Legs. Help

[kawanakid]

Hi everyone. Trying to build all my muscles up in my leg, as I have the genes of a chook. I am taking a test booster (pink magic) and I am training legs every second day and on the right diet I believe ( Good carbs, protein, and good fats, 5 meals a day). Is 2 days too little time in-between to recover and besides squats, what are the best exercises and how many reps? Just interested if you were in my shoes, what supps, exercise, reps ect would you do to reach my goal. And how many kilograms (kg's in aussie land) can I expect to grow per month if I stick to it? Appreceate all feback fellas

 

[ToNNNNyT]

-Well how much are you eating(not diet plan just tell us what your marcos are)
-Your training how many sets and reps are you doing on legs in these sessions
-Are you doing the same movements over and over again
-Are squatting and deadlifting?
-How old are you?

Answer these and people here will be able to help you more.

 

[kawanakid]

Sorry fellas.
-I am eating 6 meals a day. I am eating enough to be satisfied and full. Not to sure How many kilojoules it adds up too.
-My sessions are SESSION 1, Barbell squat, good mornings, lunges, step ups, 1 leg hammy curl, and 1 leg quad curl. All exercises are aimed at 8-12 reps max 2 sets. SESSION 2, Smith machine squats, sumo squat, cross lunge, standing cable hip adduction, single leg dumbbell deadlift. 8-12 reps max and also 2 sets.
-I have only been on this routine for 2 weeks. I am changing it after 6. What would you recommend?
-I am squatting and doing a variation of deadlift
-I am 27

I hope this is the info you need to be able to see if I'm on the right track, if not then I am happy to hear what you recommend.
-

 

[ToNNNNyT]

Sorry fellas.
-I am eating 6 meals a day. I am eating enough to be satisfied and full. Not to sure How many kilojoules it adds up too.
-My sessions are SESSION 1, Barbell squat, good mornings, lunges, step ups, 1 leg hammy curl, and 1 leg quad curl. All exercises are aimed at 8-12 reps max 2 sets. SESSION 2, Smith machine squats, sumo squat, cross lunge, standing cable hip adduction, single leg dumbbell deadlift. 8-12 reps max and also 2 sets.
-I have only been on this routine for 2 weeks. I am changing it after 6. What would you recommend?
-I am squatting and doing a variation of deadlift
-I am 27

I hope this is the info you need to be able to see if I'm on the right track, if not then I am happy to hear what you recommend.
-

Everything I've bolded I have a problem with.
So 1st off eating till full is all well and good but it might take 300 cals to satisfy you which adds to 1800 cals as Im assuming that each meal is the same size,my point is you should set out a diet,it doesnt have to be a massively detailed just detailed enough so that if someone asked you how much are you eating you could give them a ball park figure cal wise

Session 1,the 1 leg hammy curl, and 1 leg quad curl just sounds retarded and I dont know why you are doing them like that unless you have a leg problem or something,next good mornings are more so for your lower back imo so I would drop that too.I would suggest that doing low rep high weight barbell squats would be better and then you move into higher rep and lower weight lunges then move into leg curls and leg extensions .Are you doing your step ups weighted?If not I'd drop that too.

Session 2,I dont understand why your doing smith machine squats if you can already do barbell squats,unless you dont know the correct form yet,if you do then maybe doing hack squats would be better.Swag the single leg dumbbell deadlift for stiff leg deadlift (assuming you have 2 legs).

You want leg size so your going to want to build strength in your legs using your bread and butter movements such as the deadlift, squat,leg press,lunge etc.You want to focus on compound movements such as the squat and the deadlift,regardless of the fact that you change workouts every 6 weeks those 2 movements SHOULD ALWAYS be a part of your leg training.


Next question:
Do you have 2 legs?

 

[kawanakid]

Ok, so I will take more note of how many cals. I said satisfied not almost ready to spew. My single leg curls are used so I don't favour a leg and both get an even workout, its the same as using dumbbells over a barbell. All my exercises are weighted so I am burning bad at the 10 mark. As for the smith machine, that is all they have in my gym. I do session 1 at home and 2 at the gym. I have a squat rack at home, but Id prefer to hit the gym so I can see if I'm using correct form with my other exercises. And yeah mate I do have 2 legs. Im hoping that isn't a smart arse remark cause I came on here to ask for advise.

 

[SuperPro]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that 48 hours is not sufficient time for your quadriceps to recover. It is enough time for your calves, as they are a fairly small muscle group. I read in Arnold's revised Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding that your lower back and quadriceps don't heal as quickly as other muscle groups and generally take 72 hours or more to recover. Your fastest recovering muscle groups are the biceps and calves, which usually take about 48 hours.

 

[pumped4evr]

Op, u kinda blew off the Macros question.. To build such large muscles and see great results I would consider trying to hit your macros. If you don know what macros are yet then that's cool. To bulk up and out on nice mass follow this.

Body weight X 18 = calories required per day for bulking

You want 40% of that from protein, 40% from GOOD COMPLEX carbs, and 20% from GOOD fats.

Everything needs to be converted to grams first though..

You get about
1gram of protein = about 4 calories
1gram of carbs = about 4 calories
1gram of fat = about 9 calories

So from that u can figure out how many grams of each u should be getting per day to build muscle. Spread it out over the day and try to get most of your carbs pre workout and post workout, not before bed!

My explanation might confuse you, but search body building macros and you might find a better explanation. Good luck bro!!

 

[kawanakid]

I didn't know that you needed 72 hours to recover, but I suppose it makes sense being the biggest muscle and properly the most used. As for macros, I guessed it would have been cal intake, but the formula you gave me should help me a lot with working out my intake. Thanks for your help fellas. Also, by upping my food intake and training hard, what is an average kilogram gain (or pounds) say monthly or every 6 months?

