So... skipping leg day...
VeryKatie
Posts: 5,961 Member
I was just pondering...
As a woman, I've always wanted awesome legs and glutes. So every time I think about lifting heavy, that's my goal.
I don't particularly mind not having more muscular arms, back or shoulders (though I do see some benefit in order to make a more hourglass shape more apparent).
So my curious question is this: Do people feel the same way about women skipping arm/back day (lol or whatever you might call it) as they do about men skipping leg day? Or is it not generally viewed with the same opinion? I don't necessarily mean from a weightlifter's perspective per se, more from a balanced/aesthetic perspective, if that makes sense.
In other words, if I focus a lot more on legs than arms, will I look weird down the line!? Haha.
As a woman, I've always wanted awesome legs and glutes. So every time I think about lifting heavy, that's my goal.
I don't particularly mind not having more muscular arms, back or shoulders (though I do see some benefit in order to make a more hourglass shape more apparent).
So my curious question is this: Do people feel the same way about women skipping arm/back day (lol or whatever you might call it) as they do about men skipping leg day? Or is it not generally viewed with the same opinion? I don't necessarily mean from a weightlifter's perspective per se, more from a balanced/aesthetic perspective, if that makes sense.
In other words, if I focus a lot more on legs than arms, will I look weird down the line!? Haha.
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Well, I don't think that it makes any sense what so ever to make your workout uneven on purpose. This is not a particularly good look on anyone... :-)
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Well, I don't know if it would be as pronounced, but you would have toned legs and not toned arms and that would be weird. You would also limit the variety of exercises you could do if you were avoiding arms completely. There's a lot of lifting that works a combination of upper and lower body...
Honestly, I would just do it all. Why not, right?0 -
Doesn't Bret Contreas (idk how to spell it) have just a lower body workout in his Strong Curves book? And then also a full body?
I own the book but I only skimmed it months ago when I realized how much my *kitten* would be in the air and I already had some dude watching me at the gym.0 -
So my curious question is this: Do people feel the same way about women skipping arm/back day (lol or whatever you might call it) as they do about men skipping leg day? Or is it not generally viewed with the same opinion? I don't necessarily mean from a weightlifter's perspective per se, more from a balanced/aesthetic perspective, if that makes sense.
In other words, if I focus a lot more on legs than arms, will I look weird down the line!? Haha.
You asked for my opinion and my opinion is yes. But some people like oversized rear ends with skinny arms. I think it looks aesthetically wrong just like it looks wrong if someone has massive biceps and chicken legs.
Personally, training legs with heavy squats to build strength and size is completely unnecessary and detrimental to my gymnastics and climbing goals as making my legs heavier will make it harder to perform certain moves!0 -
That's funny. I sure as heck hope it's a photoshop effect, though. Yikes!
I'm actually a female who skips legs day... at least for the moment because it's killing my half marathon training.
I also have 14.5+ inch calves of solid muscle without lifting, I don't need them to be any bigger.
Katie, I think it sort of depends on how you already look. Me? Muscling up my arms and shoulders a bit helps them match my muscle-bound legs better. Plus I've almost entirely gotten rid of the triceps jiggle I've had going on for the past few years. That alone has convinced me to keep working that area. I don't know how much longer I'll keep wanting to get bigger, though. I already have pretty broad shoulders and I'd like to be able to keep wearing medium-sized tops.0 -
This was basically me for a couple years. I only trained legs. I looked fine (subjectively) but had zero functional upper body strength and skinny twig arms. Still working really hard to balance that mistake out.0
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I prefer full body programs...nothing to skip and ultimately you end up aesthetically proportionate.0
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I think it just makes more sense to keep it full body. You might like thinner or less shapely (I want to say toned but don't want to get yelled at) arms but then you will likely have jiggly arms. Plus you're not going to be able to lift and carry things as well on a daily basis. I mean, who wants to make multiple trips in and out of the house after a trip to the grocery? Isn't it more fun to load up as many bags as possible on each arm?0
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I work upper and lower body. My upper body was so wimpy when I started working out with my trainer that I used 5 lb. dumbbells. I felt like I had little T. rex arms! I like getting stronger, and I enjoy the definition I'm starting to see in my arms. (Still have more fat to lose before my lower body has definition.) I love it when I can lift a heavier weight than before. :-) And I think some definition in the arms, shoulders, and back looks really pretty, too. So I work upper body, core, and lower body. (And now I use 10 lb. dumbbells.) My lower body strength has increased even faster; on the leg press machine, I started out at 45lbs. and now I do 135-150 lbs.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »I prefer full body programs...nothing to skip and ultimately you end up aesthetically proportionate.
This. Also a strong upper body is very functional. I can carry ALL the groceries, movie furniture and pick up and carry a 70lbs kid.0 -
You really need to think of your muscles as one complete system or chain, everything kind of works together. Squats, for instance, are really thought of as a lower body or leg movement and of course the prime movers are in the lower body; however, many of your upper-body muscles (chiefly upper back) come into play to stabilize the squat. To be most optimal in your exercise you should include some upper body training. Now, that's not to say that you can't keep it extremely simple with one compound pressing lift and one compound pulling lift; you can even super-set them to save time.0
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I'm a skip upper body day type of person. I run and cycle tons and swim a bit. I have pretty big legs and very little upper body strength. I can cycle 100 miles easily but can't do a single pressup.0
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Doesn't Bret Contreas (idk how to spell it) have just a lower body workout in his Strong Curves book? And then also a full body?
