Today we’re going to help you tackle the feat that is leg day. It could be your favorite or most hated training day of the week. Leg day requires you to be on your A-game, so we are going to help you do that so you don’t die. Knowing is half the battle.
PREP
- Prep is an essential aspect of good training, so make sure you’re not half-assing it.
- Make sure you have a plan. You should already know what you’re planning on doing.
- Before you go into the gym, figure out what you’re going to do for your workout that day.
- Don’t undervalue machines, especially if you’re a beginner.
- The leg press is not a substitute for a squat, but if you’re beginning, that’s okay!
- Ease into leg day.
- Get a feel for the movement, but if you’re just starting out, you want to make sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard.
- Mitigate DOMS as much as you can.
- EAT. You need to eat. Get some good complex carbs in your body the night before leg day so you have a full tank of gas.
- If you feel light-headed, reach for a snack. Pack some nuts, a string cheese, granola bar, protein bar, something small to make sure you won’t pass out from hunger.
- Wear the right outfit. And I’m not talking about being cute.
- Looking cute is one thing, but you want to make sure you’re secure. You want to make something covers your crotch and such when you’re squatting and deadlifting.
- Get a good warmup in, and make sure to go back and do more warmup if your legs don’t feel right during your first set of movements.
- Put on a loud or bassy playlist and get to work. Check out our Spotify for some suggestions.
TRAINING
- Leg day isn’t that scary when you figure out how your body is gonna react to the strain, so take your notebook with you to the gym and take notes.
- You can find our free training notebook pages here.
- Ease your way into your workout. Once you get a good warmup in, focus on movements that are going to help you get ready for those big movements you’ll be doing in the middle of your workout.
- Focus on less weight more reps to practice doing the movement and to see how it feels for the given day.
- If you’re doing your own workouts, you want to structure it to look kinda like a pyramid with your lighter movements loaded in the front and back, and with your heavy/intense work in the middle.
- When it comes to squats: knees always out. Knees over toes is okay, and make sure your knees are pushing out when you stand up from a squat.
- IF AT ANY TIME SOMETHING FEELS WEIRD OR STABBY, STOP IMMEDIATELY AND TALK TO SOMEONE THAT WORKS AT THE GYM. Please ask for help so you don’t get injured.
- Just because you didn’t do the movement correctly the first time, doesn’t mean you can’t learn it and perfect it in the future.
- At the end of your workout, it’s never a bad idea to work some core movements into your workout every day. You use your core a lot. You should add abductors and adductors into your daily schedule too.
- There are tons of resources on the internet, if you’re looking for mobility work and you’re not quite sure what to do, just look it up.
- If you get to a point where you are gassed in your workout; do some stretching, take a slow walk on the treadmill and call it a day.
RECOVERY
- If you didn’t over-do it, your post-workout recover won’t be very complicated. You shouldn’t need the theragun or the electrodes.
- DOMS is terrible. Days two and three will be the worst. If it hits, do some light stretching or take a walk and it will help you a ton.
- Cooldown is important. Do SOME static stretching before you finish your session.
- The best thing you can do for yourself when you’re sore is to move. It can be as quick as a ten minute walk around the block. You want to get those muscles a little warm, and they’ll start to hurt less.
- Epsom salt baths are magic when it comes to muscle soreness.
- Make sure you eat a good meal after your workout. You’re going to be hungry. Especially after leg day.
- Make sure you hit all your macros for the day. You need that carbs, fat, and protein to rebuild and replace all of that energy you burned.
- Make sure you get a full 8 hours of sleep. It makes a HUGE difference.
- Sleep is when your muscles grow. So if you want to look like you lift weights, you need to get your sleep.
With some planning, leg day isn’t going to wreck you. You can do this!
One response
I recently found (and love) your podcast, so now I’m searching your site for some answers to my nagging questions. My main question is this: I have been lifting (and running…I love both) for YEARS. I’m consistent, but maybe I don’t get enough lifting days. (I do 4 days on of lift, run, lift, run and then a rest day. Repeat, repeat, repeat). In any case, no matter what I do I always, always have DOMS after lower body day. It makes running no fun (and I have to have fun) and I cannot figure out how to minimize the soreness. I welcome your feedback. Thank you!