My legs suck

[Rkail]

I've been lifting for 8 months, and I think my progress has been decent, but my lower body sucks compared to upper body. I'll post a couple of pictures for progress, and my diet has been pretty good overall since I am seeing results.


As for my legs, it looks like I don't even squat since I have very little mass, and just don't have the visible muscle mass compared to upper body. Any suggestions on what to do next? I was thinking of hitting legs twice a week, and here's my current routine:

Day 1: Chest/Bis
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Shoulders/Tris
Day 4: Legs/Calves

Leg day:

135lbs - 1x8 warmup
135lbs - 3x5 front atg squat
225 lbs - 5x5-6 parallel squats

3x8 seated leg press
3x8 leg extentions
3x8 laying leg curls

finish off with
8x10-12 standing barbell calf raise

I usually change it up a little bit too, and warmup with 2-3 sets of lunges/stiff leg deadlift/hack squat.

Diet:

Meal 1: 2 eggs, protein shake, banana
Meal 2: yogurt, almonds, apple/banana
Meal 3: brown rice, chicken/beef, veggies or 12" grilled chicken from subway (rarely)
Meal 4: 5oz chicken breast or a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter
Meal 5: protein shake
Meal 6: 8oz grilled chicken breast
Meal 7: yogurt or cottage cheese, almonds or peanut butter, protein shake.

Currently supplements I am taking:
Fish oil
Multi (Opti-Men)
ON Whey (cake batter, so good!)
ZMA
Creatine

A few pictures:


Early/Mid 2009
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/7040/beforeh.jpg
130lbs~ 10" arms?

Jan 2011
190 lbs - 5'10" - 16% bf
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/2933/12891803.jpg

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9058/decjf.jpg

[steve_d]

you might just carry less bodyfat on your legs which is giving you the illusion of them being smaller in muscle size. No pics of your legs, but there is work to be done upper as well.

I wouldn't worry about targetting your legs at this point, no matter how small they are. You just need to get the core exercises going. Bench, squats, deads. Heavy lifts and make sure the nutrition is up to par.

[JifeLacket]

Since you are already doing 5x5 I would suggest try something like 8x10 or 10x10. Obviously you will have to drop the weight to do this but one, its good to mix it up, and two its good for growth. If you take my advice, do it for 4-6 weeks, take a week easy then go back into 5x5 for the same amount of time.

Also eat more, way more, what your eating looks like a cutting diet. Take a food log and try to eat 4000 calories, ~1.5g x body weight in LB coming from protein. Usually when the mass stop coming you need to eat more.

[bigtavi8]

edit

[bigtavi8]

Steve hit the nail on the head there. Although legs may be your weak point what i would do is actually not hit them 2 times per week. Your routine is decent for sure but its quite complicated. Let me give ya an example of a normal leg workout id do:

warm up...
Back Squats- 2 warm ups, 3-4 sets until failure (pyramid weight up and reps down) (ATG)-you should be sick to your stomach your working so hard on these!
Hack Squats- 4sets x 10-12reps
Leg Press-4sets x 10-12 reps
Leg extensions-3 sets x 12-15 reps (hold and squeeze at top)

Then your normal hams/calves.

Do that for a few months without doing them 2 times a week and then if nothing changes try to hit them two times a week.

With your diet and everything in place all you need is time and consistency and you will be where u want to be!

[bigtavi8]

Diet:

Meal 1: 2 eggs, protein shake, banana
Meal 2: yogurt, almonds, apple/banana
Meal 3: brown rice, chicken/beef, veggies or 12" grilled chicken from subway (rarely)
Meal 4: 5oz chicken breast or a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter
Meal 5: protein shake
Meal 6: 8oz grilled chicken breast
Meal 7: yogurt or cottage cheese, almonds or peanut butter, protein shake.

Your diet is very clean which is good for dieting and cutting but i suspect you have a fast metabolism and have a hard time putting on good quality weight. Your ideas on this diet are all good. But the bottom line is if your not growing its simply not enough. I recomend adding 1 cup of oats, 1 tbs natty pb to all of your shakes(with 2 scoops protein instead of 1), drop fruit for real carbs (rice, potatoes, pastas, breads even), even add in a weight gainer shake to supplement with 2 times a day.

