Is "leg day" always compulsory?

[BorkedKnees]

I used to be very fit, and ran a lot. I have had borked knees (hence the name) for years, and am building back up to running on a treadmill.
My routine until recently (in an attempt to get my heart/lungs working after a few years of skipping exercise completely) has been 30min crosstrainer followed by 30min treadmill, fast pace walking, increasing gradually - and then for the last (now up to 5) few minutes gentle jogging/running to build up strength in my knees.

(not sure if that is actually good, but it is working well)

i recently added some equipment, so i do 15 minutes crosstrainer to warm up, then upper body training then treadmill. Up to now i haven't added leg excertises because i figure running is enough. Is it enough? I don't want to build muscle, upper body is about arm toning and core muscles. I don't really want to add leg training unless absolutely necessary.
thanks in advance.

necessary for what... what are your fitness goals?

A lot of runners do strength work in their legs to reduce injury risk and strengthen their legs in general or target specific weak areas.

I do a couple of whole-body strength sessions a week and often use weights in my cooldown after runs.

If your knees are dodgy and you're looking to get back into running then yes. It'll help build strength which aids recovery and reduces the risk of injury- i would advise getting some tailored advice though on what to do and when.

just not being unfit, IYSWIM? I'm not planning to run marathons or 10k any time soon, those days are gone.

Thanks @BogRollBOGOF I'll speak to the trainer tomorrow. I don't really want to go more than twice a week (I swim once a week and cycle a fair amount) so i don't want a massive programme.

Nothing is compulsory.

do what keeps your joints supported.

isn’t “leg day” just a way for lifters to be able to train heavier anyway? So you have a leg day, then the next day do arms while your legs rest, etc… it’s more a work/rest schedule than anything important.

if you want to do arms and legs in the same day then have a day off wouldn’t the result be much the same? Especially if you aren’t training to incur DOMS so can do lighter workouts more often.

Yes, it's a way of alternating workouts so that you can work out frequently but rest different zones of the body at any one time.

Push/ pull days are another variation on the theme by alternating the muscle pairs.

I think people laugh about skipping leg day because then you get bodybuilding torso/arms on skinny legs!

I agree with pp that adding in some basic leg strengthening will help prevent injury from running. But it definitely doesn’t need to be a whole session

thanks all - i don't want to bulk up anywhere (i would prefer to have my flat stomach back) I just wrote "leg day" because it's a bit of A Thing i guess.

But thanks all, i can see that my thinking has been off and a combination of strengthening exercises for my legs/knees would be better than what I'm doing so i'll speak to my trainer tomorrow.