combatting big thighs

[stxnas]

Try uni-lateral training i'm tellin ya. I credit my leg growth to powerlifting and my mom, she has 19.5" calfs and i believe 26" quads, so my brother and i have no problem growing tree trunks, but........chest is another story, i'm still brining it up :sad:

That's what really pisses me off. People always think that my mom lifts b/c her calf muscles are ridiculous (bigger than mine). Unfortunately I only got my mother's short stature...to go along with my dad's high skinny calf muscles. Before I started lifting it almost looked like my ankle went up to right below my knee :toofunny:

Thank god for the gym and a lot of dedication! I calf muscles still look too small to me, but they've come a long way.

 

[John Smeton]

6', i didn't train legs for the first year of training then the minute i started squating it was just like BAM, i'm recomping right now but seeing the gains a buddy of mine made on his legs today makes me just wanna go nutso on size, lol. Ya they were 34" at their biggest but i was also 24%bf. I train dc style now and my main leg movements are front squats, hammer uni-lateral leg press and step ups. I'll be dropping the leg press soon and starting snatch grip deadlifts from a platform.

For calfs i suggest everyone give uni-lateral training a try i've gotten very good gains from this, uni-lateral standing, seated and 45 degree calf raises. Also do your reps slow with a long range of motion and throw in stretching and static reps.

Dayum Chaps 34 inch quads that's bigger than some pro's. I can almost say with one hundred percent certainly that your genetically gifted in the quad department. Biggest my quads have been were 28 four years ago (6ft3). they are now 27 now and I'm leaner now then than. I Dc as well; although won't right now due to an elbow injury.

Do you do Dc calves one leg at a time? That would be torture because it is many times intensely painful when I do Dc calves any of my exercises. (explode to big toe , 5 seconds negative stretch for 15 and repeat)

 

[Xodus]

we have almost the identical measurements except my calfs are 18.5" i believe, my quads used to be up over 30" at one point when i did straight powerlifting. My legs actually feel small to me right now, i can't wait to blast them up over 30" again but WAYYY leaner.

I've leaned out quite a bit and they shrunk a tad. I'm 6'4 with long legs, so ANY increase/decrease in size isn't noticeable to anyone but me. They are WAAAY more defined now. Close enough to 18.5/28.5, but I don't think I want to get to 30" as they have been referred to as 'tree trunks' in the past.

Squats - mix between powerlifter and bodybuilding stance. I would much rather have the strength than 'size', but as your strength goes up, bb-style really adds to the quads.

 

[CHAPS]

Dayum Chaps 34 inch quads that's bigger than some pro's. I can almost say with one hundred percent certainly that your genetically gifted in the quad department. Biggest my quads have been were 28 four years ago (6ft3). they are now 27 now and I'm leaner now then than. I Dc as well; although won't right now due to an elbow injury.

Do you do Dc calves one leg at a time? That would be torture because it is many times intensely painful when I do Dc calves any of my exercises. (explode to big toe , 5 seconds negative stretch for 15 and repeat)

Yes DC calf raises. Because of my powerlifting background I naturally like training explosively on the concentric but i make sure to slow it down sometimes really slow on the eccentric. Calfs i'm SUPER anal about slower, full range of motion reps. And ya i think everyone has a body part that they are gifted with. I LOVE static reps and weighted stretchs for calfs.

I'm dropping leg press now and really going to hammer them again, i was a bit bottom heavy but now i want em back up to atleast 30". I did snatch grip deadlifts from a 3" platform tonight for my quad movement, talk about a painful exercise with a HUGE range of motion, I think it was Charles Poliquin that said this exercise will trump a squat, i'm going to stick with them and work my weight up.


This was my routine when i got em up to 34" (diet 5500-6000 calories, logged it, 600g's carbs, can't remember other macro's, the diet alone made me silly strong.)

Squats: 2 sets (10 reps for 4 weeks, 8 reps for 4 weeks, 6 reps for 4 weeks, 4 reps for 4 weeks)
Glute-ham raises: 2 sets 8-10 reps
Leg Extensions: 2 sets 8-10 reps
Leg Press: 2 sets 8-10 reps
Adductor machine: 2 sets 8-10 reps
Standing calf raises: 2 sets 8-10 reps

I did everything in percentages and when i got to 4 reps i cut out all assistant exercises, i never maxed though i wish i had . I almost cried when they got rid of the glute ham raise, that thing alone i credit 2" on my legs, my hams have never been as good . So that was leg day but i was also deadlifting in the same week and i did Heavy hyperextenions 100lbsx15 reps so that helped my hams as well. I was trying to make them freaky so i wanted every ounce of size so hams and adductors were a priority, ya they were big but they looked like they were off-season, as i was too chubby.

 

[CHAPS]

i wanta see chaps pics

eventually i will have to get some pics up i still feel i'm not where i wanna be yet as far as leaness.

 

[merph]

If your quads are too big the fix is wicked easy. Go anorexic

 

[John Smeton]

If your quads are too big the fix is wicked easy. Go anorexic

or stop training them like I did for three months and focused on hams.

or don't do heavy squats.. or do hacks and focus on lower leg development or do leg extensions and focus on lower leg development.

I'm going to keep my legs big now though cause it makes me weight ten lbs more. Use you genetics to you advantages