It’s an unfortunate truth that many guys who want to get into shape will neglect their legs and the sad fact is that even they know this is probably a mistake.

The thing is that when you’re pushing something, lifting something, or even punching, almost all your power comes from your legs. Your legs are also the most useful in a lot of sports, helping you to run faster, jump higher and kick harder. Even if you’re out to pull, a lot of girls focus on legs and bums just as we do and you’re far more likely to have them on display than you are your abs. Even more vitally, training your legs will boost your body’s anabolic process meaning you build more muscle, and as they’re one of our largest muscle groups they’ll also burn up more fat through maintenance. So building up your legs can actually improve your upper body! What is it about training legs then that most guys get put off by?

Part of the problem is that they haven’t considered all the above. They think they should train their legs just because they’re ‘meant to’, or because they’ll look disproportionate otherwise. This then makes it become a chore. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger used to have trouble motivating himself to train his calves, which is why he famously cut the bottoms of his trousers off so that his weedy calves would constantly be on display unless he bulked them up.

Another part of the problem is the dirt of exercises available for the legs. Ask most guys and they’ll likely only be able to name a few for the legs. There’s of course the mighty squat – which is actually one of the best exercises for your whole body in the gym and other than that there’s the calf raises, the lunges, the leg extension machine and the leg curl machine. These are all good but don’t provide anywhere near the same range of options as those available for the upper body. Furthermore they all require equipment (other than potentially the calf raises if you do them on the stairs or with one leg behind the other) meaning you can’t train at home or on the move. Plus the squat bloody hurts…

Others you might not have considered though are the sissy squat – where you squat using your own bodyweight by leaning back on tip toes like neo out of the matrix; the one legged squat – where you squat with just one leg; the box jump – where you jump on and off of a box providing a plyometric ‘explosive’ movement; the jack in the box – which is actually far harder than you probably remember; the knee raise – where you sit down with a weight on your knee and do calf raises; the leg press – where you push a group of weights away from your body while seated; or the deadlift – where you squat to pick a barbell up off the floor and hold it in front of you.

Armed with these and a few more from your own research you should realise that training your legs can be just as rewarding and varied as training any other part of your body. Remember: weak legs are for girls!

Mack LeMouse

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