Hams & Quads: Need Your Help

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

So I said I thought it was dumb to split up your legs into a ham day and a quad day, but I have seen the light haha. I want to try this for a while and see how my legs respond. One thing I’m having trouble with is getting enough exercises for each day. So if anyone has some good exercise suggestions I’d appreciate it. Here’s what I have so far.

Quads:
front squat
close stance hack squat
short step lunges
extensions

Hams:
Good Mornings
SL deadlift
Leg Curls

I really would like to have 5 exercises for each day so help me out please! ;)My ham day is especially lacking at this point.

Also GHR’s aren’t an option b/c I have no where to pin my feet and I work out alone so I don’t have someone to hold them. Back squats also never did anything for me so I’d prefer not to use them. Thanks guys.

2

GHR was the first thing to come to mind, but…

i really like the leg press, just because of the shear weight you are able to move…
sissy squats are an odd movement that i really using every once in a while too.

3

ive recently given hams and quads their own day too.
im doing HSS-100 for legs.
quads:
front squats (raised heels, close stance)
leg extensions
hack squats (raised heels, close stance)
sissy squats
leg extensions again for the 100 reps.
hams:
sl deadlifts
leg curls
good mornings
back extensions
leg curl again for 100 reps.

4

I feel a fairly significant strain on my hams when I do weighted back extensions.

5

Also, reverse hypers if you have access to one.

6

[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
So I said I thought it was dumb to split up your legs into a ham day and a quad day, but I have seen the light haha. I want to try this for a while and see how my legs respond. One thing I’m having trouble with is getting enough exercises for each day. So if anyone has some good exercise suggestions I’d appreciate it. Here’s what I have so far.

Quads:
front squat
close stance hack squat
short step lunges
extensions

Hams:
Good Mornings
SL deadlift
Leg Curls

I really would like to have 5 exercises for each day so help me out please! ;)My ham day is especially lacking at this point.

Also GHR’s aren’t an option b/c I have no where to pin my feet and I work out alone so I don’t have someone to hold them. Back squats also never did anything for me so I’d prefer not to use them. Thanks guys.[/quote]

I like back squats, but I realize not everyone gets the same mileage out of them.

Quad day looks alright. Throw in a few high rep sets on the leg press or power squat after the hacks, maybe.

Hams…hams are tricky. Obviously you’ve got the right idea with GMs and stiff deads, and beyond working those two hard I’m hard pressed to think of anything else that would be worth your time or isn’t almost the same exact thing. Dimel deads? Jefferson Lift? One legged DB dead? DB swings? Dunno…

7

Ahhh yes I do have access to the back extensions, forgot about those. I’ll be throwing those in. Thanks.

Also is there a way to leg press that targets the hams moreso than the quads? That would be dandy.

8

reverse leg curls are good if u can do them

9

Bosu ball squats… obviously.

10

I do a hip extension/glute ham raise thing (not sure wat the proper name is).
lay down face up on the ground with one heel on a bench and the other bent at 90 degrees. Lift your hips up and straighten your leg.
I do these after stiff leg deadlifts and leg curls to finish off and it Smashes my hams. Hold a plate on your non working leg to add resistance.
I think they had this as the exercise of the week a few weeks ago in the email.

Also, wat does your split look like? I want to split my leg day because my legs need some work but I’m not sure wat split to use yet.
Also, for those that have used a split leg day, did you continue to progress on your back squat? just seems to me that you use alot of glutes in back squats.

11

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
Also, reverse hypers if you have access to one.[/quote]

Wats a reverse hyper?

12

Wide stance-High foot placement Leg Press was a good exercise I found over from DC that I could feel in my hams but as I look around more, that particular exercise seems to be one of those: either you feel it or you don’t.

Sumo Deads for hams and glutes

Can’t really think of anything revolutionary that hasn’t already been posted off the top of my head for quads.

13

PULLTHROUGHSSSSSSSS, you can also do Glute Ham raises on a lat pull down machine and an extra bench.

1st post.

14

I have my 2 leg days set-up pretty much the same as you and I do the same things you do both days - but on hamstring days I also do cable pull-throughs (I have no access to a GHR or reverse hyper) and both standing and laying hamstring curls (if you don’t have access to machines you could do the ones where you lay on bench shown here: Fatloss LifeStyle's Best Hamstring Exercise for Legs - YouTube). I also do calves both days.

15

lunges wide steps to the side a bit! hamstring killer

16

Check out this article for some exercise ideas.

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article//most_powerful_program_ever

I would think 4 exercises to be enough.

But for quads you can probably add something like leg press, sissy squats or step ups

Hamstrings: Romanian DL, although with SLDL and GM this would be overkill.
As gay as it sounds, one legged leg curls on a swiss ball can be hard although I don’t think they do much for hyperthropy(more CNS).
One legged back extensions.
Pullthroughs, like said.
Standing leg curls - Kevin Levrone claims that this is the only exercise he used to build his hamstrings. The guy is a freak but you can’t argue that.

17

I don’t have a proper set up for GHRs either, but I lock my feet under one of the bars in the squat rack and do them. It is a bit of a sharp pain on the ankles but you could use a towel or anything and that might help.

You could load a bunch of 25lb plates on a bar and use that maybe. I’m sure you can come up with something if you use your noodle.

18

I do GHR’s on a seated calf machine (loaded, of course, so I don’t fall fowards)

I know it was mentioned, but I felt that sumo deads were the greatest glute/ham builder I’ve come across.

19

I like doing snatch grip deads from a deficit those are great for the glutes and hams. But, I realize that you already have deads in their, just a thought.

20

If you have the flexability in your hips you may like
‘Duck’ squats. (perhaps you will find them more effective than conventional back squats). The only clip on youtube is garbage. Bar high on back - wide stance w/feet turned out.