes. :bigsmile:

BerryH

Oh, and I'd add you might not see women doing lower-body resistance training in the weights room, but you can bet they do far more squats, lunges, leg lift etc, that guys dream of in exercise classes, including with added resistance, such as Body Pump.

HeatherMN

Great post.

I'm also a runner, but do strength training that always includes the legs, unless I'm particularly sore from a run the day before. I agree with dragonfly...it makes me run better. Hiking steep hills also helps running on hills. I'm striving to be strong and proportioned overall.

As far as running on the treadmill vs. outside, I prefer running outside because it takes less mental focus, cures boredom and the fresh air makes me happy. However, I live in Minnesota, so I get my fair share of treadmill time during the long, cold winters!

Grimmerick

Definitely agree that you need to train your legs, I don't so much agree on the Treadmill vs. running outside though. I think you can get a great workout with both equally you just have to set the treadmill right, but as far as the treadmill being hands down better I don't agree because there are too many factors that can come into play with running outside.

RippedNShredded

I rarely see anyone do any leg training at my gym. There's a small percentage that do the leg presses, walking lunges but that's it.

I train heavy on Mondays doing mostly Sumo squats with xxx amount of weights for 6 sets. By the end of my workout my glutes are like an 8 cylinder engine on redline!

Leg workouts helps alot with weight lose.

starberi30

hmmm... good info to know

BlueSkies_12

I LOVE my leg workout!! I have noticed the same thing though, many guys in my gym have legs smaller than my arms!

bcattoes

I think Zumba gives me nice legs, but then I really dislike muscley legs. I like smooth firm legs, which I can get from Zumba or running. Maybe not a marathon, but when I used to run 3 miles a day I had nice legs. I have them again thanks to 7 months of Zumba. I think whether you "need" to add weight training for your legs really depends on what look you are going for.

But I think you're right about more coordination needed for running on a treadmill. Weather permitting I always ran outside whether it was hot or cold because when running on a treadmill I tend to run off the side and fall down. I wish that was a joke, but I really am that uncoordinated. :embarassed:

bjhadden

I was one of those people who never worked their legs and only ran last summer. Now I have realized that you must work your legs too, so I do leg press and leg extensions. I also have a butt and thigh workout that I do sometimes at home.

hpsnickers1

From what I understand you need to work the leg muscles with weights to gain muscle in them. The only thing running (I only do sprint intervals on occasion) will do to your leg muscles is make them smaller. Strong? Sure. But not bigger. My brother was a cross country runner in his younger days (graduated in '90 and our high school still holds his record in the mile run) and the entire cross country track team had long, SKINNY legs.

Give me my lunges, squats and stuff.

ivette512

This is interesting, but I often notice guys at the gym who are huge ontop but have measly little legs. For me, I prefer to work my legs than any other part of my body. I love squats, and lunges. They hurt like hell the next day but are trully worth it.

My husband once said my butt looks better now than when he met me. We've been togehter 18 years, that says alot!

BrownEyedG1rl

I guess I never really paid that much attention to what other people are doing at the gym. I do strength training, including my legs. I also try run about twice a week. Leg day is actually my favorite!

musicgirl88

I am surprised you don't see many people working their legs. I alternate working my legs and arms through the week. Usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday I do arms, and Tuesday, Thrusday I do my legs, plus I am doing the C25K program. Until I know I'm not going to hurt myself I don't want to do too much with my legs, but I do a lot of lunges and squats and a few other exercises that many people probably think aren't worth it, but if they make my muscles sore, then they must be doing something!!

fteale

Not much people do or don't do amazes me. If people don't want to do leg training, that's up to them. I know plenty of runners with great legs.

I do squats and lunges classes and aerobics with resistance bands. I also do circuits which includes a fair bit of those as well. I had good legs anyway, now they are good but a bit thinner.

moefitt

I start all of my workouts from the bottom up (squats, decline leg press, standing single leg press) I do full body every other day, always changing exercise variation and intensity.

