Give me something to add mass to my legs without SQUATS!

[brownstown89]

now that i got all you to open this hears the deal...

Since i get tremendous lower back pumps. Im considering Doing Squats and deads on the same day.. Then doing a different day for leg assistance type of work because my legs are really skinny they need mass.

Like if i posted a picture of them and told u i squatted 330 max you would say maybe 225... My sisters calves are bigger than mine probably and shes a cardio freak. My current split is like this remember i am a powerlifter so i need stuff that wont ruin my other lifts

Monday- Heavy bench, Light triceps
Tuesday- Squats. Legs
Wednesday- Off
Thursday- OFF
Friday- Deadlift/ back
Saturday-Bench Assistance (shoulder tricep stuff heavy)
Sunday- OFF

So if i have seperate leg work i could do

Monday- Bench, Light Tris
Tuesday- Back Work no deads
Wednesday- Off
Thursday-Squats, Deads,
Friday- Bench Assistance ( shoulders, Light Tris)
Saturday-Leg Work no Squats
Sunday- Off


so any suggestions? of a routine i could do to add some size to the wheels and still keep squatting for power? or am i asking to much

 

[mrlargecalves]

subbed, id like 2 know too!

 

[SemiBulimic]

I know you said no squats but i do light front squats for high reps (16-20) whenever i get the chance. not just great for mass but good for stamina as well, and i found they carry over to my regular squats with regards staying upright and preventing forward lean in the hole.

Others - leg press, lunges, box jumps, glute/ham raises, ham curls, sprints. Do these explosively at low weights and high reps and if your legs don't grow there's something wrong.

 

[brownstown89]

Im thinking about doing something like

Squat Machine or Hack Squat
3 x 15

Hamstring Curls
3 x 12

Lunges
3 x 12

Leg Extentions
20,15,10,6

Id much rather do my usual
5-8 squat
2 drop sets of 5 reps
3 x 10 good mornings
20,15,10,5 leg extentions and call it a day..

 

[sportsbro21]

my legs are a strong point for me but they haven't always been. my normal routine is something like this (with minor changes here and there to mix things up)...

squats.
4-5 sets of 12-8 reps, first two warm ups, increasing the weight every set.
leg press (very heavy)
4 sets of 10-12, i start off pretty heavy on these sense my legs are already warm frm squats. use enough weight to where you can barely get 8-10 on your last two sets.
dead lift.
4 sets of 8, i use alot of weight on these as well, slow and controlled throughout entire movement, slow stretch on the way down and controlled contraction on the way up.
superset leg ext and ham curls
3 sets of 10-15. lighter weight to pump blood into muscles.
calf raises on legpress.
4 sets of 20.

sometimes i throw in some walking/weighted lunges or weighted step ups if i feel i need some extra work.

goodluck

 

[brownstown89]

my legs are a strong point for me but they haven't always been. my normal routine is something like this (with minor changes here and there to mix things up)...

squats.
4-5 sets of 12-8 reps, first two warm ups, increasing the weight every set.
leg press (very heavy)
4 sets of 10-12, i start off pretty heavy on these sense my legs are already warm frm squats. use enough weight to where you can barely get 8-10 on your last two sets.
dead lift.
4 sets of 8, i use alot of weight on these as well, slow and controlled throughout entire movement, slow stretch on the way down and controlled contraction on the way up.
superset leg ext and ham curls
3 sets of 10-15. lighter weight to pump blood into muscles.
calf raises on legpress.
4 sets of 20.

sometimes i throw in some walking/weighted lunges or weighted step ups if i feel i need some extra work.

goodluck

no offense dude but I dont think you read anything i wrote, you just wanted to give us your routine lol... Im a powerlifter 4 x 8 on deadlifts is bogus for me. Everything you gave me was not what i asked for haha but thanks anyways..

