Can You Do Legs After Back Day? (Solved!)

There are many factors which determine the effectiveness of your workouts.

One of the lesser known ones is the order in which you do your workouts throughout the week.

So, in this article, we discuss whether you can do legs after back day.

We look at the pros and cons of doing so, as well as thinking about other muscle groups that might be better to focus on the day after back day.

Can You Do Legs After Back Day?

You can do legs after back day.

In fact, many gym-goers do so as it allows your upper body an opportunity to rest and recover after a heavy back session.

After back day, your upper body will be feeling fatigued as you would’ve lifted some heavy weights during your workout.

As a result, the working muscles will appreciate having some time to rest and recover before being targeted again.

By doing legs after back day, you switch the focus from your fatigued upper body to your lower body which should be much fresher and ready to train hard.

If a rest day follows your leg day, then your upper body will end up having at least 48 hours of rest and recovery time before having to activate again.

Doing legs after back day is an effective way of training and can help you get some very good results from your training program.

Benefits of Doing Legs After Back Day

It Gives Your Fatigued Upper Body Time To Recover

Back day will likely involve lifting some pretty heavy weights.

This can have quite a big impact on your upper body and it can be heavily fatigued as a result.

When your upper body is fatigued, it’s a good idea to allow it time to rest and recover before targeting any upper body muscles again.

While this might sound like a good idea, having too many rest days can make it hard for you to fit in all the workouts you need to in a week to keep you moving toward your fitness goals.

By doing legs after back day, you’re giving your upper body muscles the time they need to rest and recover while still training hard and in an effective way.

Your lower body will be doing all of the work while your upper body recovers ready to train hard again in a day or two.

It Allows You To Work Big Muscle Groups On Consecutive Days

Training big muscle groups (like chest, back, and legs), takes a toll on your body.

If you try to work too many large muscle groups too closely together, it can actually end up having a detrimental impact on your training rather than a positive one.

However, if you get the order right, you can work large muscle groups on consecutive days and get some great benefits as a result.

For example, if you follow a PPL (push, pull, legs) training plan, this allows you to work your chest (and shoulders, and triceps) on one day, followed by your back (and biceps) the next day before targeting your legs on the third consecutive day.

This training method means you’re working your body hard throughout your training week while still giving the working muscles suitable time to rest and recover before you train them again.

Drawbacks of Doing Legs After Back Day

Fatigue

After back day, you’ll likely feel quite fatigued.

You would’ve lifted some heavy weights, done some big movements, and worked your body hard throughout your back workout.

This can mean that you feel too tired or unmotivated to do an effective leg workout.

As your legs are such a large muscle group, they’ll take a lot of effort and focus to train them properly.

If you’re feeling too fatigued after back day, then it might be a better idea to have a rest day before switching your focus on to your legs.

Should You Do Legs After Back Day?

Many gym-goers do legs after back day as it’s a very effective way of training.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right thing for you to do. But it certainly can help you reach your muscle-building fitness goals.

There aren’t too many reasons why you shouldn’t do legs after back day, but it’ll probably be more about your personal preferences as to whether it’s the right thing for you or not.

Is It Better To Do Back After Leg Day?

Normally, it’s a good idea to do back before leg day.

This is because your legs are placed under tension (and have to activate) during some back exercises like deadlifts and bent-over rows.

If you have fatigued legs from leg day, the amount of weight you’ll be able to lift during some back exercises could be significantly less which can impede your results quite a lot.

Is It Safe To Do Legs After Back Day?

As a general rule, it’s completely safe to do legs after back day.

As long as you’re injury-free and your legs are appropriately recovered from any previous exercise, you should have very few issues when doing legs after back day.

Conclusion

In summary, you can do leg day after back day since your legs are lower body and your back is upper body. This means your legs will still be fresh after training back.

That’s all for this article, but what about chest day after back day? Or can you do back day after shoulder day?

Hope this helped!

Sources

https://www.healthline.com/health/signs-of-overtraining