my lame legs

[dick tater]

All right, my legs suck. I need help. Since I’m new to this board, I’ll give you guys a little background info on myself. I’m 29 years old. I’ve been working out for nine years. When I started lifting I weighed no more than a buck thirty-five soaking wet at 5’11". I wore pants with a 29-inch waist simply because I couldn’t find any smaller. I currently weigh around 195 pounds. (unfortunately no more 29" waist) lol
My best bench is 355.
My best squat is 455x2.
My best deadlift is 485-with a belt and wrist straps-I have weak forearms.
I realize those aren’t the best numbers for as long as I’ve been working out, but I’ve busted ass for every gain I ever made. I’m all natural.

I swear I work legs out harder than 95% of the guys in the gym, but 95% of the guys in the gym have bigger legs than me--most of the people in my gym don’t know what a squat is. My forearms and calves suck and I’ll take the blame for that—I have tended to neglect them over the years. I’m currently bombarding my calves and forearms. But WTF, I train my legs hard and they don’t grow—Maybe I just think I’m training them hard?

A typical leg workout for me would be as follows:
Squats
135x8
225x8
315x8
405x8
405x6-8
405x whatever I have left

Leg press
8 plates per side x 8
8 plates per side x 8
8 plates per side x 6-8

Smith machine squats—just recently substituted front squats for this
315x10
315x10
315x10

I wait ‘til Back day to do Hams because I tend to feel them in my DLs anyway.

I workout each bodypart once a week. I squat with a little wider than shoulder width stance and I squat a little below parallel. I take quite a bit of rest between sets. I don’t normally use a belt.

What do you guys think I’m doing wrong? Right now I’m looking more for size than brute strength (although I am a fan of strength). I just want my legs to look proportionate to the rest of my body.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.



Dick Tater

 

[the People's Champ]

...waiting for needsize to jump on this...


seems like you are doing a lot of reps per set for your squats. lower the reps, and increase the weight intervals and you may go heavier on the squat. how far down do you squat? parallel? ass to floor? lower the weight and try doing ass to floor squats.

seems to me, you have got plenty of strength, but aren't using it to your full potential. drop the reps per set, nothing over 5-7 reps, and that will allow you to go heavier.

from looking at your leg day, you shouldn't have a problem with legs. I would suggest switching up your stance, or maybe trying some different exercises like lunges, single leg squats, hack squats/hack sled ass to floor, etc.

just my .02.

 

[Deepsquat]

Too many sets! just do your squats ...and add 1-2 leg extentions...thats it! ...rotate the squats out every few times and put in the legpresses...youll be amazed at the growth and strength you will gain...if you stop over training
Hear is a couple of pictures of my legs ...just took them
http://www.anabolex.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=459107

http://www.anabolex.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=459108

 

[dick tater]

Too many sets! just do your squats

That seemed to be Needsize's opinion too--he gave me some info in another post

 

[kunta]

try alternating between low reps 3-5 and high reps 15-20 on squats

 

[needsize]

God, I hate to be predictable, but oh well.....

First, I think that all the sets you're doing on the way up to your working weight are tiring you out far too much, so you have nothing left for the big sets. When really aiming for mass, I do just enough warm up that I'm strong and my legs are warm, but not enough to tire my legs out at all. Plus, too many working sets. You and I squat around the same weight, and this is my warm up for mass building:
45lbs x 10
135 x 8
225 x 5
315 x 2-3
355 x 1-2 (these last couple are just to get the feel of hte heavy stuff)
Working sets 405lbs for 3-5 sets of 5 reps

Following that approach I'm warm and dont injure my quads, but have tons of strength left to rip shit up at the working weight.

I'm sure this surprises no one, but I think you're a perfect canditate for the 5x5 program. This routine is responsible for the last 3" on my quads.

First, pick a weight you can easily bang out 5 sets of 5 reps on. it should be easy enough that you can concentrate on form and get all the reps you set out to do. If you hit them all, add only 5-10lbs to the bar for the next week, and do it again. Pick one other exercise, ie, hack squat or leg press, and do 2 sets of 8-10 reps, and if you're feeling up to it, throw a drop set in at the end of the 2nd set. Same thing here as the 5x5, when you can get 2 sets of 10 reps, add a little weight for the next week. On this program I can continually add weight for a while, if I keep the increments small. 5lbs doesn't sound like much, but do that for 8 weeks, that's 40llbs extra on the bar, and bet your ass your body will grow to compensate.
If you're natural, start creatine and whatever else you use when you start this program. I have yet to see anyone who did this program right who didn't gain. Just don't get greedy, start the program with a weight that is easy enough, and keep the increments small. the key is that you keep adding weight, not how much total is on the bar as the constant increases cause the body to grow to adapt.

Here's a sample, my favorite quad routine:
squat (ass to the floor)
5x5
hack squat
2 sets 8-10 reps with a drop on the last set

That's the whole thing, 1/3 the volume of most programs for quads, I invite the board to rip it up at will

 

[dick tater]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the suggestions. Needsize, I think I'm going to try your workout for a while. It's hard to argue with your routine seeing as how big YOUR legs are. I'll give it a shot--my routine is definitely not working. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Thanks again.



Dick Tater

 

[DeathB4Dishonor]

HIT UP Squats and deadlifts like crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!