I think long legs and a short torso is the “kiss of death” for squats. If you are built for them, do them. I have fairly long legs for my size and have always struggled to put up decent numbers. One thing I notice is that leg presses never make me sore where squats do, so I still do them.
@Myself1992 - I just got off my 12 week Ed Coan cycle and I want to re-run it again really badly, but due to my girlfriend feeling 100% confident that “Full Body 3x a week” will give her the best results, I basically have to change my programming to FB 3x a week. It’s a shame too because the Coan cycles have always really worked for me…had ended with a 315x1 bench,405x1 squat,and 465x1 deadlift. =/
So yeah it will be 3x a week…basically going to be doing this I guess…
Bench 5x 10,8,6,4-6,15
Squat 5x 10,8,6,4-6,15
Row 5x 10,8,6,4-6,15
Incline Press SS/ Chins 4x 10,8,6,15
Tri Extension SS/ Bicep Curl 4x 10,8,6,15
Same progression scheme on everything; basically once I hit all 6 reps on the 4th(or 3rd set) I will up the weight. The 15 rep backoff a different progression, when I hit 20, I will up the weight.
Knowing the girlfriend, there will probably be Face Pulls or Leg Presses done at the end…=/
loool.
@MytchBuchanan - Yeah I am 6’0 with long legs and a short torso too. I’m hoping that going in the higher rep ranges will start actually building me some leg size the same way leg presses once did in the past.
lol, that’s cool that you’re working out with the gf… In that case I’d do a day with 15 reps, one with 10 and the other with 5 or 20, 15, 10, you get the idea and I wouldn’t do the backoff set. That’s more or less what Hernon recommended in a thread he started recently
[quote]myself1992 wrote:
lol, that’s cool that you’re working out with the gf… In that case I’d do a day with 15 reps, one with 10 and the other with 5 or 20, 15, 10, you get the idea and I wouldn’t do the backoff set. That’s more or less what Hernon recommended in a thread he started recently[/quote]
Hernon’s still posting somewhere?
I loved his training recommendations. My old joints did not.
While it is true that not all bodybuilders use squats to build their legs, and it is possible to build great legs without freeweight squats, it has always been my observation that the best legs are built with squats as the staple leg exercise (For example, Tom Platz, Ronnie Coleman, Branch Warren, etc.)
Just as the best chests are almost always built with the bench press, the best backs with barbell rows, and so on… The traditional bodybuilding exercises became traditional for good reason.
For me personally, having a double bodyweight “ATG” back squat did more to build my legs up than anything else, and I consider them key for my own thigh size, however I don’t believe squats should be solely relied upon to build GREAT legs (meaning, they should not be your only exercise).
[quote]trap_builder wrote:
Also, as someone mentioned, try doing 10 reps or so. Okay, at least try 5 reps for several sets.
You probably won’t because it’s not as fun as squatting for 1 or 2 reps with a shit-load of weight, but if your goals are quad muscle hypertrophy then do it. Otherwise you’ll end up training your ass more than your quads.
[/quote]
IDK…moderately heavy for high reps is pretty fun too 
Sigh, I really am not looking forward to this kind of training(The full body crap). Do you guys have any suggestions to make my girlfriend find 4-5 day split training more appealing?!
I wish she would get on my Coan style training…seems like a lot of the proven programs are like this setup,and it has already yielded great strength results for me as it is. -_-
SUN- SQUAT (Legs)
MON- BENCH (Chest/Bi)
WED- DLIFT (Back/Tri)
FRI- PRESS (Delts)
Hell, I was even willing to add a 5th day on Saturdays for just arms or something to make her feel like she’s doing more work, or adding more leg work for her on shoulder day.
()@!#)(!@#()!@)(# (@! #!!!
I’ve never really viewed the squat as a leg exercise as such. There are better ways to build quads, if that’s the goal.
It’s more of a get big overall by lifting hard kind of thing. Kind of a “pay your dues” exercise.
I think the point is that if squats are not working for you, there is little point going to extremes to make them work for you. If leg size increased training like a bodybuilder, and considering the comparative effort it would take to get your squat to 405x20, it would seem that trying bodybuilding weight training would be the best approach.
In any case, your ‘every day of the week’ max isn’t likely to go down as long as you are still training your legs.
