I'd say mainly do compound exercises, but most people (except for serious PLers) don't exclusively do them..
this month all im doing are 60 dips and chin ups everyday and work up to deadlift single every few days to maintain my lower body strength. Simple like an ak47.
What he said. It sounds like you want instant results bro. Everyday doesn't cut it unless you're on them roids!
I think isolation exercises are great to use after you've done the compound ones that build core strength. I'm one of the few people who does squats, deadlifts, and chins in my gym regularly, but you do see tons of people doing cable crossovers, cable curls, and bench presses using machines and pulleys. Bench presses are great, but not doing the other stuff leads to people looking like storks or walking pectorals.
Haven't done deadlifts in ages, so I thought I'd work up slowly to my former lifts. Here are my sets:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> 1*6 reps ( 135lbs )<o></o> 1*6 reps ( 175lbs )<o></o> 1*6 reps ( 205lbs )<o></o> 1*6 reps ( 225lbs )<o></o> 1*6 reps ( 245lbs )<o></o> 1*6 reps ( 265lbs )<o></o> 1*6 reps ( 285lbs )<o></o> 1*6 reps ( 300lbs )<o></o> <o> </o> Then there was a charitable campaign thing at work, so I went and played sports for a few hours. I wonder how my back's gonna feel in the morning.
I feel it a bit now. A bit tight, but it should loosen up at the beach. Going to make sand castles and crap with my little lad.
How does one great bigger legs? I do squats, extensions, presses for quads and hamstrings and raises for calves each week - I also run 7km and cycle 15km, 2-3x a week. I'm still a stork.
If you want mass, you have to cut down on the cardio and you have to up your food intake. Do you do squats all the way down? Deadlifts? Leg curls?
Same thing here absolutely skinny legs. When I was 20 though, i was about 45lbs heavier than I am now and did almost only cycling for legs and my upper legs where huge. There's basically nothing I can do about my calves, though... ::
I hear you...one of my friends used to train his legs like a bastard in his 20s....he used to squat all the time and even though he got pretty good quads and hams, his calves just wouldnt keep up. You only have to look at Usain Bolt to see that tall, mesopmorph guys are pretty fucked in the legs dept. :: Even my missus calls me 'pernas de frango' - chicken-legs.
You can still make them more defined. It's hard to believe you can't build thigh mass with a good nutrition and squat specialization program. Squats are the best exercise a person can do.
My personal favorite is 150 lb kids doing dumbbell curls with way too much weight, using their entire body to complete each rep, and still having 25% of complete range-of-motion.
I had a decent quadricep workout today. Both squats and deadlifts are coming along very nicely: Squats (done very low. Below parallel) 1*6 (135lbs) 1*6 (185lbs) 1*6 (225lbs) 1*6 (255lbs) 1*6 (275lbs) 1*6 (300lbs) and it looks kind of funny to have two 45s, a 35lb plate, and then a 2.5lb plate on each side of the Olympic bar, but I wanted 300lbs. Leg Presses (Haven't done them in ages) 1*10(135lbs) 1*6 (225lbs) 1*6 (315lbs)
No, but I might be able to jump up and reach it with my fingertips if I keep this up and add some plyometrics.:hump:
Woo-hoo! After having gone up to 300lbs for 6 last week, this week I did even better: Deadlifts 1*6 (135lbs) 1*6 (225lbs) 1*6 (315lbs) 1*6 (335lbs) They're not awe-inspiring numbers, but they're not bad either. I made sure I kept my hands dry, and that stopped the bar from slipping. I think I'll be at all-time top totals in the autumn or winter if I train smartly. It's not just deadlifts. I'm doing the same for squats and bench isn't too too far behind.
Goddamn, there's something about doing heavy weightlifting that zaps my system and makes me hyper as fuck. It must be some adrenal-related. I am amped as hell.:scratcher:
And of course now I am beat. Squatted 335 for reps today and leg pressed 405 for reps. If I had gotten more than a couple of hours sleep at a time last night, I would probably be ok. I feel like crap right now though---even strained a quadricep, which means I am training fairly intensely.
Does it for me as well. Right now, I've all but ditched isolation excersises and am concentrating on compound movements. My current sessions I started last weekend go as follows: Upper Body: Bench-press (flat/incline): 4 sets x 8 reps Close-grip pulldowns or chin-ups: 3-4 sets x 6-8 reps Seated dumbbell-press / smith-machine press: 4 sets x 8 reps Dips: 4 sets x 10 reps Trap 3 raises: 3 sets x 12 (great excersise for strengthening delts) EZ barbell curls: 3 sets x 21 reps (split into 3 sets of lower, upper and full curls - massive pump/burn) Hanging leg raises - 4 sets x 25 reps Plank - 4 sets x 60 seconds Lower-Body: Squats: 4 sets x 8 reps Quadricep extensions: 4 sets x 8 reps Hamstring curls: 4 sets x 8 reps Quadricep press: 4 sets x 8 sets Calf-raises: 3 sets x 20 reps Each session I get done in anywhere between 45-60s mins...no more than 45 seconds between sets and 90 seconds between excersises....I feel like my entire body is done 2 days after each. Great feeling!
That's a nice routine, DM. I might have to pinch that when I got on a maintenance cycle. I'm in relatively heavy training now, but I'm starting to get aches and pains here and there. Might have to roll it back a bit and maintain so that I don't develop any training injuries.
Not sure if you're referring to DM or me, but if it's me, I have some personal bests I want to hit in various lifts. The overall goal is improved health, improved strength, and enjoyment. I like lifting heavy, so I'm gonna do it safely for as long as I can before I start to hit that point in life where I can't lift the heavy weights anymore. I've seen relatives who could have been in excellent shape at age 45 or 55, but they didn't do anything about it. I guess I want to be able to play sports and such with my son in 15-20 years.
My last routine was getting too routine. So, you always got to be changing things up to get the muscles going... I also got into a great cardio routine - running and cycling...but Ive quit it.