Need bigger legs

[Perfection]

Ok, I've been trying to get my legs bigger for years and I'm finally going to nationals and try to get my pro card. Yes I said try. I know the competition is going to be very tough and the judges all say I need to get my legs bigger so I need help. I work the hell out of them and all they do is get stronger but size is a problem. Any suggestions are welcome. Need to come in at my best thanks.

 

[turbobusa]

Well legs are a favorite to train for me -when i'm in shape .
Big quads /hams are best developed targeting ALL aspects in each session.
BY this I mean you need some white fiber 4-6 rep range (explosive heavy lower rep work)red fiber10 -15 rep range /capillary /blood network higher rep work. You also need what is now referred to as Tut time under tension .
We called that slo-mo's 30 yrs ago. That is a couple finisher sets of slow motion
15-20 second negative portion with slighty faster concentric contractile portion of each rep.shooting for 20-30 reps . These are excruciating when performed properly. I've never seen anyone ecto or not fail to respond to this style
leg training. I am assuming you can barbell squat.
I would go from squat right to a compound ham movement which would be
stiff leg deads to the knee ,. Now back to quads again I would go to hacks and hammer out 4-5 working sets . now back to a couple sets stiff legs again.
Now you can proceed with contaction and pump work with high and mid range leg exts. (note do not use really heavy lbs on exts can fuck up your patella tendon tracking). Use 1 or 2 more ham movements . Finish with feet high leg press for reps of 12-20 . Looks like a lot of work and it is . The whole goal being moving heavier and heavier wt for more reps .
be much easier to just take you through a leg session but we are just letters on a screen here. I can tell you the truth about building big wheels--
The vast majority of people do not have the constitution to train legs for freaky size.. Kind of curious on your training /competitive back ground.
Proper leg work is very demanding. will pay big dividends if you have the heart/mind for it. Have fun and if you are seeking big leg changes
you really need a training partner of same mind set.. Good luck .. check back and let us know how you are progressing.Look at John meadows. His methods of improvement are in my opinion some of the best in our world. That guy
is smart as they come and not just on paper . he walks the walk.. check him out T
Turbobusa

 

[chaotichealth]

I will say I have the same problem. My legs are not huge now. But I have gotten them to grow some. The best I can tell ya is try Arnolds old workout I will post a pick of it. Also don't count calories just eat what you can and then some

 

[Perfection]

This is awesome. I will start to use both of these and do trial and error. I've started to go a little heavier. Started doing
135x20 warm up
225x 15
285x 12
315x10
365x10
405x 8
Wonder if I should just cut back on the high reps right now and do what you guys have suggested but go real heavy.

 

[Phoe2006]

My absolute favorite is light leg extensions between heavy sets of squats. BTW squats and deadlifts alone usually take up to an hour for me. Not always the amount of sets but pumping yourself up to deadlifting 635 or squatting anything over 585 takes some time to psych myself up. I could find some pics back from the heavy squat days where my legs were tree trunks they still are just not like they were.

My heaviest squat was 725x2 but probably wouldn't meet full powerlifting meet criteria. And this was all before I partially tore my right acl a few years back now I'm lucky to get 585 for 2-3 not to mention ie started using machines more due to a reoccurring shoulder injury that hurts everytime I grab the squat bar.

Love me some dl's now. I think if I actually worked with a coach on my form it'd fly through the roof. I usually use a double overhand grip which most pls I see use an over under.

I have a log on here somewhere.

 

[xchewbaccax777]

My absolute favorite is light leg extensions between heavy sets of squats. BTW squats and deadlifts alone usually take up to an hour for me. Not always the amount of sets but pumping yourself up to deadlifting 635 or squatting anything over 585 takes some time to psych myself up. I could find some pics back from the heavy squat days where my legs were tree trunks they still are just not like they were.

My heaviest squat was 725x2 but probably wouldn't meet full powerlifting meet criteria. And this was all before I partially tore my right acl a few years back now I'm lucky to get 585 for 2-3 not to mention ie started using machines more due to a reoccurring shoulder injury that hurts everytime I grab the squat bar.

Love me some dl's now. I think if I actually worked with a coach on my form it'd fly through the roof. I usually use a double overhand grip which most pls I see use an over under.

I have a log on here somewhere.

Did some super light weight hamstring exercises and got the worst cramps of my life today I think I need to lay off legs for about 6 months think I really enjoyed myself I'm late for us a couple months ago. Lol

 

[Phoe2006]

Did some super light weight hamstring exercises and got the worst cramps of my life today I think I need to lay off legs for about 6 months think I really enjoyed myself I'm late for us a couple months ago. Lol

Sorry for the threadjack but truthfully chewy you need focus on diet and cardio. Lighten up all the weights and higher the reps for a while. 6-10 minutes prior to working our and then atleast 30-45+ minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week cut out all the salts and carbs like breads and breading. All the good shit I'm about to go on another cutting diet myself.

Go lighter and your joints will thank you down the road focus on form and pausing at the bottom of the lift.

 

[xchewbaccax777]

Sorry for the threadjack but truthfully chewy you need focus on diet and cardio. Lighten up all the weights and higher the reps for a while. 6-10 minutes prior to working our and then atleast 30-45+ minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week cut out all the salts and carbs like breads and breading. All the good shit I'm about to go on another cutting diet myself.

Go lighter and your joints will thank you down the road focus on form and pausing at the bottom of the lift.

Yes sir...u say cardio 6 days a week? 86 sugars? In terms of carbs, are complex ok ie sweet pots, oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa??

 

[xchewbaccax777]

Sorry for the threadjack but truthfully chewy you need focus on diet and cardio. Lighten up all the weights and higher the reps for a while. 6-10 minutes prior to working our and then atleast 30-45+ minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week cut out all the salts and carbs like breads and breading. All the good shit I'm about to go on another cutting diet myself.

