By Dr. Simone Losi
The training of the legs in general in Italian gyms often plays a secondary role, compared to the training of the upper body.
The motivation lies in the fact that training your legs well involves a lot more effort (in fact if we think about it we are half of our body), and then there is the popular belief that arms and pectorals developed in a greater way amplify the effect of physical grandeur .
In fact, it is easier to see people with big arms on the beaches, rather than with well turned legs ... and this negatively affects body symmetry.
The beauty of a toned and muscular body lies in its proportions and body symmetry, and unfortunately too often the lower limbs are trained little and badly, creating a disproportionate physique and let me pass the term .... ridiculous.
Now I will illustrate the exercises in my opinion best to significantly develop the lower limbs.
Used with a high number of reps (around 20), this exercise allows an important hormonal incretion which also positively affects the general growth of the body.
Those who have postural or spinal problems and cannot use this magnificent exercise, can opt for dumbbell lunges, an excellent exercise that, even if it cannot be compared to the first in terms of effectiveness, is still a valid alternative.
The press can be considered the second alternative to the squat, also because at high loads it can be harmful for the lumbar spine (due to the vertebral compression that is created in the eccentric phase of the movement).
Semitese leg deadlifts are a very useful exercise to develop ischiocrural and gluteus, although in truth there is also a notable intervention of the spinal erectors. It too must be inserted very carefully in a training card, and above all used with non-maximal loads, due to the obvious risk of vertebral compressions.
As an alternative to this, there is always the classic leg curl, preferring the seated version over the prone position, since the latter can weigh more heavily on the spine.
Another machine often used in the gym is the leg extension, which in my opinion is overrated, in the sense that no gesture in nature provides for such a movement, and despite the apparent ease in the execution of the gesture, this machine is not exempt from risks.
The use of the tips of feet in or out has no physiological significance, while still today we see many people performing the exercise in both ways, thinking (incorrectly), to develop one of the two broader ones.
Now let's move on to the less trained muscle group in an absolute sense ... The GASTROCNEMIO muscle, commonly called Calf.
Actually to be precise, the calf consists of two distinct muscles: the gastrocnemius and the soleus, the first biarticular, the second monoarticular.
The gastrocnemius muscle, being richer in white fibers, should be trained with heavy loads and an average number of repetitions (from 8 to 12), while the soleus, being richer in red fibers, responds better to a workout based on a number of highest repitizionis (up to 20).
The CALF standing with dumbbell is an excellent exercise for the gastrocnemius, better if performed a limb at a time (monolaterally), while the CALF sitting more involves the soleus.
Intra or extra-rotate the tibia to obtain pseudo-benefits on the most lateral or medial part, in the long run it will only create problems for the ankle and / or knee joint.
A final note concerns the cyclization of lower limb training: while the proper leg can be trained even more than once a week, it is not advisable to train the quadriceps and ischiocrural muscles more than once every 7-10 days, especially if you use high synergy exercises such as squats and deadlifts; this is due to the fact that these muscles need longer recovery and supercomposition times.
