It’s pretty common for even regular gym-goers to skip leg day – and you can’t blame them. Legs are made up of the biggest, most powerful muscles in your entire body, and we all know that the bigger the muscles, the more resources and energy they require to grow. And even if you do power through a tough leg day, it’s not an area where you’ll see significant results or that post-workout “pump” right away.
To add insult to injury, the DOMs – or delayed onset muscle soreness – after a leg workout is like no other. If you’re sore, you’re feeling that for days, making it hard to do just about anything, even walk. This is why it’s easier to make it an excuse to skip leg day altogether. Not to mention all the gym equipment you have to make use of.
Despite all this, you can and should do leg exercises, not least because otherwise, you'll look like a lollipop, having a sizeable upper body and puny little legs. Start with this workout:
Called the THICCer dumbbell leg workout, PT, Gymshark athlete and Instagram influencer Elika Bang’s routine uses only a single dumbbell and can be done in under 30 minutes. For the best results, use an adjustable dumbbell so you can adjust the weight between sets and maximise muscle activation.
The four exercises included in this leg workout are:
- Close Goblet squat (4 sets, 10-12 reps)
- Elevated Lunge (4 sets, 8-10 reps)
- Split stance RDL (4 sets, 8-10 reps)
- Knee Raise Sumo (3 sets, 30 secs).
Writing about his own experience using this workout, he said: “Last year my legs were my weakest point, still not the greatest but made some great progress. No matter what type of situation you are in, we all gotta start somewhere. Believe in your hard work, and your hard work will pay off.”
We aren't sure if Elika was referencing CrossFit legend Mat Fraser's catchphrase here, but it's true: it's consistency that'll get you the results you want, so make sure you put the effort and show up in the gym day after day; otherwise, you won't see an impact in your physique, ever.