I have just recently made the switch over to bodybuilding training from powerlifting training. I have squatted 700lbs, and leg pressed 1,440lbs x 10. Since bodybuilding I have NOT touched the squat at all (other than the smith machine at the end of a workout with only A PLATE per side x 2x8 w/ half rep progression and a 4 second eccentric phase)and have been sticking mainly to the leg press (less than half the weight used in the past), hack squat, split squats (goblet style) and leg ext. all for massive volume and my legs have exploded! In the past when I have squated heavy for reps, for example when I hit 500 x 12 on squats all that did for me was completely whipe me out so that the rest of my workout was 2 sets of low cable pull-throughs LOL…My point is, it seems that the time-under-tention and intesity is whats most important, NOT the weight.
Ohead squat for leg size? Good luck…
Where’s all the guys complaining about how squats just make their ass big and do nothing for their quads? I get a lot of glute recruitment when I squat and I like it. I need more size there. As far as quad growth I tend to sqaut normal to narrow stance and go 3" or so below parallel. When I bottom out I can feel my quads activate more than a typical parallel squat. I’ll go a lil wider and do some doubles and triples every once in a while just to keep a base of strength.
I get much better quad work from leg ext straight to a leg press. I think this is true for most.
Long story short squats have their place. Going below parallel for 20 reps or doing some heavy triples can help you gain quad size, but I wouldn’t rely on them as my main movements for size.
[quote]RUHLFAN wrote:
I have just recently made the switch over to bodybuilding training from powerlifting training. I have squatted 700lbs, and leg pressed 1,440lbs x 10. Since bodybuilding I have NOT touched the squat at all (other than the smith machine at the end of a workout with only A PLATE per side x 2x8 w/ half rep progression and a 4 second eccentric phase)and have been sticking mainly to the leg press (less than half the weight used in the past), hack squat, split squats (goblet style) and leg ext. all for massive volume and my legs have exploded! In the past when I have squated heavy for reps, for example when I hit 500 x 12 on squats all that did for me was completely whipe me out so that the rest of my workout was 2 sets of low cable pull-throughs LOL…My point is, it seems that the time-under-tention and intesity is whats most important, NOT the weight. [/quote]
Yep this is exactly what all the pros have been saying (or at least the ones that were Mr.Olympia)
Maybe you will find this interesting:
strengthandconditioningresearch.com/2012/08/29/squat-depth/
^ I believe this.Once again,goes in alignment with everything I read/hear from Arnold,Haney,Yates…even people like Franco Columbo etc.
I’m going to be doing two kinds of Squats each leg workout, deep Front Squats and either deep Back Squats with high tension on a smith machine or Hack Squats along with Leg Press/Leg Extensions. I’m expecting some good results. Screw trying to figure it out myself, I’m going to do what all the greats did
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
I think long legs and a short torso is the “kiss of death” for squats. If you are built for them, do them. I have fairly long legs for my size and have always struggled to put up decent numbers. One thing I notice is that leg presses never make me sore where squats do, so I still do them.[/quote]
I have the same problem with angled leg presses, only diff is Im short all over.
saying squats are over rated for BB is wrong IMO. perhaps some aren’t built for squats, but you can’t ignore the overall growth it promotes throughout the whole body, esecially for beginners who need to build foundation first(like lumbar region and hip region, as well as trunk and shoulder/neck).
It takes a good athletism and oveall body awareness to squat good numbers for reps. Those who dropped squat later in the career still spent plenty of time squatting in the beginning of their career, Kevin Levrone is a good example.
I reckon people that say squats don’t grow their quads aren’t doing high enough reps
[quote]RampantBadger wrote:
I’d be interested to see a vid of 500lb squatters with zero muscle. [/quote]
This is one of the strength coaches from the PL gym I used to train at. He had a 611 squat in his most recent meet and doesn’t exactly have big legs. Idk if this is what you’re looking for, but you can definitely hit 500-600lb squat without much size to your legs.
[quote]rds63799 wrote:
I reckon people that say squats don’t grow their quads aren’t doing high enough reps[/quote]
If this won’t grow quads, then they’re a damn cyborg designed with shitty quads:
High bar back Squat:
175kg 3x2, 165kg x4, 155kg x6, 145kg x8, 135kg x10, 125kg x12, 115kg x14, 105kg x16, 95kg x18, 85kg x20