Grow Legs, GROW!!!

Cuffs

Cuffs

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I have been following a training plan for the past 10 months and have had some very good results. However, genetics delt me a hand in the leg department....thanks Dad! My entire life, my legs never matched my upper body. My legs are small, okay they are sticks...LOL. Well, not quite sticks, but you know what I'm saying. There was a period of time when I didn't work legs due to a back injury that kept recurring. That is no longer an issue. I recently have added some quality muscle to my legs, and they are cut. However, as I keep adding muscle to them, I keep adding muscle to my upper body. Can you say disproportionate...I knew you could. :D

I am asking for advice on how to catch lagging body parts up to the rest of my physique. This is my current leg routine which are rotated:

Week 1: Squats 2X8, 1X6, 1X20
STDL's 1X8, 2X6
Leg Extensions 2X8
Seated Calf Raises 3X8

Week 2: Dead Lifts 1X8, 1X6, 1X4
Leg Press 3X6-10
Leg Extensions 2X8
Seated Calf Raises 3X8

I work each body part once a week. My upper body workouts are similar in reps and volume.

I was throwing a few ideas around in my head and thought of the following to try and remedy my situation. (1)Keeping my leg days as they are, but changing my upper body days to include higher reps, more volume, possibly giving my legs a chance to catch up. (2)Or, splitting my leg days up into two days. Working quads one day, and hams another. (3)Adding another leg day to my program, working heavy one day, and light the other.

If any of the bro's out there have any educated suggestions, please share them with me. It would be much appreciated!

Damn, it looks like I just paroled from state prison and all I had back at the pen to workout with was a bench press and some dumbells. :rofl:
 
Cuffs

Cuffs

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Self bump. BigPete, Size, Bobo...anyother mods? :blink:
 
ManBeast

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You've been trying low volume/high weight it seems on the legs? If so... Maybe try some high-repping on your squats (20 reppers?) There's some good articles about this in the exercise science/training section. I guess I'm just lucky... My legs respond to just about anything pretty well these days.

ManBeast
 
Cuffs

Cuffs

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Well, that's not the problem. My legs are responding at this time. It's just that my upper body is as well, and my legs just have not caught up. I keep adding size to my legs, but I keep adding to my upper also. I would just like to have some better symmetry between the two. Balance myself out.

I don't know, I'm still confused. :blink:
 

cr4ytonic

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You will have to cut back on you upper work I would think if proportion is your goal.

Assuming you are training hard on both they will probably grow at the same rate after the initial boost at the beginning (perhaps legs a little faster)... how will one catch up to the other if it has a multi-year head start? Growth seems to me to be logarithmic.

I would think you would have to put the entire emphasis of your lifting on your lower body at the expense of the upper if it is bothering you.
 
Cuffs

Cuffs

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Thanks tonic. That is what I figuered I would have to do. Guess it's time to change things up a bit. Would like to see a couple of keepable inches of growth in my legs by next summer. Though, without getting fat. I believe it can be done. Like I said earlier, I've had some good growth, but need to stall my upper for a while.
 
bioman

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High rep while on cycle. Actually, I like to alternate between 20 reps and 5 heavy reps every few weeks.

My calves got gnarly defined while mountian climbing this summer and using 4AD/oht/M4ohn. Unfortunately everything else kinda deflated,lol.
 

Sticks

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Personally if I was making good gains in both my upper and lower body I wouldn't cut back on the upper to allow my legs to catch up. I don't know your stats but I don't think symmetry is extremely important until you start to really put on a lot of size. If I were you I would concentrate on overall size, and if you get to the point were your happy w/the size of your upper body then you can work to maintain your upper, while still adding mass to your lower.

Also I think that if you concentrate on developing overall size you will begin to balance out. Again I have no idea what your stats are so hopefully I haven't offended you in anyway. In my opinion giving up the gains wouldn't be worth being in proportion.

And no I dont look like i'm riding a chicken. I place legs very high on my priority list.
 
Cuffs

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Thanks for the replies. I guess I should have listed my stats when posting my first question. Here's some basic stats:

5'-10.5"
207 lbs
12% b/f (the last time I checked)
Arms- 18 1/4"
Legs- 23 1/4" (brock-brock-brock)
Calves- 16" :rofl:

All measurements are cold flexed.

I think if I go with higher reps/more volume, and keep my leg days the way they are, I may be okay and see the results I am desiring. I may also split my leg day up, working quades one, and hams another. Still deciding....

It sucks when my wife's co-worker tells her "I think I saw your husband at the gym yesterday. Is he the one that is all buff up top and has skinny legs." That statement fucked me all up. What an ego blow. :frustrate Statements like that are gonna get me to start wearing sweat pants and sweat shirts for a while. LOL.
 
bioman

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Don't sweat it man. Those are pretty good measurements..I wish I were at 200+ right now.
 

Sticks

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Better than being the guy in the gym that's all flabby on top w/small legs. And like bioman said those measurements are pretty good.
 