 

[SRS2000]

Im thinking about doing something like

Squat Machine or Hack Squat
3 x 15

Hamstring Curls
3 x 12

Lunges
3 x 12

Leg Extentions
20,15,10,6

Id much rather do my usual
5-8 squat
2 drop sets of 5 reps
3 x 10 good mornings
20,15,10,5 leg extentions and call it a day..

What you have suggested here is fine if it's just a lower body assistance day. This is assuming you are squatting at some point other point in the week. Since you are trying to build size really focus on technique and feeling the exercise in the correct area, you know those bodybuilding-type things. Don't worry too much about going too heavy on your assistance day, just get in and get a good pump.

 

[brownstown89]

What you have suggested here is fine if it's just a lower body assistance day. This is assuming you are squatting at some point other point in the week. Since you are trying to build size really focus on technique and feeling the exercise in the correct area, you know those bodybuilding-type things. Don't worry too much about going too heavy on your assistance day, just get in and get a good pump.

Thanks I think ill alternate every week with Upper body assistance and lower body assistance. Because doing the 5/3/1 for bench then and 3 x 3-5 for DB bench even with palms in seems like im OT even on jungle warefare because today i only got the 110s for 3,4,3 and last week was 4,3,5... so ill alternate the extra leg day with the extra upper body assistance day thanks for the advice guys

 

[SRS2000]

I wouldn't go nearly that heavy on bench assistance work with the 5/3/1 program. If you are going to do DB bench as an assistance movement, I would do a weight where you can get sets of 15-20 reps and don't go to failure. It sounds like you are going too heavy and too close to failure on your BP assistance work and that may be why you feel run down.

 

[drinkyboy]

not trying to be mean or anything, but if i may ask, why are you going to do high reps when your into power lifting?

 

[SouthernCharm]

heavy a$$ leg presses. the 45% hammer strength or icarian ones

 

[EasyEJL]

I sort of understand why you want to do it, because looks are important, but doing this will impact your powerlifting. There is no way you are going to do the sorts of workout to add significant mass to your legs, while still adding significantly to strength without anabolics. You'll just never see enough quad + hamstring recovery for it to work.

I understand why you want to do it, i'm sort of in the reverse as far as most lifts go. I look like I can move way more than I actually can on quite a few lifts (particularly chest presses) but i'm a bodybuilder, so I could give a crap less what weight i'm moving so long as it does steadily go up over time.

 

[drinkyboy]

i myself haad a weak core, so in return i got a sore back and whatnot. i have found that single leg exercises such as one leg box squats with just bodyweight helped me and along with alot of stabalizing movements. Soft tissue work and proper stretching before every workout has helped me ALOT! ...just my 2 cents. For years i did not stretch or warm up properly and after years of injury, i got wise and think about the long run.

 

[brownstown89]

Well I figure i used to deadlift 2 x a week and got up to 405 pretty fast... I use to bench 2-3 times a week and it worked for awhile... If i start hitting legs 2 x a week i should see some quick gains...

but im having 2nd thoughts about it.

 

[SRS2000]

I'm not sure where people are getting that you can't do any higher reps or that you can't build size while powerlifting. If you look at most strong raw powerlifters, they have pretty big legs by most human, non-Mr Olympia standards. Every powerlifter I know does some high rep assistance work for both the upper and lower body. They typically do some work in almost all the rep ranges so they build strength with the lower reps and some size with the higher reps (that will lay the foundation for future strength gains). You don't have to kill yourself with the higher rep work to build some size. You may not build quite as much size as those who focus exclusively on size, but you can still get pretty large.
You can do the assistance day you described and be just fine, provided you don't completely kill yourself on that day.

 

[brownstown89]

thank you guys.. i have been sticking with this routine 1 day a week
either
3 x 3
5/3/1
or i do heavy singles with 315 aiming for 5 or so then do a max 5 rep set.

then good mornings 3 x 10
Leg Press 3 x F
Leg extentions 4 x F
calf raise 200 toe presses