Stronger Than Your Boyfriend
Stronger Than Your Boyfriend
Why You Should Never Skip Leg Day
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On today’s episode of the podcast we set the record straight on leg day. Lower body movements are more important than you think, and are debatably even more important than upper body workouts. Learn the science behind why leg day is never something to be missed, and what movements you can incorporate into your routine to maximize the benefits of lower body lifts.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why Leg Day Matters More Than You Think
- The Benefits of Training Your Lower Body
- What Happens When You Skip Leg Day
- Leg Day Exercises for Growth
- How Often You Should Train Legs
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Welcome to the Stronger Than Your Boyfriend Podcast. A podcast for anyone into fitness. Especially for chicken legs, Chad. We are Heather and Katie, owners of Barpath Fitness, here to help you sift through the bullshit and toxic misinformation that permeates the fitness industry. Gee, what are we talking about today? Yeah. We're talking about why you can never skip leg day. Yeah. Chad, this one is for you. We want to talk about why leg day matters more than you think. Uh, how to reframe it, number one. Yeah. Um, and also just, you know, why working your lower body is important, maybe even more important, I'd say, than your upper body. Oh, yeah. Not that you shouldn't do full body, but I would say lower body takes priority. So that's why this is kind of interesting.
SPEAKER_00Also, which I'm sure we get into a little bit later in the episode, but not a big fan of of leg day. Right. It's it's we're more talking about don't skip lower body. Yes. Because we have a lot of clients who maybe they're doing like a three-day-a-week full body routine. Right. But they're working, they're not just working leg day, right? They're doing everything. So you need to train your legs because you would look like a big old dork if you didn't, number one. But most important. Most importantly, it's not just for better looks, but better overall strength and muscle, and it helps optimize your hormones. Like when you're doing a heavy ass squat, I mean, you could, even if you didn't train your upper body ever again, if you did heavy squats, I think you would still build shoulders and biceps just from holding onto the ball. In core? In core. Yeah. I mean, everything. Everything is involved in a squat and a deadlift. But, you know, uh, it's just like you we've all seen that guy. We've all seen, and yes, it's always a guy. Chicken legs. It's never a fucking woman having chicken legs, okay? It's always a guy where they walk around with this big jacked upper body and they have stupid looking legs. And it's just not proportional.
SPEAKER_01Can I tell you the thing that made me the most sad about chicken legs, Chad? About Chris Hemsworth. Do you remember this? Is that the guy that every straight chick is in love with? This is Thor. He's gorgeous. I love Crins. Okay. Okay, okay, okay. These chicken legs? There was a whole thing, and I feel kind of bad about it, but there was a whole thing about people were finding like pictures and videos of him during like the Thor filming where his legs were actually very small and they like didn't show it on film. Mm-hmm. And it's very sad. Well done. I'm very sad about it.
SPEAKER_00I would much rather see a disproportionately big lower body compared to the upper body. Like it just would be like, oh, you're just fucking strong and powerful, no matter even if your arms were kind of skinny. You know, I don't know. It's just, it's not, it's weird. It's very weird. But aesthetics aside, there is a health reason for all of this, right? Well, yes. Yes. More so for functionality, mobility. Yes. And the reason, but the reason why it looks so weird is because it tells you that someone is strong, powerful, and that they can they can survive. You know what I mean? Whereas, I mean, there's only so much you can do with a big jacked, strong upper body, right? But you can run with strong legs, you can jump, you can, you know, I mean, climbing use a lot of your legs, etc. So, yes, it is functional and it will help your mobility as you age, too. Yes. But when I want to talk about even if you do train your legs and you have chicken legs, we're gonna, we're here to educate you and we're here to help you. We are, we're here to help you. We're not shitting on you, but I think your shitty programming is the cause. And this is a big part of rethinking leg day, and maybe you're even rethinking having a leg day, because the problem is when you have a full leg day, you're doing maybe one compound movement. And that's the thing. Leg days are fucking hard, okay? Your leg muscles are the biggest muscles on your body, obviously. That's why Chads skip them because it's hard. And women don't, because women are better. But, anyways, that's besides the point. So a leg day, it might consist of sorry, but don't. No, yeah, I mean, I'm just saying. John agrees. So maybe a leg day has squats, and then they're going to leg press and leg extensions and leg curls, and it's like those are all isolation machine-based movements. They're not very quote functional. I know that word gets thrown around a lot, but it's not a foundational movement pattern. Sitting on a machine and extending your knee and it's it's not functional. It could be a good accessory. Accessories. There's nothing wrong with it. No, there's not, but I would almost argue, which we have another episode coming out about this, it could be junk volume for your leg. So I think again, we're gonna come back to those foundational human movement patterns. Are you squatting? Are you deadlifting? Are you