Q: I’ve been getting good upper body results, but my leg development is lagging behind. I’ve tried just about everything, but no matter what I do I can’t get them to budge. Any suggestions?
A: My guess is that in your eagerness to bring up your legs you’re possibly over training them. You don’t state what type or how much cardio you’re doing, but remember that intense cardio can also fatigue your thighs, hamstrings and calves, which may contribute to that over training effect. So what to do? Firstly, don’t train legs and do cardio on the same day. Secondly split your leg workout into two separate days, with at least two days between each work-out. So, on Monday, for instance you can work your thighs and calves and on Thursday, your hamstrings and calves again. This type of split really allows you to focus in on specific parts of the leg, allowing for enhanced intensity levels. Approach your leg work out with purpose and resolve and stay in the zone throughout. So, how about specific exercises?
The cornerstone of any leg program has got to be the squat. Unless you’ve got lower back or knee problems, you need to squat to get quad growth happening (if you do suffer from back or knee ailments go with the leg press followed by a couple sets of light squats). Here’s how to do squats effectively:
Place the bar across your traps, with it resting as far back as is comfortably possible. Take a grip on the bar that is closer than a conventional grip – about half the width of a bench press grip is ideal (this will help keep your traps bunched up and your back more upright). With your chest out and back arched, squeeze your shoulder blades together and tighten your abs. Your head and eyes should point upwards (focus on a spot above you) and your feet should be shoulder width apart with your toes pointing slightly outward. Now slowly lower yourself, focusing on bending from the hips rather than the knees. You will be going slightly back and down to a parallel position in which your lower legs are almost vertical to the floor. From the bottom position explode back up, making sure that the power of the drive is coming from the quads rather than the knees (you definitely don’t want your knees to either splay out or pinch inward). To achieve this consciously initiate the upward drive from your heels rather than your toes (think of driving your heels through the gym floor). Do not lock out at the top but move smoothly into the next rep.
Squatting the right way is hard work. The good news is that you’ve don’t have to spend an hour under the bar to get the results you want. Four sets will do it. Structure them as follows:
Warm up set: 20 reps
1st working set: 12 reps
2nd working set: 10 reps
3rd working set: 6-8 reps
Now go to the leg extension and grind out three strict sets of 12 reps. From there it’s on to the calves. Three sets of 15 reps on the standing calf raise with a 5 second hold at the top of each rep will give them all the work they need.
On your second leg day give the stiff legged dead-lift a chance to show you what a great hamstring exercise it is. Hold a loaded barbell in your hands with a shoulder width overhand grip. With your legs locked in a knees slightly bent position, bend at the waist, keeping your back straight. Go as low as you can, feeling the stretch in your hamstrings. Hold for a two count before returning to the start position. Follow the same set/rep schedule as you used for squats. Do your calf work on the leg press, following the same set/rep schedule as previously used for workout one. Concentrate on feeling the burn in the inner head of the gastrocnemus.
Try this routine for a good six weeks, while ensuring that you’re getting plenty of protein and overall calories, and your legs will have no choice but to grow…