GouletB

To huskeryogi, my legs do the same. You read any trainers blog, book etc about women lifting and they all say we wont gain muscle like a man or get very big. I know my body when it comes to lifting and I gain muscle very fast and a lot at that. So much so that I have got stretch marks from it and im not that small.

What you need to do is lift your legs but Lots of reps (20), lots of sets (4), little weight (enough so you feel it but can do all the sets and reps). This will burn more calories (then & through out the day) and also tone your legs with out building them up. I really does work wonders with out the huge legs. good luck!!

ashesoh1234

Agree with you. I used to think running was enough; this was back when I ran quite a bit, 10 milers, 15Ks, marathon. I could go out and run ten miles, easy. Then I got on board with strengthening my legs. Presses, calf work, lots of lunges, squats, hamstring work. Whoa, what a world of difference!! I'm a believer. Now that I'm losing weight and getting back in shape (my treat when I lose 30 more pounds is to start running again!), I make a point to do leg and butt work.

ArroganceInStep

I'm a victim of slacking on leg workouts, but I've found I simply don't have the time. I'm heavy enough now that I try to do an hour of cardio a day just to get myself back to the point where I can do effective interval training. I barely have time to lift the 2 times a week for 30 minutes that I do, so I usually end up just alternating between chest and tris and shoulders and bis. If I had the time I'd probably get back into 5x5, I did quite like stronglifts when I had the time to do them. (Side note, if anyone knows of a stronglifts-like workout that doesn't take 60 minutes+ I'm all ears).

Now, all that being said, when I was in college and was lifting regularly for rugby, I had a 700 lb squat. I did some squats a couple months ago to see how I was doing (I hadn't done any before that in like a year or so) and I put up 550. A 20% loss is substantial, but I am confident that if I had given up say bench press for that long, the loss would've been MUCH bigger.

Lifting legs is extremely valuable, but if you only have time for two between cardio, upper body strength training, and lower body strength training, I think I made the right decision with cardio and upper body.

Kate6868

I've not really paid much attention to what other people are doing at the gym unless it's something unusual that looks interesting. I'll have to watch tonight...while I do my leg workout.

HeidiMightyRawr

I see this too. I'm going to assume for the majority it because they don't like training their legs, either that or they don't care as much as they're hidden alot more than arms. Several men see the great arms/chest/shoulders as one of the most attractive feature for others, I've even had my dad ask me what exercises he can do to build up his biceps, not interested in anything else, just his biceps..

I myself used to absolutely hate squats, I would do leg press but never squats. Even with just a light bar I couldn't ever get the form right and it would feel odd and uncomfortable. Once I kept trying regularly though I got the hang of it and the weight shoots up and it's now one of my favourite exercises, although still behind what it should be in comparison to upper body. People just need to sometimes keep trying if they want the body/strength they desire.
At the end of it though, if they hate it that much, nobody's going to be able to change their mind and you may as well just let them do what they enjoy.

Paddy31

She said "No, I just run." I nodded and went back to my training. Couldn't believe it. Do people really have this misconception that running whether it's outside in 100% heat or on the treadmill works your legs enough? I mean seriously? How many marathon runners do you know out of the millions that there are have fabulous and porportioned legs? Probably less than 5%. Their legs look horrible. They may have great endurance but you can get endurance doing any HIIT training or sports.

Paula Radcliffe? I think she looks pretty fit. Mizuki Noguchi?

Marathon runners do a decent amount in the gym, don't they? I thought that part of the plan for an athlete like Haile Gebreselassie would include a couple of gym workouts each week.

http://www.ethiopianreview.com/articles/32874

"Normally, I am training for about three hours, and when it's two months before a competition, I will be doing about 35k in that morning slot.

"In the early evening, I spend most of my time in the gym doing strength work.

"But even if I am in the gym, I will still do 10k on the treadmill and another 10k on the bike.

"Then I will do some strength training. That is seven days a week, except for Sunday, when I only do the morning session.

"In total, I will normally run 160 miles or 220k in a week. That is the average."

TavistockToad

you learn a new thign every day... i always thought running outside was better!

Paddy31

Oops