Legs,legs,legs..

[Polsie]

Hey guys any advice on improving the quad size and overall leg since its only part thats laggy . I do not have any problem with developing the strength however size is always the issue here ^^. I'm 16,weigh 165lb and im 6"1tall. My leg routine atm is :

"Leg press 390lb 3x8,standing leg curls 77lb 3x8per leg and squats 252lb 5x8.

Today hit the 5x8 squats of 252lb which was prettie damn crazy for me but i try to increasy the weight by 20lb each week. Any advice or opinion? Will be delighted if so.

[DJAuto]

Try some isolation work.

For example, leg extensions.

[bassing68]

You can add leg extentions and lunges. How often do you work legs? The main thing is time. Seeing your age I'd assume you haven't been lifting a very long time. You might also wanna consider your diet. You need enough to grow properly.

[FAO]

Time may be the issue with this. It may take quite some time to get legs to grow, especially if you are that tall. Im 6"3, and while my leg strength is there, it doesnt transfer into leg size for me. kinda frustrating, but Ive resigned myself to the fact it will probably take me a good 5-10 to grow some legs like I want. You may struggle till you fill out completly, probably not something you want to hear, but if you want it to happen, it will. Your squat will be awesome too, lol. Keep at it, add some isolation moves, and maybe add some biking or running to build up size too, good luck...

[psychowolverine]

my legs have been responding to squats...

Only thing is I have never had a problem getting my legs up to par.. My legs were very big as a kid from playing soccer and such. They grow and develop nicely when I put in the time.

[sushiracer]

front squats and leg extensions rip my quads up something fierce....

[ironwill2008]

If you've been doing 8-rep sets of squats for a while, try upping the rep count to 10-12 for a month or two, and see what that does for you. Sometimes, just a simple change can make a big difference. BTW, be sure you're eating enough. Good luck.

[Polsie]

im doing legs wednesdays and saturdays.. 2 times a week that is :P .. and i cannot do extansions for legs since everytime i do it it hurts like sh!t ! thoguht it was my form that was wrong but i got the trainer to help me out and see whats wrong. no idea . form is perfect and mybones still hurt when i do leg extensions... ill try increasing my sqat reps to 12 then next week and increase weightr more we will see in few weeks if i get any gain thanks peope

[Polsie]

Originally Posted by ironwill2008

If you've been doing 8-rep sets of squats for a while, try upping the rep count to 10-12 for a month or two, and see what that does for you. Sometimes, just a simple change can make a big difference. BTW, be sure you're eating enough. Good luck.

yeah im eating enough :P .. 2100-2800 cals a day enuf and im cutting after summer will try to bulk up consuming 3k+ cals daily

[Wherestherackat]

Strength comes before size. Keep pushing and they're grow.

[Mature Lifter]

Most young lads train too often to grow their lower body; try this. Monday warm ups, 1 set rest/pause 20 rep sqats, Friday 5x5 trap bar dead lifts, Wednesday squat again. work the weight up slowly with perfect form. 2 or 3 years you will be larger. ML

[spider28]

try alternating betwen low and high rep w/o. what i do is as follows, week1 heavy squats(any variation) 3 sets 6-8 reps and light leg press 20 reps followed by leg extensions 3 sets of 12, week 2 do the opposite 20 rep squat, heavy leg press 3 sets of 6-8 and leg extension 3 sets of 12

[Polsie]

Originally Posted by spider28

try alternating betwen low and high rep w/o. what i do is as follows, week1 heavy squats(any variation) 3 sets 6-8 reps and light leg press 20 reps followed by leg extensions 3 sets of 12, week 2 do the opposite 20 rep squat, heavy leg press 3 sets of 6-8 and leg extension 3 sets of 12

sounds interesting gonna try it out.. vary,vary,vary is what i always hear :P

[unity]

lots of good exercise recommendations. food might be the biggest factor though.

[Polsie]

Originally Posted by unity

lots of good exercise recommendations. food might be the biggest factor though.

thing is i get enough food and got some nice bulk and more definition on chest arms even calves.. quads is what i really desire :P but i guess its a time factor also im only 16 and doing pretty hardcore

[-Lucifer]

nvm

[spider28]

Originally Posted by Berserk13

When doing the eccentric part of lateral raises, try not to invole your traps. Use lighter weights if you have to. When I started out, I used heavy-a$$ weights and used my traps a lot on the eccentric.

