Training for gains... Stuck.

[davidleathm6]

hey everyone

i have a question. I have been training for 2 years i weighed 150 when i started and i have been trying hard to reach my goal of 185 im 5'11 and currently weigh 174.

i feel terrible saying this cause i know how wrong it is, my focus has been mainly upper body and i have made slow consistent gains in my weight. I now know that training legs can actually help your upper body.

so i guess my question is can i solely focus on my lower body and still keep my hard work on my body, will this maintain it or should i still keep working out how i do and throw in a lot of legs on top?

im kinda hoping that if i start to work in my lower body i will see dramatic weight gain, could this happen? instead of the slow gradual ones i have been getting.

and sorry one more, should i do alot of deadlifts and squats? are they the best?

i hope you can understand this

thank you

 

[bkoguy07]

Yeah dude deadlifting alone put on a solid 15 lbs on me in about 2 months. I don't go a week without them... and squats, well they are equally as important... I guarantee you, you will see the gains you are looking for if you incorporate these two lifts into your workouts.

 

[MoTiV]

In short, yes but it depends on your diet. If you haven't been doing DLs and Squats then you'll see huge gains in strength and weight quickly if you EAT. One thing to keep in mind is when you add these 2 CNS draining exercises to your routine you need to cut down your upper body work, I hope your not doing isolative exercises but if you are then stop.

Spend a couple weeks on form for both squats and deads. Watch some online videos and don't even think about going heavy for at least 2 weeks. If your not going parallel or very close to it then your wasting your time with squats as you need this full ROM in order to get the biggest release of GH and testosterone.

I wouldn't recommend doing heavy deads every week. They are very draining and having a sore lower back all the time makes it difficult to work out consistently.

I saw my biggest gains squatting twice a week, M and F, sometimes the same type of squat and sometimes not. If your squatting twice a week I wouldn't recommend deads very often maybe replace one day of squats every other week or stick with rack deads and switch it up next cycle.

The most important part of growing is eating and resting.

 

[davidleathm6]

hey thanks for the information. i was wondering could you explain isolative moves are for me?

i will defiantly add these two exercises to my routine and take my time before increasing the weight.

 

[Rodja]

hey thanks for the information. i was wondering could you explain isolative moves are for me?

i will defiantly add these two exercises to my routine and take my time before increasing the weight.

Isolate exercises are lifts that use only one muscle/joint (e.g. curls, triceps extensions). Compound exercises work more than one muscle/joint (e.g. squats, BB rows, dips).

 

[MoTiV]

^what he said.

 

[Resolve]

I reiterate what everyone else has said. However, I actually hit my strongest deadlift and squat when I was doing each twice a week. So while "heavy" deads once a week may be too much for one person, for another it may not be enough.

 

[Rodja]

I reiterate what everyone else has said. However, I actually hit my strongest deadlift and squat when I was doing each twice a week. So while "heavy" deads once a week may be too much for one person, for another it may not be enough.

Very true. Finding your own volume capacity is very important and the only way to find it is through experimentation.