doing some sort of a single leg, you know, lunge split squat variation? Those movements should be the core of your leg training. And it's really, really hard to do all of those movements on one day. Oh, yeah. So that's why I think most people should rethink their leg day, unless you're doing maybe two lower body focus days, which I do have some people do, where we're doing two of those compound, like two bigger compound lifts, maybe a single leg movement, and then it's probably like a core training day too. But it's very taxing. Yeah. So that's why Chad's like to just do leg extensions and shit, because you could do a shit ton of sets and get your quad pumped, but it's not really doing anything for you. It's just, in my opinion, a bunch of junk volume. And you can also, so okay, let me just go back to maybe structuring it. So you could do, if we're talking about a three-day split where you're doing, you're training your full body, okay. One of those days you have squats and lunges, and the next day you have deadlifts and maybe a hip thrust. And then the next day you have some sort of lateral lunge type movement. So that's a one way to structure it. You could do if you have a four-day split and you're doing like two upper days, two upper body days, two lower body days. I generally like to break them up into push-pull lower body days. So pushing as in you're doing squat patterns and then pulling as in hinge patterns, right? So a squat pattern day, a hinge pattern day. So that is is another way to do it. That can also get pretty taxing on one part of your body. It can. So a lot of times it just depends on how experienced the lifter is. Because if you're doing squats and lunges and I don't know, maybe like a sissy squat or some type of ex accessory movement, it's it's taxing and your quads will be fucked, right? So totally, totally. Yes. A lot of these movements are that I've named are key. Like it's it's basic. We've talked about it before. Put them in your routine, not hack squat machine or leg press. I mean, you can, there's a time and a place for it. Right. But other honorable mentions are step-ups and hip thrusts. I would also say a belt squat is cool. I love a belt squat. Belt squat is good, especially for people who have a back injury because it doesn't load your spine. But it really you can load your legs.
SPEAKER_01Or if you're really focused this phase on training deadlifts or a hinge pattern. Yes. And you have a lot of volume in that area. Uh-huh. So like it's really hard for you to squat without your back getting relaxed. That's when a belt squat is really, really helpful.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So, and that's a that's a good way to do it. Yeah. You know, like using the machines are acceptable when you're focusing on the fo other foundational movement patterns and those are your main focus. Yeah, and then supplementing with the machines. But if you're doing if you're doing just, you know, the leg curl, leg extension.
SPEAKER_01What is like thousand day, thousand rep leg day? Have you seen those?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there's no way you're Okay. Those just sound like there is no fucking way you're doing squats, deadlifts, lunges, hip thrusts for a thousand reps. Like there's no way. Unless you're just really low in weight. Right. And then it's like, well, you're doing cardio, like how much muscle endurance can you train? You know? This just sounds so gimmicky. Like, just train. So this is generally why I like to do the full body workouts because it is a little bit easier as far as not taxing your CNS so much to do those compound movements, which I would rather you do 10 sets of squats than do a couple sets of squats, a couple sets of you know, seated hamstring curl, and then a leg press. Like I would rather you just squat the whole time. Really? You would get a lot more benefit to me. Yeah. You know? Because you're using everything. Yeah. And it's one of those movements where unless you're really pushing the weight and you're flirting with maybe a back injury or something, I just it's it, you're just gonna get more bang for your buck. Yeah. But everything depends on the person. Depends on the person. Yeah. I mean, if you're injured, that's a different story. That's a different story though. Like if that if that's the only way you can train your legs by doing leg extension, like then we're gonna do it. Something is better than nothing, but talking about for some people, you know, who's not injured. Yeah. So totally.
SPEAKER_01Yes. The one of the biggest questions that um people ask after hearing never skip a leg day is how often should they train legs? So that's where the answer depends on different factors like your training split that you were talking about, um, but also your recovery ability and how quickly your body actually adapts to strength training. Like, as far as recovery, some people will naturally recover faster and they can handle more frequency, right? Others may need more recovery time between hard sessions, especially if there's like squats and deadlifts involved, right? And so you have to determine your ideal frequency and volume and then go from there. Yeah. Which I think is where people are like get really confused because they're like, How often should I train legs? Okay. Common question. And it's like, it depends.
SPEAKER_00I think what you should ask yourself instead of how often is first real recognize that the optimal amount of volume per muscle group per week is 10 to 30 sets, and that's a very big range. But start there. And if you're then you can add in what you're saying is focus on how well you recover. Yeah. If your legs just take forever to recover, maybe you start towards the 10 sets of legs and then slowly add.
