Legs A Priority

[jpt]

i usually train legs on tuesdays...progressively adding weight on squats and leg presses. usually 3-4 sets each starting at 15 and usually getting 6-8 on the last set. i have to use the machine squats b/c of my lower back....yeah yeah i know i'm a "fluffy" son of a bitch but theres nothing i can do about it and i'll never stop training no matter how bad my back gets.

i was thinking about training them again light on either fridays along with arms or sat by itself because my ankles and shins are tiny and i hate it! i need some friggin thinkness and no matter how heavy i train legs or calves they don't grow. even when i bulk that's the only part on my body that stays the same size. i know a large part is genetics..and i know heavy squats is the answer to all cures but i need to think outside the box and i thought i might see some improvement this way. my questions is how would i train legs on the light day?

 

[al420]

For size the only thing that works is heavy squats. Can you do them on the Smith Machine or just HS style stuff?

Personally my legs didn;t start growing until I started going ATF on Squats. I trained for years using improper diet and M&F style routines and never grew. I found EF, found deep squats, and found my sweep..... quad sweep that is.

As long as you use a full ROM on the machines I don't see why you can't make it work - but as an example on the Hack Squat machine I bottom it out - meaning it hits the floor before I go back up.

 

[BiggT]

Have you ever tried front squats?....they aren't very taxing on the back/posterior chain.

Also, do lunges or step-ups bother your back?

 

[jpt]

al- i've tried doing them on the smith machine and warm up weights are fine.... and then the first 1-2 sets are ok..but then anything over 205lbs puts stress on my back even on the machine so i've been doing the hs style stuff. i can go pretty heavy and keep reps 6-8 though. i do use full rom on pretty much everything.....i have seen some moderate gains in the past 4 months on my calves and my quads...but nothing huge. my calves look ok i would say but my shins are like pencils....i'll have to take a pic and post it

biggt- i used to do front squats before my injuries....haven't tried in a while. i would prob have to do them on the smith machine though which sucks but thats life. as far as lunges go....they do not bother my back but when going heavy they bother my knees (3 knee surgeries from playing ball) what can i say i'm a mess with bad genetics...

appreciate you guys giving me some advice and helping me out...i try not to post on the training log to often b/c 5x5 is too taxing (stealing your words bigt) on my inujuries that i have and i'm 80% fluff stuff haha. but needed some help from the big guns

 

[future]

Squatting for 20 rep sets, one legged leg press and hacks are all good for me. Use a varied rep range. Warm up for a few sets. Hit some reps for 6-10; then burn it out with a high rep set.

 

[jpt]

i know some people grow no matter what they do and some people grow with volume training and higher reps...i'm not one of those unfortunately. i usually start off 15-20 reps mostly as a warm up and then aim to finish my last set around 6-8 reps

 

[future]

Consider doing your heaviest stuff first while you are fresh.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

Hmmm.... genetics can be a bitch. For me arms took such a huge amount of effort the first couple of years to gey any growth out of even when juicing. However my legs would explode on nothing more than a few sets of heavy leg presses. At one time I used to go 3 weeks between leg workouts at all.

What exactally does your leg training split look like now?

 

[jpt]

once a week

machine squats
leg presses
extensions
curls

3-4 sets usually follow 15,12,10,6-8

going to try front squats like biggt suggested and see where that takes me

 

[Deleted member 33117]

Do you do regular barbell squats and deadlifts at all? Cut the cutesywootsy extensions and curls out.

 

[al420]

once a week

machine squats
leg presses
extensions
curls

3-4 sets usually follow 15,12,10,6-8

going to try front squats like biggt suggested and see where that takes me

I would switch the squats up. Do 5 sets of no more than 6 reps per.... max weight. THen do breathing 20 reppers on the leg press and do two sets. If your legs are done then you need to add weight to the squats or leg press.

You may be overworking the muscle w/ all those sets/reps.

And you need to train the legs at least 2x a week. IMO.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

I would switch the squats up. Do 5 sets of no more than 6 reps per.... max weight. THen do breathing 20 reppers on the leg press and do two sets. If your legs are done then you need to add weight to the squats or leg press.

You may be overworking the muscle w/ all those sets/reps.

And you need to train the legs at least 2x a week. IMO.

Good point. High volume training only really works for juiceheads and he does not appear to be a juicer in his avatar. Instead focus on a few heavy sets of compound movements and train legs twice a week or more.

 

[jpt]

Do you do regular barbell squats and deadlifts at all? Cut the cutesywootsy extensions and curls out.

wish i could....degenerative disks in my lower back prevents me from doing dls and barbell squats.

al- ok...so i'll jump the sets to 5 on the squats....i'll do 1 warm up set and then 5 heavy sets? then jump to leg press and do 20 rep sets...about 2-3? i usually lift legs on tuesdays...would sat be a good day to train them again? and how should i work them you think? same way? or have a "light" leg day and do something like you mentioned with the leg presses?

 

[get456]

For size the only thing that works is heavy squats. Can you do them on the Smith Machine or just HS style stuff?

