ok, my legs are NOT getting bigger, why not?

[heronhr]

Why won't my legs get bigger?! I'm doing the lunges with weights, quad extensions 110-120lbs 3x10 (fast up, slow down), hammie curls 90lbs 3x10 (fast up, slow down), push press 10 @ 145+machine weight, 8 @ 180lbs +mw, 6 @ 230lbs+mw, 4 @260+mw....I try to avoid squats because of the pain in my low back. I'm taking 2 protein shakes a day, I upped my meat intake by a ton(like everyday I eat it), NO2, CE2 and now muscle milk, but my legs seem to stay looking the same instead of looking bigger. I'm also trying to eat as "clean" as possible. The only thing I haven't been able to get much of is sleep. I get about 7 hours if lucky, but during that time I'm waking up a bunch( I think due to muscle soreness but not sure). What can I do???

[AWassi78]

Maybe your overtraining and burning out your muscles....?

[sixzebra]

it could be a lot of things. maybe you need to up your weights, could be your diet, could be what awassi said, overtraining. you should post your workouts and diet. plenty of people on here to give you an assist.

[sherdi]

I agree. You really need to post more info. Are you training your legs only once per week? More frequent training might be more effective. If the current reps/sets/weights/exercises aren't working you need to mix things up. So that means increasing weights, lowering reps, different exercises etc. You also might not be eating enough calories to build good quality muscle so we would need more details about too.

[heronhr]

well I'm lifting 6 days a week, splitting up all the body parts and doing legs 3x a week. 2 days of mostly quad/hammie stuff and 1 for calves, inner/outer thighs and glutes. With each set I increase my weights and decrease my reps.

My diet:

5:15am: no2, co2
6Am : oatmeal or english muffin with organic strawberry jam (I'm going to start drinking muscle milk in the morning
9am: apple or kiwis (I'm now adding a protein shake at this time)
11am: lately it's been a steak with a veggie or tuna with vegetable soup/chili
1:30-2pm: usually nothing or I'll have a couple of apples
3pm: no2 and ce2 I leave work to try and go straight to the gym, 5min warm-up on tredmill, lift, then maybe 20-25 minutes of cardio on tredmill again.
7:30: Steak again, with green beans, maybe some mashed potatoes and 1-2 protein shakes,
9: bed (but I've been sleeping horrible lately and have only 5-7 every night)

Ideas?

[arose70]

doesn't look like many cals unless your portions are larger...what are your cals and protein/carb/fat breakdowns?

[colby giudicessi]

I want to say I see people taking NO2 thinking they are going to get big.. I have been in around supplements for years and I have never had anyone say that their number one supplement was NO2.. It doesnt get you big i makes you feel pumped up but arginine helps stimulate circulation and give you a pumped feeling, it also helps with GH.. But your better off sticking with the Protein, Glutamine, and creatine if you want to get big!! dont waste your money on vasodilators unless your looking to do a show..

[AangleN]

well I'm lifting 6 days a week, splitting up all the body parts and doing legs 3x a week. 2 days of mostly quad/hammie stuff and 1 for calves, inner/outer thighs and glutes. With each set I increase my weights and decrease my reps.

Ideas?

do legs ONCE a week.

.......my legs are about 30", I do them once a week

[mommy*2*3]

Well, I agree there could be a lot of factors.

Are you a hard gainer? This means that you may be naturally thin with a high metabolism. I ask because different body types need different type of training.

Your diet definately needs help. NO2 isn't going to make you grow anywhere...it doesn't work that way. You need more protein with every meal. Some of your meals don't have any protein and others have too much such as your last meal...steak and 2 protein shakes...


What about cardio? Are you doing any, how much and when? Under your name it says "track girl"...are you a runner? All of these factors play a major role.

Lastly, how long have you been training like this?

[heronhr]

Well, I agree there could be a lot of factors.

Are you a hard gainer? This means that you may be naturally thin with a high metabolism. I ask because different body types need different type of training.

Your diet definately needs help. NO2 isn't going to make you grow anywhere...it doesn't work that way. You need more protein with every meal. Some of your meals don't have any protein and others have too much such as your last meal...steak and 2 protein shakes...


What about cardio? Are you doing any, how much and when? Under your name it says "track girl"...are you a runner? All of these factors play a major role.

