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Help... I WANT GORILLA QUADS!
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Help... I WANT GORILLA QUADS!
There is nothing like squats to give you big legs. In the offseason(when I was a powerlifter) I would use this method for growth in my legs.
Squats
Week 1- 1x20
Week 2- 2x15
Week 3- 3x10
Week 4- 4x8
Week 5- 5x5
Week 6- 8x3
Week 7- rest
Week 8- repeat
The set of 20 I would use a weight that I knew I couldnt get but about 12 reps with, after I felt that I was about to fail(usually on the 12th rep) I would rest in the upright position until I felt I could get another rep, I would continue to do this until I got 20 reps.
For the 2x15 I would pick a weight that I knew I could get for 15 but the second set of 15 would hard to acieve. I did this for all weeks there after.
Also on this leg day I would do some hamstring curls or stiff leg deads, some sort of situp, knee raises, and oblique work.
My current rountine (weights go up weekly):
Squat -
135 - warmup x 10
315 - 10
405 - 10
495 - 6
leg extensions - 4 sets 15-20 slow reps till failure.
Stiff legged deadlifts - starting at 135 at 15 reps to 405 for 5 reps
glute ham raise 3 sets till failure
Calves - 3 sets standing calve raise machine 15-20 SLOW reps
Seated calf raise 3 sets 20 reps SLOW
then i pass out on the gym floor.
Giant Set nonstop one power exercise, one rythmic and one for continous tension working up and down a few times. WARNING: Not for the weak stomach - it can get you nauseated if you do it right. :wg:
Example:
1. Leg Press, 5-8 reps
2. Hack Squat, 12-15 reps
3. Quad Extensions, 40 reps
In this type of order: 1,2,1,3,1,2,1,3,1,2,1,3,1... no rest intervals - jumping straight from one to the other. While your slow twitch rest, you use your fast twitch and via versa... deffinitly puts a burn on the quads. Don't do it every workout though.
I'm an ectomorph too small frame/bones.......5'7" 160lbs.......37 y/o now been training since 19y/o. Nothing beats squats period, you want big legs you got to squat. The problem with us ectomorphs you need lots of rest.......I would only do legs 1x/week. Beat the shit out of them though.......like the big boys in the previous replys say.....when you get done with legs head to the garbage can......In my twenties I used to train legs like that.....sometimes I used to get nose bleeds....
Genetics play a big part too......
Concentrate on the basics to build a solid mass foundation
Squats
Leg presses
hacks
leg curls
you gotta train hard though......real hard. The next day you should have trouble walking up & down stairs.....
Warrior, is this an addition to squats or a workout on its own...Im guessing it is the latter...
For us hardagainers with chicken legs (that's me too), I found the best program was an HIT style. 1-2 sets Squats as close to failure as you can and then plenty of food and rest. Use Leg Ext for a preexhuast and then finish with Calves. Don't touch legs for at leat 7-9 days, and don't spend more than 30mins in the gym. Try not to go inthe gym more than 3xweek for weight training. Us hardgainers usually need tonnes of recovery time. Train Hard, Train Brief, Train infrequent (Rest days are good), rest, eat, sleep. Fundamentals.
However - I'm not sure if the gear will allow more volume and frequncy?
I'd like to hear opinions on this too.
if you want your legs big you gotta do what the guys said - squat. make sure it's intense and not a half ass effort either. don't forget lunges with a barbell either. they are great for building your quads. dead lift is also good and if you're up for it power clean but thats more of a powerlifying excercise.
--hawk
A good mass gainer for quads is hipsled. 6-8 reps. For most mass dont go over 8 reps even on leg extensions. And only do legs once a week. I asked a guy who questioned me on leg size how many days a week he worked legs. he told me "every 48 hrs." I told him thats way to much and he tried to argue with me. I just lifted a shorts leg and flashed a quad saying "maybe I am doing something wrong?" hehe
That's not ALWAYS true, a lot of peoples legs grow a lot better on higher reps than lower weights.
That is true bdtr. Sorry my bad. But you do wanna stick to once a week. more than that is to much for large muscle groups.
Yup, the only things i work twice a week are abs and calves, anything else for me is overtraining.
True that. Quads require a higher rep range for hypertrophy (15-20) - more time under tension. On the otherside though, hamstrings do not (8-10). And calves really need a minimum of 40 seconds of time under tension to get a good response - any less is not enough intesity for their fiber make up.Quote:
Originally Posted by bdtr
Sure. Personally I don't cause I would rather do Squats on a day when I do have a rest interval and can focus more on strength and stabilizing the bar than pulverizing the bodypart - like every other workout. If anything it keeps your body guessing and you motivated about your next workout - variety is one way to avoid overtraining.Quote:
Originally Posted by AbsolutelyLethal
But Squats would be a good choice for the first heavy, compound and explosive exercise... here is an example (with the tempo's this time):
1. Squats, 5-8 reps, 2-0-2
2. Leg Press, 12-15 reps,4-0-2
3. Quad Extensions, 40 reps, 4-0-4
But if mass is your goal you have too look at the two basic ways to obtain it: 1) Depleting the muscle group of all ATP/CP stores by totally exhausting it, so it builds increased stores - aka, hypertrophy. Or 2) creating a natural anabolic cocktail by performing heavy compound movements like Squats and Deadlifts - which will also help upperbody.