SPEAKER_01Right. So Yes. And I think the other thing is usually the first question we ask when we ask about how often do you want to train realistically. Yeah. How often will you train? Like that is step one. Because if you want to commit to a five-day training split and you know that it's been a struggle for you to get in there even twice a week, don't fucking do it. Do twice a week. Start with twice a week.
SPEAKER_00Start with once even. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Master whatever it is you know you can do and then add on. Like people try to go too hard to or don't add on. And then they have this whole program and they end up skipping leg day because they're like, oh, I'm doing a five, six-day split, you know, and then they're exhausted and they can't make it, and they're like, oh, leg day is the one I'm gonna skip this week.
SPEAKER_00It's like I saw this reel where it was it was uh something about leg day, and it's like when you should skip leg day, and this guy is going into the gym and he's like, ah shit, the gym's closed, but this guy just walked out and is holding the door open for him, and he's like, damn it. So he just walks away. It's like that's exactly if you have a body part split, you're gonna you're gonna skip leg day. Like you are. If you're gonna skip one day, you just no matter who you are, you're fucking skipping leg day because it's the hardest damn day.
SPEAKER_01It's so true. Yeah. Like literally me too. Like I will be like, I'll just give like a shoulder pump today.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like, oh. I mean, I could do like one move and then like biceps and triceps. Like it's yeah, it's hard. It is very true. So but it's actually less daunting if you do more of a full body split. Because then you're like, oh, well, I only have for lower body squats, lunges, yeah, they're gonna be hard, but I have some upper body too. Right. So it's it kind of breaks it up a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01So exactly, exactly. Also, when you're considering your frequency, like this goes along with recovery, but sleep, nutrition, and stress, yeah. All of that impacts your training volume availability and how effectively you can train your legs or any body part. If you're constantly sore or fatigued, or you're seeing your performance decline over time, which that happened to me when I was powerlifting. Like my numbers were just going down because I was just overtraining. Yes. That is a sign that you need to adjust frequency and volume. Of course, you're gonna be sore when you change your program or when you first start, you're gonna be tired. But that shouldn't remain persistent through the like after like two weeks. Honestly, yeah, probably shorter than that, but definitely.
SPEAKER_00You were also competing. So that's like that's where you're taking it to the next level versus just your average lifter who is maybe overdoing it. You're you're probably going to overdo it when you're powerlifting. So but you still need to adjust no matter who you are.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean that's kind of the nature of sport, right? You're trying to go as hard as you can while figuring out how to still recover. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, it's super fun. Yeah. But that's the thing. Sports, when you're training in a quote sport, yeah, aesthetics aren't a thing. It's more about performance. So it's very true. You know what I mean? It's actually really nice, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But anywho, that was just an aside.
SPEAKER_01All right. Um, so do you want to give examples of splits?
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, okay. So, I mean, we gave example of the the the three body or the the three-day full body split.
SPEAKER_01Two leg movements in each. Is that what you're thinking?
SPEAKER_00I w if we're going three days a week, or yeah, three days a week. And this is full body. Full body routine, I'm gonna say two leg movements because three to four sets each, depending on the reps, the rep range you're working in, I think that that's pretty good. So again, it could be like squats and then a split squat one day. Or if you want to do kind of like a an agonist antagonist way to do it, you could do squats and like an RDL variation of a Romanian deadlift. Right. So and then another day split squat and good morning. Yeah. Or a deadlift and a step up or something. Yeah. So uh or some kind of some type of lateral lunge split squat would be great. Just to squat. Yeah, causing squat would be just to move in a different plane of motion would be great. For sure. And then again, back to the four-day, I think, you know, the two upper body day, two lower body day. Yeah. You're still choosing from all these movements. It's just maybe the lower body, one lower body day is like Romanian deadlifts or squats, Romanian deadlifts, lunges, calf raises, right? Don't neglect the calves. We you know what's funny is I feel like chicken legs Chad does calves. They don't do anything else. But they're not as hard. Probably. And then maybe lower body day two could be deadlift, Bulgarian split squat, hip thrust, causic or lateral lunge. So those are that's very basic. You can literally make your lower body program out of those. I think if you are doing a body part split, don't anymore try this.
SPEAKER_01Unless you're a bodybuilder. Or you're like really trained and really disciplined. I do think there are people who want to go to the gym six days a week, maybe even seven, like, and the seventh is walking. But you can split the body parts then.
SPEAKER_00You could. I really unless you're doing like frequent lower intensity workouts, I wouldn't recommend this for people. For most people.