Cuffs

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Thanks bro's. I dunno, maybe it's just the way my body is put together, and/or the way clothes hang on me. I have a naturally small waist and hips, and there is a lot of seperation between my calves and ankles. I believe these areas tend to show my lower half as being smaller than it actually is.

I've lost around 15% b/f as of last Sept. So, I kind of was that guy with the flab on top with the small legs. :blink: My legs just don't get much fat on them, but they are the first place I lose the fat when cutting. Not much fat in them at this time, and vascularity is becomming more-and-more noticeable.

Maybe I'm just stressing too much about it. At least it keeps me motivated to train hard and try new things. :thumbsup:
 
milwood

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I'm like you too, Cuffs; some shape on top, freakin' getaway sticks for legs. I'm always looking to get some balance. Genetics are a b!tch, sometimes, but this thread helps. thanks.
 
Cuffs

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LOL...getaway sticks! :rofl: I began to laugh at that, then remembered I was also laughing at myself, but still kept laughing. I guess it's good to have a sence of humor about one's self. :icon_lol:
 

Billy the kid

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Have you tried german volume training for your legs?

It really helped me. Heavy weight makes me stronger but it does not give anywhere near the size as when i am using GVT style.

Back in the day when i got bored or tired of the grueling workouts i switched up my program to a strength style workout and my legs get skinny again.

Now i stick to 6-10 sets of 10 reps and do my best to increase the weight when i can.

I dont use the 4 second negatives. I just hammer out ten reps as fast as i can. Each set is kind of like a sprint to the finish.
 

jjjd

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yeah, imo, 23 inch legs with 18 + inch arms is a bit disproportionate

try prioritizing legs

one thing I really like to do (very Platz'esque) is bw squats (i actually use 225 lbs, and I weigh 210) for TIME, not for reps

starting out, you should be able to get around 1-1/2 to 2 minutes.

if you can work up to 3 minutes plus for bw squats... wow

i like to do that first thing, then do 4 sets of 5 at 80% of my 1rm.

but to put it simply, if your upper body is outstripping your legs, and you want to even it out - prioritize legs. imo, you might be well served by having 2 leg days in a week (i actually prefer an 8 day microcycle, over a 1 week micro, but you get the point). you can do one leg day that is solely a leg day. do another "leg day" that includes some other ancillary work, but do the legs FIRST in that workout as well.

some people (a few) blow up quite well on low reps for legs. most don't.
 
Cuffs

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Thanks for the input Billy and jjjd. I new I could count on your candidness jjjd. ;) I'm leaning towards adding another leg day and trying a new style. I'm not familiar with what bw squats are jjjd. Can you explain? I was guessing below waist?, but am probably wrong. I'm going to get this new leg routine in order by the time I'm ready to do a good bulk this Fall.
 

jjjd

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by bw squats, i mean squats with the weight on the bar roughly equal to your bodyweight

not to be confused with hindu squats et al, where you are just squatting your own bw, (iow no bar at all)

doing them for time, I do them rock bottom. one can decide whether one can pause in the bottom position, and top position, or bottom position only.

my bad. i use acronyms and such a lot. BW means "bodyweight"
 
bioman

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The GVT has done me well in the past. The pumps/burn can be god awful though.

"Oh feel the burn, these guns are gonna gitch' ya!"

Anchorman
 

Edge

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Ive been doing progressive overloading lately and its awesome.

As an example

20 reps at 20 pounds
15 reps at 30 pounds
10 reps at 40 pounds
5 reps at 50 pounds

It works well because it targets a good amount of slow and fast twitch fibers.
 

SCORPIO

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I too have C.L.S. Chicken Leg Syndrome, as I call it :icon_lol:
Cuffs, my stats are sinilar to yours except my bi's are 16-16.5
calves are about 16......quads are 24. Currently 204.5lbs about 20% bf....5'9" tall.....waist 37.

Currently using a 5x5 or 3x10 for quads. Certainly starting to see more seperation. I found that lowering the weight and concentration on form helps. I alternate that and heavy box squat days, according to how I feel.
 
Cuffs

Cuffs

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I thought I'd give an update here. I took a measurement the other day and am happy to report that I put on a 1/2" on my quads. :D Pretty good for three or so weeks, IMO. However, I've ended my M4OHN cycle, and am completing my 2 weeks of M5AA next Monday. So, I'll see how much I retain after PCT. I've kept my cals at about maintenance.

On a bad note (if you want to call it bad) I also put a 1/4" on my biceps. :frustrate LOL...gotta take the good with the bad. If I can keep my legs growing, I'm sure they'll catch up by next year...or later. :think:

I've added and additional leg day to my training, and have included a couple extra exercises that I rotate around with (box squats, front squats). Seems to be working for now.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll try to update after my PCT.

Later....
 
exnihilo

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Legs can handle tremedous volume, in most cases. They've evolved to carry your weight all day long through various terrain... If your legs aren't responding I'd up the volume and frequency.

As manbeast said legs also seem to respond better from a hypertrophy standpoint to slightly higher reps.
 

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