Splitting Hams and Quads

I have tried several times in the past to work quads and hams on different days...the problem that i run into is that on both days i feel it in my glutes (when i hit hams, usually 3 days after quads, my ass is sometimes still sore)...i would like to try it again ---hitting quads on saturdays and hams on tuesdays....my quad workout will consist of hacks, front squats, and extensions...my ham workout will consist of stiff leggeds and various leg curls...any thoughts on how to avoid the "overtraining the ass" problem or other techniques for splitting quads and hams?

I have experienced this before as well. Usually, I can eliminate much of the problem by making sure I focus during a lift, stay really tight, and make sure 100% of the force is generated by the target muscle group. It's really a mental exercise. So try that (mostly with quad exercises), and also drop the stiffies temporarily if you're still sore and do some really heavy rest-pause reps on some leg curl machines.

I guess this lends to the term "working your ass off". And as gold says stay focused. the only time my ass is sore is from lunges.

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Originally Posted by goldenear

I have experienced this before as well. Usually, I can eliminate much of the problem by making sure I focus during a lift, stay really tight, and make sure 100% of the force is generated by the target muscle group. It's really a mental exercise. So try that (mostly with quad exercises), and also drop the stiffies temporarily if you're still sore and do some really heavy rest-pause reps on some leg curl machines.

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Thanks for your reply...When hitting quads, would you suggest keeping the weight (A) on the balls of my feet, (B) on my heels, or (C) evenly distributed? I have experimented and it seems that keeping the weight on the balls of my feet hits the quads more, but I'm scared I might be risking a knee injury...Any thoughts?

That really depends on the exercise in question. For example, I would never suggest free squatting off the balls of your feet because that is terrible technique. On the other hand, I think you can get away with 45* leg presses primarily off the balls if you keep your feet high on the platform (placing your first few toes slightly above the top of the foot platform). Even though I do this on presses, my heels never leave the platform, so there is still constant pressure applied through the entire foot.

when squatting always push through the heels. It takes stress off of the knees and puts it in the ass which is were your power is. I don't know what kind of reps you are doing but lower reps with more weight will have you a lot less sore then do higher amounts of reps that don't biuld power anyways