posted June 13, 2000 10:31 PM         

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Just got done reading an article by Jeff Everson. He recommends that women train legs 5 times a week. When I train legs I train them so hard that I almost always have to puke! I'm usually pretty sore the second day. I pyramid my squats up to 185 (only 3 reps with a spot) and do 6 sets. Then I vary my routine alot as far as the type of set I do. Sometimes I'll do a rest pause strip set on leg extensions. One day I might superset my stiff legs dead lifts with hamstring curls. Just depends on the mood I'm in. Try to change it so I don't get bored as far as the other excercises go: hacks, stiff legged dead lifts, hamstring curls, leg extensions, leg press, lunges etc. But I always hit them HARD! I like that sweep I'm starting to see. I end up training them about every 4 days. For me this seems right. Whaddaya think about frequency of training and recovery time?

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posted June 14, 2000 12:18 AM            

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I got to agree with you on this, and I like your training pattern as well. Do the same myself. Your legs are proof, if your seeing results keep doing it untill you level off. But with all the varity I do not think you will see that for a very long time. Tom P. (you know, Mr. Quads) would do legs untill he couldn't walk. It was not reps he counted but elapsed time. So he would do squats for like 10 min. I've done this elapsed time thing and FUCK! Now I try not to swear to much but the SHIT HURT! So maybe you can toss one of these in just to keep things mixed up.

Late

Lobo

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posted June 14, 2000 01:11 AM            

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Wow, 5x per week....I don't see that happening the way I train, apparently you either...I do legs once a week now, like you, so intensly I am pouring sweat, almost vomitous.....I used to train them 2x a week, split into quads & calves, & then hams & glutes....because I found my ham sweep was lagging....it worked....after about 3 months I switched back to 1 day a week.....I may go back to the 2 days for variety in the near future.

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posted June 14, 2000 02:02 AM            

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I personally like training muscle groups once a week too (although I do abs several times a week)
I used to do a shorter frequency, but felt that I was over training too much... so now I can get in the gym, train one major or two minor muscle groups and get out... more effecient for me that way... of course this is when I am doing straight sets, for heavier weights.. when I switch to super sets (with lighter weights) I train several muscle groups together and shorten my frequency period
depends some on your body's recovery time and your schedule... I always say to try different stuff and see what works for you best... and I think Everson's program is similar to the Freestyle training program, where the basic principle is to overtrain the lower body in order to make the legs real lean without adding size (targeted towards women who dont want to add any more leg mass, like fitness competitors)

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posted June 14, 2000 08:46 AM         

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Glad to see that I'm not alone here. Alot of people overtrain. Personally I like slow and heavy and I like to stick to the big basic movements. I know that I can't go wrong that way. Although I might try that TIMED TRAINING thing some work out. Sounds painful--I like it! :>

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posted June 14, 2000 09:46 AM            

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NOw what are the thoughts on training 2 times a week.
I train hard on MOnday with a 14 inch step 45 mins then the gym for about an hour.
Tuesday is more calves, glutes.
Does the cardio count if you are doing such things as the stair stepper??
Or running? Isn't that working the legs too?
I dont usually count my cardio but if it is using the legs a lot, is there a risk of over work?

Thoughts are welcome.

Bunny

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posted June 14, 2000 10:30 AM            

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Bunny - I don't really count my cardio as leg work, but that's just me.

Anyway, working legs 5 times/week is way too much in my opinion. I did legs on Monday and I'm still VERY sore today (Wed.) so there is no way I could do legs again until at least Sat. I feel as long as you're seeing results then do what works for you, I personally work each muscle group once/week and cardio 4-5x/week.

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posted June 14, 2000 01:50 PM            

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well Bunny, as a trainer what I recommend to my clients concerning cardio is this:

you can do cardio daily, but for the higher impact cardio such as jogging (which I dont personally recommend), stair climber (for some), hiking, etc... do it the same day you do legs or several days after, and not the day directly after training legs, as they need recovery time.. instead do a lower impact cardio the day after legs (bike riding, roller blading, eliptical trainer, etc)
and also, you should probably take one day off a week from all training, just to recover and rebuild
(note: rollerblading is only a low impact exercise if you are experienced, as running into trees or concrete walls can be very high impact LOL)

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posted June 14, 2000 02:19 PM         

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Body parts should be trained MAX twice a week. The key being the word "trained". Pussy footin' around is not considered training so if you do a few leg extensions here and there or a little lunges here and there that is NOT considered training. My girl and I do legs together and no way in hell could we do legs 5 times a week!!..I'm sweating just thinking about it. Our leg work outs are brutal..I can't walk or even breathe afterwards. We do about 14 sets of grueling stuff and we let our legs rest at least 5 days before doing them again and thats only for QUADS since we seperate our quad workout from our hamstring workout.

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posted June 14, 2000 03:53 PM            

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I train quads and hamstrings on the same day (save the calves for another day) and I find I have to keep leg day as a floating day because it often takes me more than 7 days to recover! No kidding. So I do legs whenever they feel recovered enough. 5x per week!!! HA. And I also don't count cardio. That's just part of the general maintenance of my body and doesn't stress my legs enough to count. So obviously how often you train a body part depends entirely on HOW you train and how good your recovery is.

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The Mad Scientist

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posted June 15, 2000 11:54 AM            

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Couldn't agree more ya'll. As someone whos goals are primarily strength and lean mass, the only wat to go is with in frequency. Since I haven't been able to do legs I can't wait to get back in the swing. My doc is allowing me 20 mins on the bike and 20 mins on the stair master for a total of 40 mins!! Can't begin to express the joy at being able to sweat standing up for a change!!LOL.
I do look forward to squatting within the next 4 weeks or so. After such a lengthy rest I hope to explode into new levels of strength. I do know I'll have to go slow initially. Anybody have any suggestions or experience with getting back to competitive training after a lengthy layoff?
Thanks in advance ya'll,
WW

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posted June 19, 2000 03:29 PM            

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5 X's a week? Did this guy count getting out of bed as a work out?

Personally, I hit each bodypart once per week and HIT IT HARD!

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