Just wondering which training method has produced people’s biggest quad gains (size wise)?
Appreciate you should cycle both but I’ve always had my best results with increased volume.
I know this is gonna get frowned on – but my biggest gains in quad size came from leg presses! I kept getting stronger while using good form and my quads exploded. I don’t do leg presses any more, but rather deadlifts are my primary leg exersize, since I’m focusing more on functional strength these days (and I’m NOT saying the dead can’t build mass!).
Regarding cycling and volume… at the time my overall volume per workout was quite high, but trained quads once a week. These days my volume is low but I deadlift three days a week, never going to failure (ala Pavel).
Squats with a 3111 tempo, 6 sets, 4-6 reps, wk1 no failure, wk2 failure on last set, wk3,4,5 failure on last three sets. Don’t forget to warm up, I do 3 warm up sets, and do a set at 80% of your 4-6 rep max after your work sets.
High rep squats. 15-30 range.
I am gonna get heat for this, I know it. But oh well. I get the best gains after I come off of a volume phase, and hit em with 1set to total failure, and some negs. sometimes forced reps. I always get the best gains right when I switch from one to another, but the Mentzer leg workout seems to do me better.
Just to add confusion: I have read that quads should recieve 12-15 reps and hams should get hammered with 6-8 reps. So I guess you will have to do some research on your own for a final answer. I have good leg development, but a lot of it came from Mr and Mrs DNA. I do mix it up a lot. But I usually use the rep scheme I explained.
I agree with Jagin. At one time, my legs were actually quite large. And it was due to high volume with squats, lunges, leg presses, leg curls and stiff legged deadlifts. My legs and ass ballooned up. And I received many compliments. I may have to try that again to pack on some mass since I’ve lost it all!
I got the best results from slower smooth reps using a lighter weight for higher reps. Not super high reps (about 8-14) with slow negs and controlled positives. I think doing the super heavy weights makes you use too much technique and does not create the same inroads. Think about curls, when you go a little lighter and do real smooth reps, it just kills you compared to heavier less smooth reps. I think the same applies for squats and such.
i did gvt and got nothing. It was hard and i got sore but nothing happened. Then i went trained heavy again and my legs blew up. My thighs are around 27in but they are my best bodypart.
It really depends on a lot of factors. How you’re built, muscle fiber type, how strong you are etc. The VM (vastus medialis) itself has a wide range of dominant muscle fiber types in individuals. Some will respond best to quicker and heavier movements, some to slower and lighter. If you have long femurs you might have a hard time getting large quads from squats alone. If your legs are short and naturally muscular then probably anything will work. I get the best results from incorporating sprints along with varying the weight training but then again I seem to have a neural and fiber dominance that responds extremely well to high velocity training.
5-6 sets 20 rep breathing squats then 2 sets of 100’s on leg press at 60% of your 1 rep max(you do as many reps as you can to failure and however many reps you have left to go to 100 you get that many seconds rest until your next set) EXAMPLE- 1st set you get 65 reps before failure, you rest 35 seconds and then go again until failure , repeat until you reach 100. Once you can reach 100 in one set, increase the weight.
I avoided legs for the first few months after I returned to lifting a year ago. When I did start training legs I hated it so bad I did a much lower volume than upper body (but used high intensity). I was spending (per split) 4.5 hours on upper body and only 1 hour on lower. Well after working legs for a while now, they are by far my fasted growing muscles. Routine: 5 sets squats (10 rep range), 2 sets leg extensions, 2 sets leg curls, and 1 drop set for calves. I may do deads, SLDL, isoflex machine, leg press, etc. for some variety once a month.
If quad size is your goal, front squats will blow them up. The more upright your posture when squatting, the more it hits the quads…
The question was specifically reffering to quads. The reason I asked is because I’ve only recently discovered that higher volume workouts work much better for me.
I have very mixed genetics in that my upper body is naturally very thick and broad whilst my legs are skinny as hell!
I have been using a Poliquin style ‘post -exhaust’ programme with excellent results. My workout is 5x5 front squats followed by 3x12/12 leg press/leg extension superset.
To say I was suprised at the results is an understatement!
T-rex you lucky sod! I forgot to say before my old nic at school was T-rex, due to the size of my legs over my upper body(ah the happy memories of childhood…hmm!) IMO, Ive found that under 12/15 reps works the best for legs, and silly heavy weights seem to blow up my thighs a treat. Lately I have cut out squats to let the rest of my body catch up size wise, and concentrated on my deadlift - which has bumped up my squatting weight considerably yet maintained the size. For extra ease with front squats though, which seem to work too well, try a sting ray(manta rays brother), as you can really focus on the thigh contraction and not worry about the balance issues. It hurts.
For me, increases in volume have always brought about mass gains. My volume cycle approach has me starting out with 5 sets per muscle and adding 1-2 sets every week for 3 weeks, then cutting back to 5 on the fourth week. This kind of cycling ensures that you are getting more total poundage lifted per workout, then backs off to let your recovery system catch up. Poliquin has made many references to this in his books, and it seems to work quite well. I also want to add that I never go to failure, and never go above 5 reps. That way I get to use heavy weight and can get more sets. The high intensity folks always rant and rave that you can work hard or work long, but not both. And you know what? They’re right! If you plan on going to failure, keep your sets low. If you plan to stop a couple of reps before you hit the wall, keep your sets a little on the high side. Remember: “slow and steady wins the race”
Aaron
What? I’d kill to have a naturally bigger lower body! My legs are like two pieces of string yet I still weigh in at 230lbs.
Swap your quad DNA for my chest DNA?