Training Legs - Why we do it…

Yesterday I trained my nemesis; Legs! I am not particularly a fan of training legs because training legs simply means that you have to pull something special out of you from way down. All that lunging, squating, leg curling and leg pressing takes a lot of physical and mental strength. But the big player in all of this is your mental strength. I guarantee you that by my 1st walking lunge set; I’m ready to throw in the gym-towel but I won’t and I can’t because I merely have to conjure up one image of Jamie Eason and I am suddenly lunging all the way until failure!

My leg work-outs usually look like this:

25 minute warm-up on the stepper ( and by warm-up I purely mean already sweating and panting!)

Then the games are over and the (read torture) fun starts:

Leg Extensions- 4 sets, 12-15 reps , on my last set I go as heavy as possible for at least 6 reps  

Walking Lunges with a 17kg barbell, until failure [Ready to die]

Then comes the infamous squats- 30-35kg on my back and I am squatting for my life at 12 reps for 4 sets.

What is a leg work-out without a few dead-lifts; 12 reps for 4 sets as heavy as I can manage it.

I continue the war against my legs with Leg extensions, step-ups, Leg curls, Leg presses, calve raises and seated calve raises and then (just in case my legs hadn’t had enough) I finish with a 10 minute treadmill sprint.

Why do I do this to myself; go through all this hard work and pain for what? I don’t do it merely for vanity because if I did, I would have given in a long time ago and stayed on my snuggly couch instead. No,  I do it because at the end of it all I feel accomplished, empowered and like I have just come out of the battle field. My comparisons may seem dramatic but it is truly how I feel; strong, determined and like I can conquer anything that may come my way.

This is why I train legs and every other part of my God-given body almost every single day.