SPEAKER_01I well, I think most people who are about I wouldn't say they're high intensity or low intensity with their bodybuilding, but I think they're doing moderate rep ranges, moderate intensity.
SPEAKER_00You know. I also think that even if you are the person who can get to the gym five to six days a week, which you really kind of need the six days. Five days is such an awkward It really is. Because it's like, well, what are you doing? Unless you're doing like a mobility day. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah. Because then you can do the two upper two lower. Five days seems weird. I don't think you should do five days. So if you're gonna go all out, do six, because then you can hit each muscle group twice. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. But it would have to be at a low to moderate intensity. Yeah. So you're gonna, you're gonna end up missing. You're gonna end up missing a day. Well, you know it's gonna be leg day, so just don't. I just this is rare. I think if you're trying to bodybuild, sure. Then everything is dialed, like this is your whole to go. Your recovery's on point. And if you're you don't give a shit about being natural, your steroids are helping you recover. So or whatever peptide you're on now. So it's I mean, okay, like for me, I do like I have four workouts written for me. Okay. But I but I do them over the course of five or six days. Okay, because you do train five to six days ago. I break, yes, but I break, I'm not just I'm not training a shit ton, right? You break the four workouts a lot. Smaller, I mean, my average time for my workouts 25 minutes. Wow. Yeah. And you're still maybe like 27.
SPEAKER_01But you're still doing the four-day week program, but I'm just doing them. You're getting success still.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I'm doing the uh the right amount of volume. That's cool. You know, but I just like to wake up, do something. Yeah. I kind of like that. Yeah. So I I like it that way. And the workouts could get a little too long for me because I do it in the morning, gotta go to work, et cetera. So there's a another component to that time-wise, but I think it's kind of like the trend right now the shorter, more frequent workouts. And that's what I did. But I also know what the fuck I'm doing because I'm a trainer and I've been a trainer for 15 years, guys. Like I know how to program, and so I know my body. And I'm not adding more. Right. You know what I mean? I'm just saying, oh, these movements of this workout I'm doing today and these movements I'm doing the next day. Yeah. So is it optimal? I don't really care. That's where I'm at with you. It's working. It's working. I'm fine. I'm not losing strength. If anything, I'm gaining strength that way because I can, you know, have a little bit more recovery if I'm training like a certain part of my body, you know, often in that workout. But is it, I don't know. If it's not optimal, I don't really care because I don't really have, I mean, I have, you know, the the movements I like to train and I want those to progress. But like we talked about sending goals, I don't have any fucking goals. Just training. Yeah. But I like it that way. But most people don't have the time, most people don't want to commit to that. Most people are tired. A lot of people have kids. Like it's not really feasible. So you could do it that way, but it you might not be able to do it that way forever either. Right. So, anyways. Leg day, eh, throwing some leg extensions once a while once in a while for fun. I do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Just for fun. Yeah. Like once in a while, but I don't fit on the leg extension machines. No. Unless they're like a very specific brand. But most of them are. Or the leg curl.
SPEAKER_00The lying leg curl, those are those ones are always so awkward because the pad has to be at the right spot on your cat your calves, and half the time it's either too high or too low.
SPEAKER_01The plate-loaded one, they have one at this gym, right? A plate-loaded seated extension and curl. And you can move the pad up and down or no?
SPEAKER_00You can, but that the machine we have here is the the the seat is so awkwardly long. So I have trouble sitting on it. Yeah, it's weird. I'm like, I have to like, huh, like, because my I'm short. So it works for really tall people. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But yeah, and that's another problem. That's the wild thing about machines. They were made for, I cannot remember what the research was. Five seven males like something like definitely over five three. Um it's like five, seven or five, eight male people. Yeah, I think it's like in that it's it's definitely taller than us and yeah, males. So and I feel like hopefully things are changing, but originally that's how exercise equipment started. And so it's common that I just don't fit on it. Yes.
SPEAKER_00And training your legs should be fucking hard. So get over it, Chad. It's gonna be hard, but it's gonna pay off in the end. It's gonna be worth it for aesthetics and for your health and mobility. And do all the movements that we said in a good program and just watch your legs grow. And everyone likes a nice ass. And an ass is we're gonna we're part of your legs. No matter who you're attracted to, everyone likes a nice ass. And asses are back. They are, they're not fake asses, they're very real worked for asses.
SPEAKER_01I think fake asses are back too. It's all back. No, I'm saying they're bad, they're in, but it's like you can work, you can build. Right, you can build it. You can build it. I'm trying. It's hard. It's really hard.
SPEAKER_00It's hard.
SPEAKER_01It's for a lot of people. It's very hard, but working on it. Keep doing it. Yeah. Alright. Peace out.