Thread: I Need Big Legs!!

Why would you do legs three times a week? What's the rest of your leg day(s) look like?

This is all i do for legs (the three exercises above).

This is what my workouts look like:

Monday:Arnold presses, standing db or cable laterals, bent over t-bar rows, upright rows, abs

Tuesday: cardio and abs

Wednesday: Deadlifts. ng chins, wg seated rows, bent over cable rows

Thursday: Push presses, cable crosses, pullovers, abs

Friday: Lunges, dips, rope pulldowns, cable curls, seated calfs

Saturday: ab circuit, and cardio

Sunday: squats, bent over bb rows, power pushups

I am also starting 20 min of cardio every a.m.

Well.....It's interesting!

lol.

ok.

so i geuss that means that you dont agree that i should do one really heavy leg exercise 3 times a week instead of hitting my legs hard once a week with mulitplie exercises?

I don't necessarily "disagree" ....I know that I wouldn't train like that though, lol.

Do you have a trainer? Who set this program up for you?

Know some great Russian programs for the legs.. Smolov would get your legs screaming in a wk easy! It makes 20 rep squats inferior!


Kc

I don't understand you want to lose the bodyfat in your legs so your on a mass building routine for legs?You want to lose bf you need to diet.PS I don't think that's enough for legs you have no iso exercises which are great for detail.

I think you'd be far better off combining the three days into one.

Squats
Leg press or stationary lunges.
SLDL (straight leg deadlifts)
A little calf work.

DONE

W8= yes, i do have a trainer but he is only helping me part time. He suggested that i only do one exercise 3 times a week so that i can go REALLY hard and it doesnt seem as daunting as 4 exercises in one workout.

MC= yes, i hold all my bodyfat in my legs (my shoulders have striations and i have all my abs but i am still 18%) if i dont build the legs and just cut them down then i will be left with TWIGS.

I find it alot easier (for myself) to do one leg exercise 3 days a week. Does anyone have any better exercises other than squats, deadlifts, and lunges that work yah hard?

Originally posted by J'Bo
W8= yes, i do have a trainer but he is only helping me part time. He suggested that i only do one exercise 3 times a week so that i can go REALLY hard and it doesnt seem as daunting as 4 exercises in one workout.

HST (Hypertrophy-Specific Training) approach.

Originally posted by J'Bo
I find it alot easier (for myself) to do one leg exercise 3 days a week. Does anyone have any better exercises other than squats, deadlifts, and lunges that work yah hard?

Why do you think you aren't building muscle in your legs? It's not because Squats deads and lunges aren't all good exercises, it's because your doing them with only one day breaks in between and your not fully recovering form your previous workout.
Basically, squats and lunges are using the same muscles, if you were working say, Quads on monday, hams on Wednesday and then quads again friday, you might be ok.

You should be doing SLDL not regular Deads for legs as well.

I find it alot easier

Do you want muscular legs or an easy workout?

Scotty, that is one of the theories behind HST.

Acute vs. Chronic Stimuli
In order for the loading to result in significant hypertrophy, the stimulus must be applied with sufficient frequency to create a new "environment", as opposed to seemingly random and acute assaults on the mechanical integrity of the tissue. The downside of taking a week of rest every time you load a muscle is that many of the acute responses to training like increased protein synthesis, prostaglandins, IGF-1 levels, and mRNA levels all return to normal in about 36 hours. So, you spend 2 days growing and half a week in a semi-anticatabolic state returning to normal (some people call this recovery), when research shows us that recovery can take place unabated even if a the muscle is loaded again in 48 hours. So true anabolism from loading only lasts 2 days at best once the load is removed. The rest of the time you are simply balancing nitrogen retention without adding to it.
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_index.html

So can anyone tell me how to build the legs harder and faster?

I am building from the routine i am on now and i feel completely recovered before i do legs again but maybe someone else knows of a better approach.

Prince, can you help a skinny legged chick out?

There are many followers/believers of HST and I am not going to knock it because I have never tried it.

If it's working, and you're making progress, keep doing it.

I will stick with it now cause it seems to be working. After my 2 comps i will sit down and change the leg routine up. I will have 8 solid months of leg building to get my twiggys to respond. Wait til you guys see the improvements in my butt though (from last year). I am on my way to a cinnimon bun butt. Yippee.

Originally posted by J'Bo
MC= yes, i hold all my bodyfat in my legs (my shoulders have striations and i have all my abs but i am still 18%) if i dont build the legs and just cut them down then i will be left with TWIGS.

How would you be left with twigs you already are left with the twigs there just covered in fat.Still think you'd be better off with some combo of iso exercises as well as mass building to get bigger more detailed legs.

