# Need bigger legs



## Perfection (Mar 30, 2015)

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.


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## turbobusa (Mar 30, 2015)

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


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## chaotichealth (Apr 1, 2015)

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


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## Perfection (Apr 1, 2015)

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.


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## Phoe2006 (Apr 1, 2015)

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.


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## xchewbaccax777 (Apr 1, 2015)

Phoe2006 said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


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


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## Phoe2006 (Apr 1, 2015)

xchewbaccax777 said:


> 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.


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## xchewbaccax777 (Apr 1, 2015)

Phoe2006 said:


> 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??


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## xchewbaccax777 (Apr 1, 2015)

Phoe2006 said:


> 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?


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## Phoe2006 (Apr 1, 2015)

xchewbaccax777 said:


> 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


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## Perfection (Apr 2, 2015)

Phoe2006 said:


> 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.


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## Perfection (May 8, 2015)

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.


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## custom creation (May 8, 2015)

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


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## The Grim Repper (May 8, 2015)

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?


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## psych (May 9, 2015)

• 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.


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## cybrsage (May 11, 2015)

Holy fuck dude!!!  Nice!


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## psych (May 11, 2015)

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.


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## cybrsage (May 11, 2015)

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.


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## Perfection (May 14, 2015)

custom creation said:


> 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.


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## Perfection (May 14, 2015)

The Grim Repper said:


> 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.


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## Perfection (May 14, 2015)

Psych nicely done bro.


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## AtomAnt (May 14, 2015)

I'll throw two sample leg workouts I might do.  One would be DAY 1 of the week and the other 3-4 days after the first

*Day 1 - Legs*
Seated leg curl – Do a few warm-up sets here then 4 sets of 10. All the sets are to failure with good form. 4 sets of 10

Barbell Back squats –Work your way up doing sets of 8. Just keep going until you can barely get 8 and do 4 sets.  So 4 sets of 8

Leg press (this is a John Meadows special) –  Do 1-2 warm-up sets.  Then do an ascending set. This is what it might look like:
2 plates per side for 6 reps
3 plates per side for 6 reps
4 plates per side for 6 reps
5 plates per side for 6 reps
6 plates per side for 6 reps
7 plates per side for 6 reps
8 plates per side for 6 reps
WITHOUT RACKING THE WEIGHT, have a partner add a plate and then walk to other side and add a plate. If you train on your own that is ok. You will actually be able to do more sets as you get a slightly longer rest break slapping on plates yourself and reduce the tension. You keep going until you barely can get 6. Once the weight is added you start set. There is no additional rest.
Now once you are done rest for 3-4 minutes and we do a descending set. Here is what it might look like.

8 plates per side for 6 reps
7 plates per side for 6 reps
6 plates per side for 6 reps
5 plates per side for 6 reps (SLOW REPS)
4 plates per side for 6 reps (SLOW REPS)
3 plates per side for 20 reps (SLOW REPS)
2 plates per side (FIRE)

Total Work Sets – 2

Giant Set
Low Cable Pull-Throughs or But Blaster Machine – sets of 8 here (if unilateral, 8 reps per leg)

Smith split squats (or lunges) – Do one leg at a time. Get 8 reps on each leg.

Lying Leg Curls – 3 sets of 10.  Get your chest up off the pad and hold the contraction for a 1 count. 

Rest for 60 seconds then go again.

Work Sets – 9 (3 supersets)

Super Set

BB or DB Stiff Legged Deadlifts – Get a deep stretch and if using a BB, use 25lbs plates to stretch deeper or stand on a box.  Contract your hammies and glutes on the way up and get a little bend in your knees.  You should feel it pulling all through your posterior chain.  Do 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15

Leg Extensions  - You’ll do partials after each set here.  You’ll do 4 work sets, Set 1 – 12 reps, drop the weight 10 lbs, then do a static hold at the top of the rep for as long as you can then do 10 partials at the bottom. Set 2, same thing but do 15 partials.  Set 3, same thing but do 20 partials.  Set 4, do 12 reps, then 10 partials at the bottom, drop the weight 10 lbs, do as many reps as you can then 10 partials, drop the weight 10 lbs and do as many reps as you can and 10 partials…  and keep going until you can’t get another rep. 

Work sets- 8 (4 supersets)

Can add in Hacks here - sometimes I do

Toe press – Work up to a weight that is a tough 10, andjust do 5 sets of 10 with it. Let the weight stretch your calves for 10 seconds after the last rep on all sets. The last set also do partials to failure before doing the stretch. The last set should be extremely painful. 5 sets of 10

*Then a few days later: *

Lying leg curl – Do 3-4 warm up sets of 12. Work sets of 12, 10, 8 and on the last set 5 eccentrics and then an isohold for 20 seconds.

Leg press – 3 work sets and on the last set do a massive drop set.

Smith lunge – 10 reps on each leg nice and slow and stretch deep into bottom of movement. 4 sets.

Super Set
BB Stiff Legged Deads – 4 sets with a good stretch at the bottom. Don’t worry about weight, get a hard contraction. 8-12 reps
Sissy squat – 4 sets to failure.

Super Set
Adductors – 4 sets of 10, 15, 20, 25. Hold the contraction hard
Abductors - 4 sets of 10, 15, 20, 25. Hold the contraction hard

Super Set
Seated Leg Curls – 5 sets of 20
Leg Extensions - 5 sets of 20

Super Set
Seated calf raises – 10 reps with a good flex at top and after last rep a good 10 second stretch.
Standing calve raise – 10 reps and then finish with a 10 second stretch.
4 sets of each

 Recent pic is attached, and I have cancer...


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## xchewbaccax777 (May 19, 2015)

AtomAnt said:


> I'll throw two sample leg workouts I might do.  One would be DAY 1 of the week and the other 3-4 days after the first
> 
> *Day 1 - Legs*
> Seated leg curl – Do a few warm-up sets here then 4 sets of 10. All the sets are to failure with good form. 4 sets of 10
> ...


Hope all is well ATOM


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## AtomAnt (May 20, 2015)

xchewbaccax777 said:


> Hope all is well ATOM



I am getting married in 10 days... life couldn't be better   Thank you brother


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## xchewbaccax777 (Jul 21, 2015)

AtomAnt said:


> I am getting married in 10 days... life couldn't be better   Thank you brother


Congrats bro


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## xchewbaccax777 (Jul 21, 2015)

AtomAnt said:


> I am getting married in 10 days... life couldn't be better   Thank you brother


Is your health doing better now?


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## WayneBridge (Aug 11, 2015)

AtomAnt said:


> I am getting married in 10 days... life couldn't be better   Thank you brother



Congrats to you and wish you all the best for your marital life.

Concerning OP, if you need to grow your legs make sure you stop using shoes first


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## squatster (Aug 11, 2015)

I like Atom ant
I used to legs ever 3 or 4 days I like doing legs when they are still tight from the last work out.


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## AtomAnt (Aug 12, 2015)

WayneBridge said:


> Congrats to you and wish you all the best for your marital life.
> 
> 
> 
> Concerning OP, if you need to grow your legs make sure you stop using shoes first




Thank you sir 



squatster said:


> I like Atom ant
> I used to legs ever 3 or 4 days I like doing legs when they are still tight from the last work out.




But those secondary leg workout are generally either more hammie emphasis or a pump workout. 

The first workout for legs that week might incorporate intensity techniques like negatives, bands, compound supersets, hundreds, drop sets, ascending sets... But the second workout would be higher rep abs not incorporate the intensity techniques or maybe just on one exercise.

You really have to adjust frequency based on your own recovery, current nutrition and physiological response to training.


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