[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
Like Platz said, heavy weights + high reps = massive legs.
You have to get stronger to really get the most out of leg work that is most effective IMO.
Start adding weight to the bar with your back and front squat and add in high rep leg press/hack squat work. Do crazy stuff too. Dropsets, stripsets, continuous tension sets etc.
These are all great techniques and will certainly help you add size, but IMO, at your point strength-wise, you need to get stronger and that will bring your leg size up.
When you’re squatting 405 for reps, then look to focus more on this type of work. [/quote]
OP listen to this guy.
Post your typical workout. How many sets, of which exercises, including the weight used.
More often than not, peoples’ legs dont grow because they dont do enough volume.
Squat 305 for 3 sets of 20 reps and I bet youll have some big ass legs. Front squat that and they may get any bigger. As an example
[quote]bendthebar wrote:
I will reply back to everyone tomorrow. Dead-tired after gym and I worked 11 hours today, the job, not the gym. I will say I am pretty honored that Hallowed is posting here but also embarrassed since she called me small. The truth hurts but she’s right.[/quote]
Yeah, she is. 170lbs at that height won’t allow huge quads unless everything else is way behind.
You need more size all over. Don’t be that afraid to eat more food to grow.
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
More often than not, peoples’ legs dont grow because they dont do enough volume.
Squat 305 for 3 sets of 20 reps and I bet youll have some big ass legs. Front squat that and they may get any bigger. As an example[/quote]
This.
[/quote]
Ditto. You just have to keep getting stronger in your basic compund movements. Size is also gentetic to a point. For example I have naturally skinny legs for my height and years of training (25 inches at best)and thats after killing myself to get to a 4 plate squat for reps. I know not great but a lot of my friends and guys in the gym barely squat half that with half squats barely parallel and have better legs than me. A couple of my friends have big legs just from cardio work! My point is if I personally want bigger thighs I have to squat 5 plates for a few reps and 4 plates for 20. Get my point.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
How much do you weigh? It sounds like you simply need to eat more.[/quote]
170, my maintenance is at 2500 and I’ve been eating at 2800 to continue a lean gain. I know I can get fat easily so that’s why I do so.
[/quote]
Five ten
One Seventy
You are too small.
You need to eat more more more.
Pay special attention to peri workout nutrition.
How many carbs and grams of protein are you intaking post workout?
What is your total peri workout nutrition?
You need to get bigger all over… err, all muscles.[/quote]
Words of wisdom…
IE: 25 inch thighs would be respectable… 5’10 and 170 would not earn you respectable thighs. Once you are 190 at least then expect to see 25+ thighs… Also, how to get there; this is my method… I squat 3 times a week and deadlift twice a week. Don’t max, don’t train to failure, always a couple in the tank. 5-7 worksets per session.
Don’t bother with isolation until you have some real reason to (IE 29 inch thighs but slightly too small hamstrings or whatever)… Just squat, deadlift, front squat, leg press etc… you get the idea. Building big legs is easy if you are willing to put in the grunt work and eat your face off constantly. Everyone knows putting 300, 400, 500lb on your back 3 times a week isn’t easy, but it sure as hell works.
[quote]bendthebar wrote:
WTF?! Dave trains legs for the first time Jan 08, I think, and blows up 3 inches on his legs six months later. Am I doing something wrong? I’ve tried my best to squat deep and squat heavier each workout and switching to stiff-legged deadlift and doing leg curls every two weeks but I will never reach good thigh size. Shit I’d be satisfied at 25’s. Help!![/quote]
I wish I had your problem. My bi’s are 15.5" and my legs are under 20"…looks especially bad since I’m 6’3" ; ^ )
[quote]lumbahjack wrote:
20 rep squats or squatting for time instead of reps. Might need a nice place to vomit as well.
Good luck.[/quote]
Seriously, I would have someone work up to actually being somewhat strong before worrying about 20 rep squats.
That means both high weight/low rep AND high rep, not just one or the other.
The reason I can now do a heavier weight for higher reps is because of all of those years spent working on getting way stronger and often not going above 10 reps.
Yes, higher reps for legs seem to produce even greater results…but that is only if you are moving enough weight to still stress that muscle group…and getting that strong isn’t always done with high reps.
[quote]lumbahjack wrote:
20 rep squats or squatting for time instead of reps. Might need a nice place to vomit as well.
Good luck.[/quote]
Seriously, I would have someone work up to actually being somewhat strong before worrying about 20 rep squats.
That means both high weight/low rep AND high rep, not just one or the other.
The reason I can now do a heavier weight for higher reps is because of all of those years spent working on getting way stronger and often not going above 10 reps.
Yes, higher reps for legs seem to produce even greater results…but that is only if you are moving enough weight to still stress that muscle group…and getting that strong isn’t always done with high reps.[/quote]
yep. IMO 20 rep “vomit” training is useless before you develop a good level of strength. work in low rep range, get your squat up to 405 , then throw in advanced burn sets.
[quote]IronBP wrote:
I wish I had your problem. My bi’s are 15.5" and my legs are under 20"…looks especially bad since I’m 6’3" ; ^ )[/quote]
Less than 20 at the thickest part? Are you an ostrich?[/quote]
Ha! No, that’s at mid thigh. I’m 23.5" at the thickest part. I was a D1 collegiate distance runner with a bizarre propensity to develop decent upper body strength.
