Thread: Not working legs and weight loss

Originally Posted by ebp123

If you train your entire body very hard for an extended period of time and then quit doing legs all together for a long time, will you lose a fair amount of weight from not working your legs and losing muscle in them?

It varies depending on the person and the circumstances. There are paraplegics with 6 pack abs, so your question can't be answered.

I think the more important question is why you aren't working legs?

Alright let me try to clarify my question...Say for example a person gains 30lbs of muscle over an extended period of time from lifting hard (legs and upper body) and eating properly. Now lets say that same person reached the point of their natural limits and continued to lift weights and eat properly, only they cut out legs from their routine altogether. Generally speaking (and i know this answer will vary slightly from person to person) how much weight (about) do you think this person would lose after a few months of muscle atrophy in their legs from not working them at all?

12.4565lbs.

Its really impossible to guess that sort of thing. If you have legs, use them. What is certain is that youll get rid of what youre not using, and since your legs make up half you bodyweight and are the largest muscles in your body i would expect it to be a fair amount.

Thats not taking into account the benefits of working those muscles on the rest of your body, general posture, and overall mass gaining.

I remember somebody here saying "If you dont work legs you deserve the un-proportioned and injury-prone physique you will build."

I agree with this.

Originally Posted by ebp123

Alright let me try to clarify my question...Say for example a person gains 30lbs of muscle over an extended period of time from lifting hard (legs and upper body) and eating properly. Now lets say that same person reached the point of their natural limits and continued to lift weights and eat properly, only they cut out legs from their routine altogether. Generally speaking (and i know this answer will vary slightly from person to person) how much weight (about) do you think this person would lose after a few months of muscle atrophy in their legs from not working them at all?

Impossible to tell.

I can tell you, however, that not removing legs from your routine is a horrible idea. If anything, throw out every isolation exercise you do, and go to a full body routine utilizing compound movements working out 2 days a week. You would be much better off.

Also, why do you want to stop working legs?

Just keep working your legs and you'll never have to know...