Lastly, how long have you been training like this?

I would have to say YES I'm a hard gainer then. I've always had a slender body type but I've at least had good strength (or so I thought) for my size.

I will try to add more into my diet, from just more intake to adding more pretein.

Yes I'm a runner, I do mostly hurdles and sprints so sometimes I'll go train with my coach and then run or do it at the gym after I lift. I just wrapped up my college running last may but I intend to start competing again here in the next month or so. I've run since middle school. so I'd say 11 or 12 years now of running but 5 of them was hard core college kick your butt workouts. Could this be playing a factor in my lifting? I must say I'm one of the smaller girls next to the bulked up ones I race against

[heronhr]

oh, and if I have a soda once every 3 days or so do you think that would be okay? you know.....as a cheat. I've already had to stay away from the sodium for a while now and I'm a salt lover!!!!! I've noticed the difference getting off it though, but man is it hard.

And when I do gain.....it all goes straight to under the belly button area! I wish it would at least find its way to my butt.

[mommy*2*3]

OK..glad you answered some of my questions

The combination of your body type and your running activity could be putting a damper on your leg growth. Sprints are better than long distance but depending on how much you are actually running during the week, you may have to eat more to compensate. Running tends to dip into your muscle for energy except for sprinting. Taking your body type into consideration means that you may have to reduce your leg training frequency as well as rep range. Try working 6 to 8 reps per set. I can't say that this will fix the problem for sure because you are working your legs pretty hard during your track training.
Sometimes you need to shock your body by doing other types of exercises, changing reps, sets, ect. as well.

Training them hard once a week is probably sufficient for you. You may want to split up qads from hams. Do them on seperate days (3 to 4 exercises each) and don't do any cardio on leg training days. Your legs are a big muscle group that need to recover properly for growth.

[heronhr]

ok.....I have been incorporating more distance in my running lately so that could be a big problem there. Even though I'm trying to eat more, it's really hard sometimes shoving food down my throat when I know I'm not hungry. One other concern is that I'm always eating less than an hour prior to laying down to go to bed for the night, this is due to my only having my evenings to do the lifting. Since I'm up so early the gym isn't even open then to go, so I wait till I'm done with work. Then I have that gap between 3-7or8 or next to nothing to eat. I mean unless I eat inbetween sets I don't know where to fit it in. Plus, I ride my motorcycle around to save on costs so I can't exactly store a lot of food filled containers in there with everything else..

??

[mommy*2*3]

ok.....I have been incorporating more distance in my running lately so that could be a big problem there. Even though I'm trying to eat more, it's really hard sometimes shoving food down my throat when I know I'm not hungry. One other concern is that I'm always eating less than an hour prior to laying down to go to bed for the night, this is due to my only having my evenings to do the lifting. Since I'm up so early the gym isn't even open then to go, so I wait till I'm done with work. Then I have that gap between 3-7or8 or next to nothing to eat. I mean unless I eat inbetween sets I don't know where to fit it in. Plus, I ride my motorcycle around to save on costs so I can't exactly store a lot of food filled containers in there with everything else..

??

Unless you have great genetics, it is hard to put on more muscle while doing a lot of running. I'm actually an exception to that rule , but for some people (especially ectomortphs) it's going to be difficult.

I wouldn't worry about eating an hour before bed. You're a very active person and that's not going to hurt you. However, a better idea is to balance out all your meals so they all have protein, carbs and some good fats. Each one of your meals should be equal in size. You will start to see results if you are consistant with your diet (and that takes time) and consistant with training. From what I've read on ectomorphs (my son is one)...you need to stick with low reps, more rest between body parts and compound moves.

Here's one of a few articles on ectomorph training:

http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/mclane15.htm

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cynthia9.htm

If you don't find yourself in that body type you may be a combination of ecto and meso. I think a lot of people are combo-types IMO.

[ilovemuscle963]

are you pushing yourself hard enough? how many sets and reps are you doing? how heavy of weights are you lifting, to make muscle grow you need to lift very heavy and try to keep yout reps low like less then 10. if you can do 15 reps in a set then the weight is too light, try to keep your reps between 6 to 10.

try to keep your running (arobics) low, arobics will slow or keep your muscles from growing. try not to run for about a month or run once a week and just lift very heavy weights and then you may see your leg muscles grow.