Hope this helps.

so u do lateral raise to work ur quads? i must try that 1

[Polsie]

Originally Posted by Berserk13

nvm

traps and legs :P any connection mate :P

[Polsie]

Originally Posted by Berserk13

nvm

haha okai gotcha there

[-Lucifer]

Originally Posted by spider28

so u do lateral raise to work ur quads? i must try that 1

I meant to post that here, which I did. I'm very tired mate.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post171856831

[bassing68]

The word of the day is legs...

















Let's go spread the word.

[Emmortal]

You want bigger quads? You need to eat more man. Food food and more food.

[Jneves]

Originally Posted by Polsie

thing is i get enough food and got some nice bulk and more definition on chest arms even calves.. quads is what i really desire :P but i guess its a time factor also im only 16 and doing pretty hardcore

thing is you DONT get enough food. Your not going get much noticable size on your legs until you start moving the scale in the upward direction. you could try every sugested rep/set scheme and exercise mentioned in this thread and the results won't be there until you start eating more.

my sugested leg routine:

-squats
-stiff leg deadlift, romanian deadlift, or good mornings
-leg press
-lunges

squats hit the whole lower body, I would do these with lower reps

SDL, RDL, and GM's focus on the hamstrings/glutes/low back which are weaker/smaller in the vast majority of people, thats why they are the second exercise

Leg press for the quads

lunges pretty much hit everything again so hit these with higher reps. They are also good for flexability/mobilty and unilateral work will help with muscle imbalances between one leg and the other.

you could throw in some isolation and calf work if you felt up for it, but if your really hitting those 4 exercises with everything you got you should be wiped out by then.

[EPMD]

Originally Posted by Polsie

Hey guys any advice on improving the quad size and overall leg since its only part thats laggy . I do not have any problem with developing the strength however size is always the issue here ^^. I'm 16,weigh 165lb and im 6"1tall. My leg routine atm is :

Today hit the 5x8 squats of 252lb which was prettie damn crazy for me but i try to increasy the weight by 20lb each week. Any advice or opinion? Will be delighted if so.

If you are squatting 5 sets of 8 reps at 252 pounds, then at your size of 165 pounds, your legs are not lacking. If your legs are still looking thin, then you need to squat deeper, eat more, or give your body time to pack on size. Strictly going by your report, strength is not the problem.

[Bioteknik]

Originally Posted by EPMD

If you are squatting 5 sets of 8 reps at 252 pounds, then at your size of 165 pounds, your legs are not lacking. If your legs are still looking thin, then you need to squat deeper, eat more, or give your body time to pack on size. Strictly going by your report, strength is not the problem.

I think he just wants tree trunks for legs, lol

[sirstanlee]

Originally Posted by Polsie

im doing legs wednesdays and saturdays.. 2 times a week that is :P .. and i cannot do extansions for legs since everytime i do it it hurts like sh!t ! thoguht it was my form that was wrong but i got the trainer to help me out and see whats wrong. no idea . form is perfect and mybones still hurt when i do leg extensions... ill try increasing my sqat reps to 12 then next week and increase weightr more we will see in few weeks if i get any gain thanks peope

Leg extensions kill my knees (many docs say that it is the worst exercise for legs due to the force it applies at the knees), but I have found that if I drop the weight to one where I can get 12-15 reps instead of 6-10, the pain is gone. So, since my motto is generally "something is better than nothing" in the gym, I accept this fact and do that. I, too, suffer from Leg Lag Syndrom (LLS), so I have to find a way to get those isolation exercises in there.

If you're interested in targeting your hammies, try doing the swiss ball leg curl. EVERY time I do those, my hamstrings are very sore the next day, and sometimes they're on the verge of cramping up because they get targeted so well. Just remember that the key is to keep a straight body from your knees to your shoulders, allowing your core to rise and fall with each lift.

