Question on number of reps for legs!!
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smokey the bear
Member
it depends were you are at in your training right now. i go through 'cycles' of training so that i can optimize growth, strength, and explosiveness. i will start by doing a 4-6 week hypertrophy phase consisting of roughly 20 total sets, with all exercises in the 8-12 rep range. Then i will do a strength phase that i will go down to around 16-18 or so sets, in the 5-8 rep range for 4 weeks. Following that i do a power phase for 2-4 weeks, 10-12 total sets, in the 2-5 rep range.
By approaching training by phases, your able to not only gain mass, but actually develop better mind muscle connections and strength. The reason for doing these phases in this order is:
-hypertrophy phase adds more actin fibers and myosin heads to the internal structure of your muscle, building up the proteins=building muscle size.
-strength phase increases the strength and functionality of the newly built muscle proteins.
-power phase sets a new higher level neural response to your muscle contractions, recruiting all your muscle fibers for a lift will enhance the bodies neural responce...
Its important to incorporate all of these phases and rep ranges into your training in order to maintain functional mass accumulation.
But to answer your question in short; depending on experience go with an 8-10 rep range for all exercises for no longer than 6 weeks straight. failure at the last rep every set and you will most certainly put on some mass.
By approaching training by phases, your able to not only gain mass, but actually develop better mind muscle connections and strength. The reason for doing these phases in this order is:
-hypertrophy phase adds more actin fibers and myosin heads to the internal structure of your muscle, building up the proteins=building muscle size.
-strength phase increases the strength and functionality of the newly built muscle proteins.
-power phase sets a new higher level neural response to your muscle contractions, recruiting all your muscle fibers for a lift will enhance the bodies neural responce...
Its important to incorporate all of these phases and rep ranges into your training in order to maintain functional mass accumulation.
But to answer your question in short; depending on experience go with an 8-10 rep range for all exercises for no longer than 6 weeks straight. failure at the last rep every set and you will most certainly put on some mass.
DL king
New member
smokey the bear said:
Hmm...I gotta disagree a little with this. The hypertrophy phase will stimulate sarcoplasmic hypertrophy more than myofibrilar, the strength and power phases u describe will better increase actin and myosin filament number. I would advise a mix of power(3-6reps) and hypertropy(8-12reps) sets each week. Something like:
Squat 5x3-6
Leg press 3x8-12
Leg curl 3x8-12
Seated calf 3x3-6
Standing calf 3x8-12
Do this for 6-8 weeks then do a deload week where u half the volume to allow recovery
smokey the bear
Member
i believe by keeping the reps under 14-15, then myofibrilar hypertrophy is definitely possible. were as reps in the realm of 15-20+ will just draw more intracellular fluid into the sarcoplasm of the muscle. reps as low as three are more designed for strength and power, and are definitely a bit low for hypertrophy. IMO more TUT is needed for this to occur. i would consider a similar workout as dl king suggested except keep the reps in the range of 6-10.
BigCasino
Member
What I do is I warm up first with just the bar and a 45er on each side, do about 12 reps like that just to get the juices flowing. Then I strech. Once I start ascending with the weights I keep everything in the 6-8 rep range for most of my sets. However, every other week I will go for a weight that I think I can get 2-4 reps with, just to shock my body.
Finally, everyother week I do all of the above, but I finish off with a 20 rep squat set, just to blast the leggies to oblivion
Finally, everyother week I do all of the above, but I finish off with a 20 rep squat set, just to blast the leggies to oblivion
smokey the bear
Member
20 rep squats is a hell of a burn. Volume training baby, and squats are key. i have also tried 12 sets of 12 on squats, with relatively low weight getting the full range of motion as my whole leg day routine. these experimental workouts were quite some time ago tho, but i do remember them being effective,. . . well at least at making me hurl.
saint1972
New member
Well let me tell you guys how I train my clients and friends also.I am a personal trainer for about 14 years,so íi hope my words will count for all of you.
So I make them start in the bycicle for 5 10 minutes to warm up the knees and the legs everywhere,this is very important,because before you get started ,zou wanna make sure you won`t get injured,right?JUst think about it,if you start with leg press and you warm up with light weight only on the machine,only that part of your leg will warm up but not everywhere.And the secret to go with big weights is to warm up everywhere to make sure you won`t get injured anywhere ,plus you wanna get better blood cerculation in your leg everywhere,and this one will help you get the pump we all looking for.I`m sure you all agree with me.
So I make them start in the bycicle for 5 10 minutes to warm up the knees and the legs everywhere,this is very important,because before you get started ,zou wanna make sure you won`t get injured,right?JUst think about it,if you start with leg press and you warm up with light weight only on the machine,only that part of your leg will warm up but not everywhere.And the secret to go with big weights is to warm up everywhere to make sure you won`t get injured anywhere ,plus you wanna get better blood cerculation in your leg everywhere,and this one will help you get the pump we all looking for.I`m sure you all agree with me.
Ubiquitous
Registered User
saint1972 said:
I'm sure we agree with you in terms of warming up, but stating that you're a personal trainer does not immediately make what you say any more valid. (I mean no offense to you personally)
Plenty of PT's mysteriously don't know much about training... and their own fitness speaks this quite loudly. I'm not talking about all of them, don't get me wrong.. but I am playing the devil's advocate here for a moment, and pointing out that you saying you're a personal trainer will not prove to me you know what you're talking about.
Hell you could say the same to me... Being on a bodybuilding forum doesn't necessarily mean I know what I'm talking about.. right? The difference is these guys (the out of shape PTs) get paid for it.. and I'm baffled.
I do agree with you though.. but that doesn't really add to the discussion regarding training volume for your legs.
My apologies for going on a tangent.
Big Casino's way is a good one IMHO. I agree with Smokey too. :thumbsup:
I feel it's all really individualized, as different people respond quite differently to different stimulus....
smokey the bear
Member
Ubiquitous said:
This is very true. genetics will influence you in any type of goal your try to achieve. For me personally, i have always had huge neck and traps naturally. Yet, my legs were twigs. my lower body was by far the hardest region to develop. I am still a bit "top heavy" but I'm much more proportionate now then i would be if i didn't train at all. Genetics, man thats a whole other issue.
saint1972
New member
Ok.maybe I didn`t tell you guys that I`ve been training guys and girls for like 15 years and I`m not just a trainer but a body-builder as well.
Why is it important,cause I LIKE trainers better if they not just talking about what they have learned by being a personal trainer but they also worked hard as a body-builder.
I agree with ,that is a lot to do with gens of course,but I a partner or a trainer can help a lot you wouldn`t even imagine how much.LIsten do you push yourself that hard when you work out by yourself or you can do a lot better if your workout friend or your trainer is around?
Don`t answer ,I already know what you are going to say.
So finally,I had such a week and skinny cuffs,but in a year after training it every second or third day,it became one of my strongest part of my body.So all I`m saying is that work hard and never give up,be patient and eat right,then you can change just about everything on your body.
Why is it important,cause I LIKE trainers better if they not just talking about what they have learned by being a personal trainer but they also worked hard as a body-builder.
I agree with ,that is a lot to do with gens of course,but I a partner or a trainer can help a lot you wouldn`t even imagine how much.LIsten do you push yourself that hard when you work out by yourself or you can do a lot better if your workout friend or your trainer is around?
Don`t answer ,I already know what you are going to say.
So finally,I had such a week and skinny cuffs,but in a year after training it every second or third day,it became one of my strongest part of my body.So all I`m saying is that work hard and never give up,be patient and eat right,then you can change just about everything on your body.