I have to agree with Scotty! I believe two or three days a week keeps your muscle torn down and not able to recoup and grow. Stick with a good one day a week program..................train em till you puke. Give em the rest of the week to rest and within several months you will notice a big improvement.
BTW.....................I never saw no fat on your legs!!

Umm have i mentioned that i dont have a couple months. LOL.

Well i did more than one leg exercise today so i will bring it down to legs 2 times a week but more than one exercise.

Check out my online diary and it shows the workout.

Thanks guys.

And yes i know that i have twigs covered in fat but i dont want twigs without fat cause then i wont have any shape and be right off. Get it?

Well, I did analyze this workout of yours J'Bo but three times a week along with cardio I can't imagine full recuperation, so I have to agree with some in the sense of too much!

In a powerlifting sense when I was training with a powerlifter I was splitting the quads with the hams separating them by 2 to 3 days.

For example, I would do quads on Sunday

Alternate:
- Leg press/4 sets/10 reps
- Squats/4 sets/10 reps

Alternate:
-Hack Squats/4 sets/10 reps
-Walking Lunges:/4 sets/~ unlimited (Depending on the distance chosen)

Leg Extensions (Wednesday or Thurday)

Hamstrings:

- Stiff legged deadlifts/4 sets/10 reps
- Lying down Leg Curls/4 sets/10 reps
- Standing 1 Legged leg curls/4 sets/10 reps

For example: I was weak in those area's and was only able to do 500lbs Vertical leg presses and 135 lbs Stiffed legged deadlifts

I am able to do 1,250 lb leg presses (8 reps) and 250 lbs (SLDL)!

I changed the routine up after 4 weeks and changed all rep motions minus the warm ups to 5 reps only rather than 10 to increase more strength. And for me, it WORKED.

Just my opinion on what helped me increase size and strength And really, you may not want to know how I cut them up!

Dave,

Thats great advice and i think that it will work for me too.

Going to replan my workouts in my diary, maybe you could check them out once i am done and give me your opinion. I like your approach.

You might want to do two exercises per workout, but keep WORKING sets to say 2 or 3 tops. For example, warmup, then do 2 working sets of squats, then 1 of presses or extensions.

I am on HST now. It is interesting, especially for a non-believer.

Originally posted by Twin Peak
You might want to do two exercises per workout, but keep WORKING sets to say 2 or 3 tops. For example, warmup, then do 2 working sets of squats, then 1 of presses or extensions.

I am on HST now. It is interesting, especially for a non-believer.

Although I have also never tried it, Like TP said said, give it a try! Your body may respond very well, J'Bo!

I would love to check out your journal, J'Bo! (which diary?)

When it comes to cutting those fine legs, know that I will be intensely observing your workout!

BTW, by non-believer, I meant me.

Yes, i think we know what you mean. Hows it going for you? TP.
I do keep my working sets to 3 max. and make sure that i lift as heavy as i possibly can without falling over.

Suprisingly well. I had serious doubts. I was/am a big believer in hit it hard, and rest.

Despite this, I am in my fifth week. I have consistently increased weight -- gotten stronger -- DESPITE dieting. Indeed in this time I have dropped 4 pounds and 3 inches on my waist.

That said, I hate the full body workout. Its boring and long and tiring.

Next time I do an HST cycle, I am going to do 6 half body w/os per week rather than 3 full body workouts.

Oh, I knew that TP, but mentally I can't imagine it working for me because I believe those 2 sets have to be hit hard and I hate injuries regardless of how great my warm up is. It's a trial and error I went through and believe me... it doesn't feel right for me.

I like the basic power moves and often change the rep ranges
/feet positioning/angles striving towards my goals for success depending on my goals.

Thats great to hear TP. Yes full body workouts are boring for me as well.

I cant wait to hear more about your HST training. My trainer does it and his legs are HUGE. He competed in NPC a couple of years ago and come first in his class.

He has done this for a long time? I have heard little of top competitors using HST.

Also, the key, as you said above, is really going heavy. HST is not some newbie full body routine. For example, I am on my 5 rep week and this morning I did incline barbell bench for 340, front squats for 315, SLDL for 315, military presses with 255, barbell curls with 165, overhead dumbbell extensions with 65 per arm, barbell rows with 295, pulldowns with 280, shrugs with 425, calves with the rack plus 8 plates, dips with 160 pounds added.

I point this out, not just to you (because you seem to understand it) but to those who haven't done HST.

BTW, the reason it takes so long, even when doing only 1 set of each, is the warming up to us those weights.