 

[pumped4evr]

Very hard to guess your gains.. What's your height, weight, and body fat % right now? Your doing only a store bought test booster?

 

[Jiigzz]

bodyweight x 18 proves absolutly nothing. It doesnt take into account BMR, exercise type, intensity, duration, other non-lifting unrelated unplanned exercise (e.g. walking, gardening, cutting down a tree, coal mining) etc. etc.

The best way, without complicated equations, is to simply experiment. Weigh yourself, then Set yourself a macro goal, e.g. 3000kcals. (or whatever), eat this everyday for a week then reweigh. If your gaining weight, then your in calorie excess (aim for an increase in weight <1kg a week, so if your gaining more than this, cut down), if you neither gain or lose, this is your maintainence calorie intake, if you lose, then increase.

And yes, your quads need a longer time to recover,especially if you thrash them.

 

[pumped4evr]

bodyweight x 18 proves absolutly nothing. It doesnt take into account BMR, exercise type, intensity, duration, other non-lifting unrelated unplanned exercise (e.g. walking, gardening, cutting down a tree, coal mining) etc. etc.

The best way, without complicated equations, is to simply experiment. Weigh yourself, then Set yourself a macro goal, e.g. 3000kcals. (or whatever), eat this everyday for a week then reweigh. If your gaining weight, then your in calorie excess (aim for an increase in weight <1kg a week, so if your gaining more than this, cut down), if you neither gain or lose, this is your maintainence calorie intake, if you lose, then increase.

And yes, your quads need a longer time to recover,especially if you thrash them.

Yeah the 18x is just a rough guideline but its a start. Your surely not saying throw out the 40/40/20 (complicated equations) right? Hell, he could just have a few pieces of carrot cake a day and hit his calorie goals, if you are.

 

[Jiigzz]

Yeah the 18x is just a rough guideline but its a start. Your surely not saying throw out the 40/40/20 (complicated equations) right? Hell, he could just have a few pieces of carrot cake a day and hit his calorie goals, if you are.

Nah I wasn't referring to those. Like to work out your energy expenditure per day, those kind of equations.

I also knew it was just a rough example of what to aim for however if people have no idea, they may take your advice at face value and tell everyone that this is the way. The best advice is always the correct advice and never assume people know your just skimming the surface.

 

[pumped4evr]

Yeah, right on! I do find I aim for the upper end of 18, but I have a very high labor job lifting steel molds and crap all day.. I guess if you gotta sedentary job you would figure out you don't need that much. But the 40/40/20 is a nice start for bulking... It's all adjustable for optimizing you results of course though. I'll do 13x for my cutting cycle with 50 protein 35 carbs and 15 fats and that works for me. But it's taken years to figure that out.

 

[kawanakid]

im 175cm (5'9 I think) 72kg (156lbs) and body fat is 15%. Yeah I got the test booster at a store. Here in oz, we have a lot of regulations on things like this. Its called "pink magic" and been on it for a month so far. I have done some research on it and it doesn't seem to bad. If there is something else you think would be better then i'll look into that. As for the guide line, I'll start at that and see how that works for me and adjust it to suit. Thanks for clearing that up fellas.

 

[snatch]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that 48 hours is not sufficient time for your quadriceps to recover. It is enough time for your calves, as they are a fairly small muscle group. I read in Arnold's revised Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding that your lower back and quadriceps don't heal as quickly as other muscle groups and generally take 72 hours or more to recover. Your fastest recovering muscle groups are the biceps and calves, which usually take about 48 hours.

In my olympic weightlifting gym, we squat every day in addition to the multitudes of leg-centric pulling that's done. The only people who don't are those with injuries. Several 500-600lb squatters. Food for thought.

 

[Jiigzz]

In my olympic weightlifting gym, we squat every day in addition to the multitudes of leg-centric pulling that's done. The only people who don't are those with injuries. Several 500-600lb squatters. Food for thought.

Interesting. However I guess your not building for size or hypertrophy. Most olympic weightlifters (in my exerperience, might differ to yours depending on training type etc.) rarely fatigue their legs. Often they are just trying to improve 1RM so there is more rest time involved between sets. If you are training for overall mass, then rest is definatly important for growth, theres no denying this factor.

It all dpeends on how you train and what you are training for that determines how long you should rest between sessions.

Of course though, my friend who does olympic weightlifting often fatigues his legs completly and has little rest in between sessions.. I dont know if I would advise this though.

 

[SuperPro]

I'm not saying you must have that much rest. I'm saying it's optimal for full recovery. Also how many of the people at your gym are on steroids or prohormones? These things can change your recovery time pretty drastically. You can train more often, many people do, it's not a bad thing to train more often sometimes.

 

[snatch]

I'm not saying you must have that much rest. I'm saying it's optimal for full recovery. Also how many of the people at your gym are on steroids or prohormones? These things can change your recovery time pretty drastically. You can train more often, many people do, it's not a bad thing to train more often sometimes.

Most, actually--sorry. I forgot which forum I was in.

 

[benmayro]

you haveta do normal straight bar deadlift... not doing those are like trying to read without knowing your abc

 

[snatch]

im 175cm (5'9 I think) 72kg (156lbs) and body fat is 15%. Yeah I got the test booster at a store. Here in oz, we have a lot of regulations on things like this. Its called "pink magic" and been on it for a month so far. I have done some research on it and it doesn't seem to bad. If there is something else you think would be better then i'll look into that. As for the guide line, I'll start at that and see how that works for me and adjust it to suit. Thanks for clearing that up fellas.

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