Why This PT Says You Don't Need Leg Day?
Post at 23:14 - 10/04/2018

Muscle cramps, DOMs, searing lactic acid and buckets of sweat — there's a reason leg day is the most feared of the day of the entire week. 

 

But what if we (or, more accurately, a professional personal trainer) told you that it needn't be so? 

Australian PT Dylan Rivier has said that, in order to build muscle and lose fat, you're probably approaching your training wrong — and it definitely applies to leg day. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Rivier said, "The biggest mistake I see in the gym with the guys is that they get caught up in a split/bodybuilding routine when it's not necessary."

Sound familiar? We thought so. Chances are — unless you're a professional bodybuilder, obvs — this type of training style isn't suitable for you, apparently. 

Continuing, Rivier said that there's "definitely a time and place for that type of training, but if you're a regular Joe, it's probably a waste of your time."

"If you're splitting your workout into muscle groups for example – like Monday, chest day, Tuesday, leg day etc – it means there's a full seven days between workouts for those muscles," he explains. "If you train your chest on Monday, and then don't do it again until the following Monday, you've lost most of the gains you were trying to make by the time you train again."

He's not wrong. According to a recent review in the journal Sports Medicine, you need to be training each muscle group twice weekly to see the most gains. 

In the review, scientists analysed 10 previous studies comparing muscle growth, finding that muscles worked twice a week grew more than when trained only once. 

 

So far, so obvious — but the study found that, for example, three sets across two days (opposed to six sets on one day) built bigger muscles, as the body was placed into a more effective muscle-building state.

 

 

Similarly, if future-proof health is your goal, then a sedentary lifestyle study found that people who were active — from brisk walking to heavy lifting — were doing more than enough to counteract a desk-bound sedentary lifestyle. However, this all may just be the tip of the iceberg for your gym mistakes. Here, we talk you through your tempo, the ideal weights to use, your rest periods and more, making sure you're on your way to being the best version of yourself. 

That said, don't consider this a green light to start skipping leg training.

Instead, by implementing squats, deadlifts and presses across your training,you'll be elevating your T-levels far more efficiently than any other exercise, while developing more muscle and — according to the Journal of Applied Physiology — burning more calories than any other workout, boosting your metabolic rate long after you leave the gym.

Plus, you won't have chicken legs, which is an added bonus. 

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