LIFE INGREDIENTS FITNESS
LOWER BODY FUNCTIONAL MUSCLE BUILDER
It all starts with the legs, even when you don’t think it does. Seriously. First, take sports: even when you’re not running or jumping, the legs are the body’s main power source, providing a stable base and transferring energy to the upper body. In the gym, it’s not just squatting; a strong bench press begins with the legs, too; no world record (or decent PR) was ever set without a good leg drive. Ditto for a powerful tennis or golf or baseball swing.
And when it comes to the pain in your back and neck, guess what? That probably started in your legs, too. That’s because your legs are the very first link in what is known as the kinetic chain. The same physics responsible for moving energy from the lower body to the upper body can also send pain up that chain. For example, if your ankle or toe is injured and you compensate with an altered gait, that can manifest at any point up the chain, making you feel knee, hip, lower back, upper back, neck or shoulder pain. Those tight hamstrings? You can be ure the discomfort won’t stay there. Like The Jeffersons, it won’t be long before that pain is movin’ on up. (I’m 61. My pop culture references are what they are.)
Suffice it to say that your body is truly one unit, and it makes sense to train it as such. “Never skip leg day” should be a sign that hangs over your desk, and when you do train legs, it should be primarily through compound movements (exercises that use more than one joint), as it is in this lower body functional muscle builder workout from my trainer, Steve Wrona. Take it away, Steve.