One way to totally deplete it is with Holistic training like I showed you. It burns out all fast twitch and slow twitch fibers - as well as causes an increase in testosterone and GH from the intensity level. It's less of a strength training way to work out since you invitably have to lower the resistance and you DO NOT use forced reps with it. It is good for triggering new growth. But it is also puts a heavy demand on your body, so be sure to hit the post workout meal on time and don't train like this all the time unless you are on heavy androgens, get plenty of rest and nutrition and/or can recognize overtraining setting in easy enough to avoid it. It really is more for the advanced. But if Gearhead007 has only hits the gym every so often - it will leave a seer in his legs that will last him awhile...
This type of training is good for pretty much any body part. Personally I have had the best results with Back, Shoulders and Quads. Triceps and Chest tend to not keep up as well - but they improve with time (they become more oxidative eventually).
Is this possible to do if you workout with a partner? I would think that waiting for your partner to finish would slow the whole thing down...
ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
You don't wait for anything to finish... there is no waiting. You go from one to the next. But it is good to have a partner keep you moving. And once you run through it - you can push your partner through it next. An "Okay-Who's-Goin'-First" type thing. :wg:Quote:
Originally Posted by AbsolutelyLethal
After you run through the whole thing you should be bent over breathing heavy and nautious, especially when doing it for Quads. I have literally had people shake my hand after running through a day like this. It's full intensity with heavy loads. It helps strengthen your endurance but you are also giant setting with low reps to push out CP/ATP for growth as well.
If you want more indepth info on this technique, read this by Hatfield: Hardcore Bodybuilding. He also advises on how to run a program like this with verying intensity alternating GVT and POF style routines with Holistic (this type of training). Hatfield talks about doing more than one run through it (more than one giant set per muscle group), especially for larger bodyparts, but IMO - you would be better off addding a few more sets to the giant set for larger bodyparts and give it 110% the first time... so that going through it again would be simply overtraining... but like anything, you can learn the fundamentals and then see what works well for you...
The wait I was talking about is if one person is squatting he is doing 5-8 reps and the other is doing extensions that is 40 reps. Obviously the squatter finishes before the guy doing 40 reps since 40 is a lot more then 5-8. How do you do it with a partner and not get lagged up?
How do u decide the weight to use and how many go throughs do you do? Like how many 1-2-1-3-1-3-1-2-1-3...Etc?
Hatfield suggest doing something like this 1,2,1,2,1,3,1,2,1,3,1,2,1,3,1 - that's it. And then rest about 5 mikes and repeat it only for larger muscle groups (he says never do it more than twice in the same day though). The combined repition toal is about 200 done in a very short amount of time with respectable loads - if you are familiar with Power Indexes (basically amount lifted divided by time spent in the gym...), this rates real high. Personally I like to just extend the giant set and keep going for the larger groups rather than stopping, resting and then starting over.
Thanks again for all the advice. Here goes... Three days on gear.
Here is what I did. (remember, I have been a wimp and have never really tried for size, until now)
Squats -
Two warm ups, 8 x 135
6 x 155
6 x 185
6 x 205
4 x 225
4 x 255
Walking Dumbell Lunges (we do not have a hack squat machine)
3 x 25 yards with 25 pound weights. I have NEVER done these before, and NEVER felt a burn like this before. Cool. I may alternate weekly between these and presses. Would BOTH in addition to squatting be overtraining???
Between these and the squats, I finally had that ready to puke feeling, but I pressed on.
Quad extentions 3 sets of 10. I'll try the 40 reps next time to compare.
Hamstring curls, 3 sets of 8.
Calves, 3 sets of 15 (standing)
Now I was really wanting to puke. Leaving the gym, I have to walk down a flight of stairs. I stoped at the top in sheer terror, I did not know if I had anything left to walk down the stairs.
Damn that hurt.
With my schedule, I can religiously get to the gym at least 4 days a week. I will make sure and hit every body part just once a week, except calves and abs. Keep the advice coming!
Awesome job gearhead. If you get that good of a burn you know you did something right. Just remeber to put just as much attention on your hamstrings. Next week start with them and up the reps and sets. Again Good Job
Holly shit!Quote:
Originally Posted by bigol'legs
Good advice. I really got a good ham-burn by doing this. It didn't affect my squatting as far as I could tell. Hell, I hit 275 at four reps today. A personal best, and this is only the end of the second week. I am up seven pounds in body weight, although it is probably water.
I also tried doing 40 reps on the extensions today. That frikking killed me.
Thanks for the GOOD advice everyone! I am feeling gains.
Great Job. Anyone who puts effort into legs and enjoys it gets an A+ from me 8). Next legs try
4 sets stiffleg deadlifts
4 sets superset lying curls and seated curls
4 set lunges- more of a hit hams and warm up the quads move.
Then blow away your quads and calves