Running After Leg Day Workout- Is It A Good Idea?

If you were to search on the internet for the most asked questions in strength and bodybuilding forums, you are bound to come upon the question of if running after leg day workout is a good idea”. One of the reasons why this question is one of the top questions asked is that there isn’t a straightforward, black and white answer.

There are many factors one needs to consider before getting an answer this question. Fortunately, by the end of this article, you should have a clearer idea of the answer and how it affects you.

One thing to note before taking any recommendations is that you need to be aware of possible outcomes and effects when you run the day after leg day.

Ways Running After Leg Day Can Affect Your Training

Running is perhaps one of the most preferred and practical exercises to achieve various fitness goals. It is the simplest form of physical workout recommended for everyone, no matter the fitness level.

Running is an activity that can be done outdoors for various reasons, such as getting a dose of vitamin D. However, if the weather doesn’t permit it, you can still run by hopping on a treadmill. Considering the advantages of running, is it a good idea to run the day after a particularly strenuous leg day?

Regardless of the positives or negatives, it is essential to understand how running the day after can influence your goals and overall training.

Positives

It Can Keep You Healthy

Research has shown that extended periods of aerobic activity can help keep your lungs and heart-healthy. Generally, an adult should try to attain at least 2 hours of aerobic exercise such as walking fast or 75 minutes of vigorous activity such as sports or running. Reaching these recommended amounts can help improve your general wellbeing while also lowering the risks of numerous diseases.

Can Help in Fat Reduction

The main principle of fat loss is to burn more calories than you consume. There are two methods to do this: the first is to increase the number of calories you burn by becoming more active, and the second is to decrease your calorie intake. For most healthy individuals, the most effective approach is to combine the two methods. Therefore, any extra activity such as running can be a great way to burn off more calories. Some experts even argue that running right after a strenuous resistance activity can increase how much fuel and fat you burn since the body has already burnt off its glucose stores during the prior exercise.

Improved Recovery

Getting your legs moving after a hard day of workouts can improve your recovery process. It can also help reduce some of the soreness you might be experiencing. This is because running increases blood flow to the tissues and muscles stressed during the leg workout.

Such increased blood flow to those spot supplies the muscles with more nutrients they require to repair themselves. This increase can also help eliminate any waste that might have accumulated in the muscles due to excessive training.

Negatives

Running Could Hinder Your Muscle Gains

While one of the positives of running right after leg day is fat loss, running can hinder muscle gains. The principle of fat loss is that you burn more calories than you consume; however, muscle gain requires the opposite. If you aim to increase your muscle mass, your body will require additional energy. The problem with running after leg day is that this needed energy that your body uses for muscle growth and repair is then burnt. When you add too much running after a strenuous leg day workout, you end up inhibiting your muscle growth.

Running Can Increase Your Injury Risk

After working on your legs, you are most likely feeling sore, with some muscles feeling tired and tight. Choosing to run on tight muscles is always a bad idea as muscle strains, tear, or pulls are more likely to occur. Generally, the tightness tends to appear the day after leg day, and that means you are likely to feel it if you run directly after your leg workout.

Running Can Impede Your Recovery

While running after leg day can improve your muscle recovery, it also has the potential to do the opposite if the intensity is not monitored. Your body tries to repair the muscles and tissues for about two days after leg day. If you do a highly intensive run during the recovery period, it will take your body a lot longer to recover from the run. Increasing the recovery demands on your body by too much could cause under-recovery, which could result in your training progress regressing or stalling.

What Does it All Mean?

After taking the time to read the positives and the negative, you might feel a lot more confused than you did at the start of this article. Thankfully, you can use the reasons for and against highlighted in this article to figure out how to achieve the positives without the negatives.

One thing you can do is pay close attention to how intense your run is. Choosing to go for an intense run after leg day isn’t the wisest decision. Pushing yourself too much in your run will only inhibit your recovery, raising the chances of you hurting yourself. To gain the benefits of running after leg day, you should go for a gentle run instead.

If there is one thing you take away from this article, it’s that any intense running should be saved for other days. Give your leg muscles enough time to recover before going for a hard run.

Running after leg day can be a significant fat loss and recovery tool; however, it is always best to stick to a lighter run. Going any harder could increase your risk of injury and inhibit your muscle recovery.