Good luck...let us know how it turns out in 5 years

[Radok]

Leg extensions are one of the worst exercises you can do. Terrible for the knee and nothing compared to squatting for the quads. I'd recommend you do one exercise for your quads. 20 rep ATG squats. I put a ton of size on my quads doing these and had to move up from size 32 to size 34 pants. Quads are at 27 inches now just from squatting, they were very thin before. Edit: please don't waste time with swiss ball BS. You'll notice all the biggest thighs were built on deadlifts/stiff leg dl/squats. Stick to those and just focus on upping the pounds, don't worry about leg curls and swiss ball leg curls and crap like that.

[bassing68]

Originally Posted by Jneves

thing is you DONT get enough food. Your not going get much noticable size on your legs until you start moving the scale in the upward direction. you could try every sugested rep/set scheme and exercise mentioned in this thread and the results won't be there until you start eating more.

my sugested leg routine:

-squats
-stiff leg deadlift, romanian deadlift, or good mornings
-leg press
-lunges

squats hit the whole lower body, I would do these with lower reps

SDL, RDL, and GM's focus on the hamstrings/glutes/low back which are weaker/smaller in the vast majority of people, thats why they are the second exercise

Leg press for the quads

lunges pretty much hit everything again so hit these with higher reps. They are also good for flexability/mobilty and unilateral work will help with muscle imbalances between one leg and the other.

you could throw in some isolation and calf work if you felt up for it, but if your really hitting those 4 exercises with everything you got you should be wiped out by then.

For those of us whom work out at home, leg presses are not an option. Good advice though.

Originally Posted by Radok

Leg extensions are one of the worst exercises you can do. Terrible for the knee and nothing compared to squatting for the quads. I'd recommend you do one exercise for your quads. 20 rep ATG squats. I put a ton of size on my quads doing these and had to move up from size 32 to size 34 pants. Quads are at 27 inches now just from squatting, they were very thin before. Edit: please don't waste time with swiss ball BS. You'll notice all the biggest thighs were built on deadlifts/stiff leg dl/squats. Stick to those and just focus on upping the pounds, don't worry about leg curls and swiss ball leg curls and crap like that.

Leg extentions are worse and hurt the knee...I've heard the same thing about squats...hurt the knee or back. ANY exercise can hurt you if done incorrectly or you slip. That is a risk of weight lifting but you still do it. Just like driving is a risk, you might crash. You still do it. And if you are doing 20 ATG reps then the weight is WAY too light. And yes, squats and deads have built good legs. Some people need direct iso work to supplement core work but others don't. Just like some lucky people get huge biceps with only compounds, but most have to add isolations. The key is to finding what works for the person on an individual basis. Myself, squats don't cut it alone. I have to add leg extentions, cuz I can't do presses at home. May have to add lunges.

[Ochman44]

Leg extensions hurt your knee becauses your quadcriceps can't act in isolation with knee extension in any real life movement. They are worthless if you ask me. If you want big legs use these movements: Squats, back, front, split, lunges, step ups, deadlifts all kinds, good mornings, glute ham raises, olympic lifts and then add calf work at the end. Don't do all these at once obviously. Pick a squat variant, a deadlift variant, a calf exercise and then a single leg movement or another posterior chain movement and call it a day. I would not do a convention deadlift+ back squat heavy in the same workout though as they are both very taxing.

[sirstanlee]

Originally Posted by Radok

Leg extensions are one of the worst exercises you can do. Terrible for the knee and nothing compared to squatting for the quads. I'd recommend you do one exercise for your quads. 20 rep ATG squats. I put a ton of size on my quads doing these and had to move up from size 32 to size 34 pants. Quads are at 27 inches now just from squatting, they were very thin before. Edit: please don't waste time with swiss ball BS. You'll notice all the biggest thighs were built on deadlifts/stiff leg dl/squats. Stick to those and just focus on upping the pounds, don't worry about leg curls and swiss ball leg curls and crap like that.

I agree that the compound movements you mentioned are the best, but anyone will tell you that you need to change it up at times to stimulate more growth. I just recently (as in 3 weeks ago) started doing the swiss ball HS movement, on top of squats, SLDLs and walking lunges. It's just another way to stimulate, but this isolates better than any of the others.

Since you made that statement, I have to assume you've tried it for a while to test if it works?