[CMoney]

I know it sounds cliched, but if you're not genetically blessed with monster quad sweeps and well-sprung hammies, leg training is HARD. It's gonna make you light-headed and you may puke occasionally. It's gonna burn, and no matter how long you've been at it, you may still get hit with some nasty DOMS every so often. When people wuss out and get inconsistent with their training, they invariably cut corners on the lower body stuff.

These are large muscles and it takes a lot to overload them. And overloading is necessary for any sort of change (in power, strength, size, whatever). There are lots of different ways to overload a muscle (not just by adding weight to the bar). Most well-designed programs use the overload principle strategically, in sequence, and NOT randomly, over a series of training protocols and programs meant to work together for optimal results.

Most importantly, you've got to realize that real development takes time. Eight months is nothing, but you're at the primo point (I'm guessing you're young-ish) all beginners are at to see some really motivating results. Take full advantage!

[bcaamuscle]

Do 12 reps for squats, 135x12, 155x12, 175x12, 225x6. Don't lockout, keep tension on the muscle all the way down and up til you get a nasty burn. Then take 3 deep breathes and go again!

[Rkail]

I did have super fast metabolism, I ran track/cross country, which was why I couldn't really get over 130 lbs in the past even if I ate junk food for an entire month.

As for the diet, I could start eating more but I wanted to cut some bf down, since I do have a small gut, so calorie deficit would help since I don't have a lot of time to do cardio anymore.

[JifeLacket]

Cut or bulk, one or the other bro. Don't expect to grow at all on a diet even if you are a beginner.

[Praetorian]

I've been lifting for 8 months, and I think my progress has been decent, but my lower body sucks compared to upper body. I'll post a couple of pictures for progress, and my diet has been pretty good overall since I am seeing results.

***your progress from 130lbs is great...but if you expect that to continue youll need to change alot of things...and plan on spending several years to get some decent size


As for my legs, it looks like I don't even squat since I have very little mass, and just don't have the visible muscle mass compared to upper body. Any suggestions on what to do next? I was thinking of hitting legs twice a week, and here's my current routine:

***two body parts per day is very tough putting the same level of intensity into the second body part as the first...if possible one body part per day...5 days per week

Day 1: Chest/Bis
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Shoulders/Tris
Day 4: Legs/Calves

Leg day:

135lbs - 1x8 warmup
135lbs - 3x5 front atg squat
225 lbs - 5x5-6 parallel squats

***inadequate warmup will cause lack of focus and lower intensity...you need to push the weigh up as well...strive to move more...make small goals say 315lbs in 6 months and push to achieve that
Here a sample warmup to max weight
135 @ 10
185 @ 6
225 @ 3
275 @ 3-5 or as many as possible
225 @ as many as possible
185 @ as many as possible

3x8 seated leg press ***higher reps work well too 8-10-15
3x8 leg extentions
3x8 laying leg curls***thats it for hams...Glute ham raise or stiff legged deads should be added

finish off with
8x10-12 standing barbell calf raise

I usually change it up a little bit too, and warmup with 2-3 sets of lunges/stiff leg deadlift/hack squat.

Diet:

Meal 1: 2 eggs, protein shake, banana

Meal 2: yogurt, almonds, apple/banana***not enough protein

Meal 3: brown rice, chicken/beef, veggies or 12" grilled chicken from subway (rarely)***lose the shit sub...chicken or beef should be 7-8oz plus added olive oil

Meal 4: 5oz chicken breast or a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter***7-8 oz

Meal 5: protein shake***50g pro
Meal 6: 8oz grilled chicken breast***need fat and carbs

Meal 7: yogurt or cottage cheese, almonds or peanut butter, protein shake.

Currently supplements I am taking:
Fish oil
Multi (Opti-Men)
ON Whey (cake batter, so good!)
ZMA
Creatine

A few pictures:


Early/Mid 2009
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/7040/beforeh.jpg
130lbs~ 10" arms?

Jan 2011
190 lbs - 5'10" - 16% bf
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/2933/12891803.jpg

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9058/decjf.jpg



P

[JacktheThriller]

i have a hard time getting my legs to get a great workout. They have a high tolerance for work. I do heavy squats for 3-4 sets and the jump right on the leg press for opposite lifting 12-18reps, I find i get the best of both worlds like this. Gets me everytime give it a try.