Many people want to build muscle in the arms, shoulders, back and chest at the expense of the less "showy" lower body. Here's what they're missing.

The total volume of lower body muscle tissue accounts for approximately two-thirds of the body's overall muscle mass. This should come as no surprise, since this area consists of large muscle groups including the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps. Logically, the more tissue involved while performing a given exercise, the more energy that particular exercise will expend. It's supply and demand in action. Physiologically, the body replaces this expended energy, resulting in fat loss and lean weight maintenance.

So, with general fitness as a goal, any exercise program that involves the lower body extensively can be said to come out on top for overall fitness compared to those that do not. Ideally, the body's entire musculature should be involved when possible in order to achieve maximum results from any exercise program. This applies to all workouts, whether they are aerobic or resistance based.

Lower-Body Training and Aerobic Exercise

Have you ever noticed that there are fewer weight training pieces for the lower body marketed toward the average consumer compared to those that work the upper body? It's a simple matter of supply and perceived demand: Manufacturers of these products believe that fewer people would use a weight training device that targets the lower body due to the difficulty of the movements and the general lack of interest in developing lower-body strength. And they're probably correct.

Generally speaking, even if the practice aerobic training of upper-body tissue were popular, it would still provide a minimal overall cardiorespiratory benefit in comparison to the aerobic training of lower-body tissue of equal aerobic intensity. It's another example of supply and demand: The increased blood flow demanded by tissue at a greater distance from the heart during lower-body aerobics causes the circulatory system to work harder to keep up the supply, thereby increasing the stress imposed by the exercise.

The principle of extensive lower-body involvement for aerobic enhancement has been known by both health professionals and large, gym-based equipment manufacturers for years. Equipment such treadmills, stairmasters, and the like are among the many pieces of cardio-equipment that are rarely seen in infomercials and television spots, although they are present in cardio-rooms in just about every health club out there. If exercise equipment isn't good enough for a quality health club, odds are it's not good enough for the individual consumer.

Lower-Body Training and Weights

Since the lower-body is comprised of the greater amount of lean tissue relative to the upper-body, it follows that to achieve the best overall general fitness results, one needs to work these areas with a comparable or larger volume of resistance exercises. All too often, weight training enthusiasts neglect leg training, choosing instead to work on "show muscles". This often goes in tandem with the fact that lower-body musculatures are difficult to build. Yet, many competitive bodybuilders claim to experience greater upper-body growth when intensifying their lower-body training, generally in the form of "the squat".

"The squat" is widely viewed in the bodybuilding community as the pinnacle of weight training exercises. It is perhaps the single most difficult and demanding exercise in weight training as it involves the use of every lower-body prime mover. At the same time, it is perhaps the single most effective means of improving muscle endurance and increasing size and strength. High-rep sets aim for muscle endurance and general fitness, while low-rep sets can be used for increased size and strength.

Many devices aimed at the average consumer are based on the premise of offering a short cut to great results. Just remember that it pays to be skeptical of any new exercise gizmo that promises the moon, especially if it's never seen the light of a weight room.

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