[quote]lumbahjack wrote:
20 rep squats or squatting for time instead of reps. Might need a nice place to vomit as well.
Good luck.[/quote]
Seriously, I would have someone work up to actually being somewhat strong before worrying about 20 rep squats.
That means both high weight/low rep AND high rep, not just one or the other.
The reason I can now do a heavier weight for higher reps is because of all of those years spent working on getting way stronger and often not going above 10 reps.
Yes, higher reps for legs seem to produce even greater results…but that is only if you are moving enough weight to still stress that muscle group…and getting that strong isn’t always done with high reps.[/quote]
^ This exactly. At one point in time I thought when I was doing 225 for 20 reps it was impressive and couldn’t figure out why I had small thighs. Then I ralized it wasn’t that great of a feat lol. But as I got stronger with heavy weight lower reps I was able to move up to 275 for 20. Now trying to work my way up to 315 for 20 and so on. Just like the Tom Platz quote “heavy weight for a high reps”, that’s what will do it.
[quote]bendthebar wrote:
I will reply back to everyone tomorrow. Dead-tired after gym and I worked 11 hours today, the job, not the gym. I will say I am pretty honored that Hallowed is posting here but also embarrassed since she called me small. The truth hurts but she’s right.[/quote]
Oh gosh don’t be embarassed.
You’re lifting and you want to get bigger. You’re humble enough to ask for help. You’re not defensive or arrogant.
You are WAY ahead of the game as far as that goes.
The good/bad news is that bodybuilders are always kinda too small. Even when they are hyooje. Start eating more, keep lifting and taking good advice… the day will come when YOU are the only one that thinks you are too small.
Oh and also I don’t mean too small for regular people. This is T-Nation. I only ever mean bodybuilder standards… and around here the standards are way higher than looking like you lift.
Sorry for the late replies, everyone. A 12 hour work day today, and yesterday about 8 hours. Thanks, hallowed really honored. Yep, T-Nation seems to have the highest standards in bodybuilding I’ve come across. It’s definitely improved from the last time I spent a lot of my time on T-Nation. Back then, the behavior was appalling, degrading, and flat out discouraged many newbs.
Now, people are helped, regardless of how young or inexperienced. It seems like the common thing that I can get out of all these replies is lift heavier on legs, eat more, and when I reach respectable poundages, say 315 for 10, my legs will naturally get bigger once I incorporate more exercises.
For anybody curious, this is how I lift on legs: 2 exercises only at the moment:
175, ramp up using 3 reps on each set, trying to do CT’s perfect rep method until I reach the work weight I’m trying to achieve. This time, I got to 310 for 4 reps, for 3 sets, with the last one only being able to do 2. After that was stiff-legged deadlifts, did two warm-up sets, then started work at 215 for 7 reps for 3 sets. Keep in mind every single set during this whole workout was done to failure. Afterwards was calves: 55 on standing, 310 on sitting.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
How much do you weigh? It sounds like you simply need to eat more.[/quote]
170, my maintenance is at 2500 and I’ve been eating at 2800 to continue a lean gain. I know I can get fat easily so that’s why I do so.
[/quote]
Five ten
One Seventy
You are too small.
You need to eat more more more.
Pay special attention to peri workout nutrition.
How many carbs and grams of protein are you intaking post workout?
What is your total peri workout nutrition?
You need to get bigger all over… err, all muscles.[/quote]
Words of wisdom…
IE: 25 inch thighs would be respectable… 5’10 and 170 would not earn you respectable thighs. Once you are 190 at least then expect to see 25+ thighs… Also, how to get there; this is my method… I squat 3 times a week and deadlift twice a week. Don’t max, don’t train to failure, always a couple in the tank. 5-7 worksets per session.
Don’t bother with isolation until you have some real reason to (IE 29 inch thighs but slightly too small hamstrings or whatever)… Just squat, deadlift, front squat, leg press etc… you get the idea. Building big legs is easy if you are willing to put in the grunt work and eat your face off constantly. Everyone knows putting 300, 400, 500lb on your back 3 times a week isn’t easy, but it sure as hell works.[/quote]
I’ll be damned, you’re right about having 25in thighs when you’re around 190+. I don’t train for BB proportions and my thighs are 25in with very little work that targets my quads (mostly posterior chain for PL).
[quote]lumbahjack wrote:
20 rep squats or squatting for time instead of reps. Might need a nice place to vomit as well.
Good luck.[/quote]
Seriously, I would have someone work up to actually being somewhat strong before worrying about 20 rep squats.
That means both high weight/low rep AND high rep, not just one or the other.
The reason I can now do a heavier weight for higher reps is because of all of those years spent working on getting way stronger and often not going above 10 reps.
Yes, higher reps for legs seem to produce even greater results…but that is only if you are moving enough weight to still stress that muscle group…and getting that strong isn’t always done with high reps.[/quote]
yep. IMO 20 rep “vomit” training is useless before you develop a good level of strength. work in low rep range, get your squat up to 405 , then throw in advanced burn sets.[/quote]
My bad, hadn’t thought it through fully. Prof and Hanban are right. Getting stronger will make a huge difference.