Do Not Skip Leg Day! Why?

Hello everyone, today I want to talk about why we should emphasize leg work. It is well established that leg muscles are the ones that undergo the highest rate of atrophy during the aging process. This is well demonstrated in previous studies such as this one recently published in the Journal of Applied Physiology looking at the rate that hamstrings, quadriceps, and triceps surae atrophy within a 50-year aging period from age 25 to age 75. The average muscle loss varies from ~16.5% for hamstrings, 28% for the quadriceps, and 13.5% for the calf muscles. It’s clear that the quads are the ones that display the highest rate of mass loss with aging. This can be visualized in this other study that did a CT scan of the thigh and compared the quads from a young 33-year-old man to an older 77-year old man. The classical analysis is that less muscle means less leg strength, weaker bones, loss of balance, and frailty. However, I want to draw the attention to the fact that leg muscles are also critical for proper glycemic control. This is not often spoken about, although very important for overall health. To illustrate this, let’s look at a study that was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation back in 1985. The researchers used the euglycemic insulin clamp technique, which allowed them to raise and maintain plasma insulin at approximately 100 microU/ml while also maintaining blood glucose constant. They also inserted a catheter into the femoral artery to measure how much glucose was utilized by leg muscles. The experiment involved two groups: a control non-diabetic and a diabetic group. The first important findings was a strong positive correlation between leg glucose uptake and total body glucose uptake. This was true for both non-diabetic control (red dots) and diabetic (black dots) subjects. However, it is noticeable that in non-diabetics the total and leg rates of glucose utilization were much higher than in diabetics. Despite the differences in the capacity to take up glucose between the groups, it was estimated that ~ 87-90% of the infused glucose was disposed primarily in leg muscles. This is clearly demonstrated in this next graph comparing insulin-stimulated leg glucose uptake in control and diabetic subjects over time. In fact, insulin-stimulated leg glucose uptake was 45% lower in diabetics than in controls. This accounts for the entire difference in whole-body glucose uptake between diabetics and non-diabetics. Thus, if leg muscles shrink and loose the capacity to process glucose in response to insulin, blood glucose levels will likely rise and greatly increase the chances of developing type 2 Diabetes. What is the important practical conclusion? To be healthy and live a long life, we have to maintain leg muscle mass as we age and also make sure that leg muscles are fully responsive to insulin. The best way to achieve both is through resistance and endurance training. Resistance training stimulates muscle hypertrophy, whereas endurance training enhances the ability of muscles to uptake and utilize glucose. So, do not skip leg day and make sure that your training program emphasizes the large leg muscle groups!!! See you in the next, bye for now.

[@simplyamy4059]

This was really informative as a beginner to running & training, thanks Rolando :)

[@abirgharbaoui7551]

How is joana ceddia ? Is she fine ? Tell her please that i miss her videos ❤ .

[@Cheezezit]

Can I do leg day on pig legs? My piggies Gertrude, and Johan really need a step up like they need big STRONG LEGS 💪 what would you recommend?