I own the book but I only skimmed it months ago when I realized how much my *kitten* would be in the air and I already had some dude watching me at the gym.
I haven't bought that book, but he's got a blog post on the general idea, too.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »I prefer full body programs...nothing to skip and ultimately you end up aesthetically proportionate.
Yep, me too.
Also, I think people do better, from a heath point of view, when they consider the body as one complete unit rather than discrete parts0 -
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My only actual health concern would be if back and abs were different strengths. I got an evaluation and it is the case in my body, leading to back issues. (Front pulling more than back.)I was just pondering...
As a woman, I've always wanted awesome legs and glutes. So every time I think about lifting heavy, that's my goal.
I don't particularly mind not having more muscular arms, back or shoulders (though I do see some benefit in order to make a more hourglass shape more apparent).
So my curious question is this: Do people feel the same way about women skipping arm/back day (lol or whatever you might call it) as they do about men skipping leg day? Or is it not generally viewed with the same opinion? I don't necessarily mean from a weightlifter's perspective per se, more from a balanced/aesthetic perspective, if that makes sense.
In other words, if I focus a lot more on legs than arms, will I look weird down the line!? Haha.
If your leg exercises affect back OR abs also, this might become tricky.
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If you train with compound moves, you'd probably find it very hard to entirely separate your upper and lower body. Think deadlifts, for example. The lower body only programme in Strong Curves mainly works like that if I remember correctly—there aren't any specific upper body exercises but you do have deadlifts and squats.0
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throw in some deadlifts0
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You all have some good points (and it was fun to read!). I would stick to full body, but I did particularly notice SueInAz's comment - it probably would depend where you start. I still have some decent biceps from when I worked in construction (which I forget about since I'm used to it). Triceps and shoulders could use some (a lot of) work though haha.
Also really good comment about making sure to balance back and abs.
No worries, I will keep it full body. It's funny how it's easy to think "I want shmexy legs!" and kind of focus on them. But that's just lack of foresight I suppose
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Well- to be fair- Squat and Dead as compounds will still engage your upper body- but I certainly wouldn't go out of your way to avoid it. Add bench and OHP- you can get most of everything big- for the average person that's enough- but I mean- I wouldn't DROP doing the other things.
You should never train only ONE section of your body- and I hesitate to say "one half" because your lower body is more than 1/2 of your physical body. (Meaning your not divided evenly in half top and bottom in terms of muscles)
I love doing back- so as much as I love doing legs- I love doing back as much too.
I will do 2 heavy leg days- squat heavy- dead heavy- each with 2 accessory lifts on each day and then a back day- I'd just as easily skip bench bi's and tri's.. .but I don't... because well- that's bad LOL.0 -
i can't even imagine skipping any day or any part of my body. being a female you probably wont get out of proportion because we don't put on big muscles like guys do.0
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Please don't skip arm day. Not sure how old you are, but at a certain point it's pretty difficult to get the shape & look you want to appear fit (not to mention doing all kinds of great stuff with strong arms).
When you stop waving you want your arm to stop waving too.0 -
I am doing the Strong Curves lower body program (so 3x per week glute/lower focus) plus one day a week where I work on pull-ups, sometimes bench, body weight work, core etc. more for muscle maintenance though since I am very happy with the look of my upper body and I want the majority of my gains to be lower body. But I wouldn't neglect the upper body all together.
It was mentioned previously that when you do the compounds, you pretty much engage the whole body.
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There's MUCH more benefit to lifting/strength training than "more muscular arms, back or shoulders, or an hourglass shape". That said, I fail to see the logic of only working the lower portion of the body.0
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Leadfoot_Lewis wrote: »There's MUCH more benefit to strength than "more muscular arms, back or shoulders, or an hourglass shape". That said, I fail to see the logic of only working the lower portion of the body.
Oh don't worry, I do know that! 0 -
I love working my arms and shoulders. I have substantially increased my lifting this year and see way more definition and much better shape than ever before. Seeing that progress spurs me on to keep working on my legs, too. I believe all the muscles work hand-in-hand regardless of where they are on the body.0
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I was just pondering...
As a woman, I've always wanted awesome legs and glutes. So every time I think about lifting heavy, that's my goal.
I don't particularly mind not having more muscular arms, back or shoulders (though I do see some benefit in order to make a more hourglass shape more apparent).
So my curious question is this: Do people feel the same way about women skipping arm/back day (lol or whatever you might call it) as they do about men skipping leg day? Or is it not generally viewed with the same opinion? I don't necessarily mean from a weightlifter's perspective per se, more from a balanced/aesthetic perspective, if that makes sense.
In other words, if I focus a lot more on legs than arms, will I look weird down the line!? Haha.
If you are lifting heavy using barbells and compound movements and not machines, you're getting a decent amount of upper body work on leg day so i don't think you'd get too far "out of balance" so to speak.0 -
I would say its the same principal, you want to do it so you're well rounded.
skipping legs might be a little worse in that you generally stand to burn more calories during and after a leg workout... plus there is the added stigma that people assume you are skipping it because its difficult.
if your in it for health, then your not doing yourself any favors by skipping it.
if you want to look a certain way and you feel that fully supports your goals then have at it. anything else is just pleasing other people/following the heard.0 -
One word.
3 syllables.
Say it with me.
Symmetry.
Does that make you tingle? It does me.0
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