Go lighter and your joints will thank you down the road focus on form and pausing at the bottom of the lift.

Do what 6-10 mins before working out?

 

[Phoe2006]

Yes sir...u say cardio 6 days a week? 86 sugars? In terms of carbs, are complex ok ie sweet pots, oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa??

Where's your thread so we're not threadjacking this one pm me

 

[Perfection]

Sorry for the threadjack but truthfully chewy you need focus on diet and cardio. Lighten up all the weights and higher the reps for a while. 6-10 minutes prior to working our and then atleast 30-45+ minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week cut out all the salts and carbs like breads and breading. All the good shit I'm about to go on another cutting diet myself.

Go lighter and your joints will thank you down the road focus on form and pausing at the bottom of the lift.

It's all good brother. This is good stuff and what I wanted out of it. I wanted people to respond and give their personal experiences of what they have done to get their legs to grow along with diets. I eat pretty clean and stay fairly lean. I've had some people say you have to eat fairly dirty to get your legs to grow. I want all the opinions as possible.

 

[Perfection]

Well guys I'm happy to say that I have been doing power lifting movements and my legs have gotten a little bit bigger and a shit ton stronger. I've started working them 2x a week. One day with power movements and the other for volume. It's seems to be working pretty good. If you all have any other suggestions feel free to post.

 

[custom creation]

Those are all great! I prefer to do heavy sets of 8 to 12 reps. While on cycle I spot inject winstrol and prop into my quads and calves. They blow up! This allows me to focus on my weaker hams.

Bear

 

[The Grim Repper]

Fall in love with the stairmaster if you have access to one. 10-12 minutes of 'waking up' your hams and glutes on there BEFORE hitting legs is amazing.
Do hamstrings first in your routine. Most people lack hamstring development and should prioritize.
Vary your stance on squats and your rep range as well as tempo. Making strides is all about not allowing the body to adapt to the training - shocking it.
I guess, when I look to coach someone, I have to take a look at their strong areas and weak and adjust. Is it the overall size of your legs that you want to improve? Is any area developed decently compared to others?

 

[psych]

• Leg Extensions: 3 Sets x 15 Reps (light)
• Stiff-Legged Deadlifts/Lying Leg Curls Supersets: 3 Sets x 15 Reps
• Close-Stance Squats: 5 Sets x 10 Reps (you can also use a power, hi-bar, safety bar or do front squats instead)
• Hack Squats/Leg Extensions Supersets: 1 Set x 25 Reps, 1 Set x 15 Reps, 1 Set x 10 Reps
• Seated Calves/Donkey Calves Superset: 3 Sets x 20 Reps

this works trust me, off season between meets.

 

[cybrsage]

Holy fuck dude!!! Nice!

 

[psych]

Thanks man. Not gonna lie, I'm a powerlifter and don't get caught up on the whole Look how big my muscles are thing. But legs...I was kinda waiting for someone to post and see this pic. I'm about 228 in this one at nationals.

I got 3 rules for legs.

1. High volume 55-75% of max by volume I do not mean "sets" I mean reps!! Pumping your legs comes through exhaustion. So 15-25

2. Fatigue the muscle before with high reps before work set "squat" When i'm off season my squat is down in a machine that has pins on bottom and pads at the top you put your head through. Or you can squat with a standing calf raise machine. The point is simple. You can focus on leg mass and conditioning. Casue in meet prep I squat and this give my shoulder a break from 600+ pound 3's and 5's.
Hit it from a different angle, go stupid heavy and your safe cause you can drop it or need spotters. So this takes the fear away from killing your self or getting stuck.

3. After your legs are nuked like a pizza roll in the microwave, you got to burn um. Burn um good!!! Gotta get every last glycogen and fiber wasted. The leg is a big muscle and it's used all the time. So the endurance of it is high since we walk and do cardio, some off use any way LOL! Guys will do that to their arms but not other body parts. So they end up with that huge upper body and no legs, looking like a swole pigeon with AIDS.

Tips: On the lifts of stiff legs, hamstrings, and squat if you get all your reps go heavier each week. So this means you have warm up sets with them BEFORE YOU START THOSE EXERCISES! :devil-smiley-029: Once they are warmed up and you know what number you have to it, start the super sets.

I got this routine from off a website. It was written by Joe Ladnier. Famous power lifter and bodybuilder. I use it between meet cycles to get my conditioning back up and give my mind a mental break. The chest and back day are brutal, the arm day is sweet! I normally don't do arm work directly so getting a pump is awesome.

 

[cybrsage]

Thank you, I am going to add an extra leg day and try this out. I have always had chicken legs. They are looking MUCH better, but they are still lagging behind even though I work them hard.

 

[Perfection]

Those are all great! I prefer to do heavy sets of 8 to 12 reps. While on cycle I spot inject winstrol and prop into my quads and calves. They blow up! This allows me to focus on my weaker hams.

Bear

I have been doing the spot injects and can definitely see a bigger difference in strength and growth. I've always done in the glut or delt. Glad I changed sites.

 

[Perfection]

Fall in love with the stairmaster if you have access to one. 10-12 minutes of 'waking up' your hams and glutes on there BEFORE hitting legs is amazing.
Do hamstrings first in your routine. Most people lack hamstring development and should prioritize.
Vary your stance on squats and your rep range as well as tempo. Making strides is all about not allowing the body to adapt to the training - shocking it.
I guess, when I look to coach someone, I have to take a look at their strong areas and weak and adjust. Is it the overall size of your legs that you want to improve? Is any area developed decently compared to others?

Grim I'm down to try new things and I will definitely try this. I've got 6months from now to get it together.