Personally my legs didn;t start growing until I started going ATF on Squats. I trained for years using improper diet and M&F style routines and never grew. I found EF, found deep squats, and found my sweep..... quad sweep that is.

As long as you use a full ROM on the machines I don't see why you can't make it work - but as an example on the Hack Squat machine I bottom it out - meaning it hits the floor before I go back up.

I found smith machine squats to put significantly more stress on my lower back... Regular back squats even up to my 3 rep max dont bother my back/lower back in the slightest

 

[BiggT]

JPT...for training twice a week, generally the light workout would take place 48-72 hours later.....so either Tues/Fri or as you said Tues/Sat is fine.

In your case, you aren't going to be training a "lift", so I'd do the most taxing lift (s) on Tues.

Maybe on Tues....do Machine squats (5x5 add weight each set, then a backoff set of 8) then Barbell Stepups (4x10) then leg curls (4x10) then on either Fri or Sat do 1-leg leg press (4x6) then d-bell lunges (3x8) then leg extensions (4x10) and whatever you do for calves.

 

[jpt]

JPT...for training twice a week, generally the light workout would take place 48-72 hours later.....so either Tues/Fri or as you said Tues/Sat is fine.

In your case, you aren't going to be training a "lift", so I'd do the most taxing lift (s) on Tues.

Maybe on Tues....do Machine squats (5x5 add weight each set, then a backoff set of 8) then Barbell Stepups (4x10) then leg curls (4x10) then on either Fri or Sat do 1-leg leg press (4x6) then d-bell lunges (3x8) then leg extensions (4x10) and whatever you do for calves.

ok...so i got my cotizone shot in my back yesterday and i have to say i'm pretty pumped about it so far. it was def painful and i almost puked haha i hate needles esp ones that are like 6 inches long that go into your spine ...but bending over and picking things up now is so much easier...it's crazy how the pain isn't there anymore. i'm going to try and do the heavy squats today with some assistance exercises like you mentioned biggt. and then sat i'll hit them up again with leg presses and extensions and see how that works out for me. may even try to start deadlifting very light again just to see how the general movement feels.

 

[al420]

ok...so i got my cotizone shot in my back yesterday and i have to say i'm pretty pumped about it so far. it was def painful and i almost puked haha i hate needles esp ones that are like 6 inches long that go into your spine ...but bending over and picking things up now is so much easier...it's crazy how the pain isn't there anymore. i'm going to try and do the heavy squats today with some assistance exercises like you mentioned biggt. and then sat i'll hit them up again with leg presses and extensions and see how that works out for me. may even try to start deadlifting very light again just to see how the general movement feels.

Just don;t sacrafice form for weight - especially w/ your back. Keep your back straight and your head up the entire lift - fixed eyes on the top of the mirror (there is always a mirror in front of the smith machines right!)

And go back to your doctor and ask for a shot of Test in your Quad!

 

[jpt]

Just don;t sacrafice form for weight - especially w/ your back. Keep your back straight and your head up the entire lift - fixed eyes on the top of the mirror (there is always a mirror in front of the smith machines right!)

And go back to your doctor and ask for a shot of Test in your Quad!

will do!! i'm not going to go too heavy b/c even though i may not feel pain i can still be doing damage...the shot only helps the pain not the problem.

and i actually think i would be a good candidate for test or deca....fawked up shoulders, knees and back...who's more deserving then i wonder how i bring that up in the doc's office ...one of my docs shot me down for vicadone if you can believe it...even after seeing my mri's....gave me some mobix crap or some shit haha.

 

[al420]

will do!! i'm not going to go too heavy b/c even though i may not feel pain i can still be doing damage...the shot only helps the pain not the problem.

and i actually think i would be a good candidate for test or deca....fawked up shoulders, knees and back...who's more deserving then i wonder how i bring that up in the doc's office ...one of my docs shot me down for vicadone if you can believe it...even after seeing my mri's....gave me some mobix crap or some shit haha.

Get a new doctor or go to an HRT clinic. Some Endo's will write AAS scripts

 

[jpt]

wanted to give you guys an update as i have been away for a while....some personal things going on in my life....but it looks like things are on the up and up!

trained legs for the first time in about 1 1/2 weeks on tuesday (post cortizone shot to the back)

front squats on smith 95x5 (no back pain) 115x5 (no back pain) 135x5 (no back pain) 155x5 (no back pain) stopped there...this was more of a trial run then anything

machine squats 3x20,15,10 no back pain

leg curls 3x10

i was contemplating trying to do squats sans smith machine b/c my back felt great and i want to train heavy again...but i've been advised not to by the docs b/c even though there is no pain i can be doing more irreversible damage. anway it felt good to lift again with no pain and i think i'll start to see a huge improvement now. thx for the help fellas

 

[al420]

Bad Fucking Ass hombre. That is great news. Keep adding weight till it hurts.

 

[jpt]

that's what i plan on doing brutha! did some light squating today free weights....i did 135x15 did this a few times....no back pain which was pretty fuggin unbelievable. hoepfully the trend continues and tuesday i'll train heavy and keep bten the 5-8 rep range.