# Legs lagging behind



## The Beast (Mar 10, 2005)

Hi guys,



I startedlifting weights again in January 2014 after a few years of being a lazy****. I used to lift weights a lot whenI was younger, but children and life challenges led me off course for a fewyears and I stopped doing it.

I decidedafter Christmas that this was the year I would get myself into the best shapeof my life, ultimately, with the aim of competing at some point in 2015 on the naturalbody building circuit. I'm 34, soperhaps my best years are behind me, but there's life in the old dog yet and I'mcertainly getting stronger every week. I'm currently 6ft 1, 189 pounds and relatively lean, but bulking at the moment so carrying a bit of fat.



My currentbest lifts after 9 months of solid training and good diet are:


Barbell bench press - 100kg (5 sets of 5 reps)


Standing Barbell Shoulder Press - 75kg (5 setsof 5 reps)


Squat - 110kg (5 sets of 5 reps)


Deadlift - 170kg (5 sets of 5 reps)


My diet is cleanand I am very regimented in terms of what I eat, so no issues on thatfront. I've been running a caloriesurplus since August to gain some size and my strength is coming along nicelywith good regular gains in the main lifts achieved each week.

I do fivesessions a week, as follows:


Chest and triceps (Sat)


Lower back and traps (Sun)


Delts (Tuesday)


Mid and upper back and biceps (Wednesday)


Legs and calves (Thursday)


My legs havebeen getting stronger, but as you can see from the stats above, they are clearlya weakness for me and I'm not sure what I can do to give them a boost.

Any advice on how I can improve my leg lifts and strength froma fellow natural would be most appreciated.

Chris


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## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

First thing I'd do is to chuck an extra 1/2 session of legs in 3-4 days away from your main leg day... so maybe on your Sunday session. Do the opposite to what you normally do... so if 5x5 squats on your leg day do some higher rep leg press or hack squat. Just a couple of sets, but really make them count.


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## MF88 (Jul 1, 2012)

What do you do for leg day? Can you walk afterwards?


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## DC1 (May 5, 2014)

Done my legs yesterday and used FST-7 for quads, hamstrings and calves.

Its never a good sign when you can hardly squat on the toilet due to the pain.


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## Robbie789 (Sep 6, 2012)

You could change to an upper/lower split so you'd be training them twice a week instead


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## The Beast (Mar 10, 2005)

I normally do 3 sets of warm up squats before getting into the 5 * 5 - Normally higher volume (10 to 15 reps). For instance:

Set 1 - 15 reps of 50kg

Set 2 - 15 reps of 65kg

Set 3 - 15 reps of 80kg

Then I start on the 5 * 5 squats.

I usually then do a final set at a lower weight, say 70kg to failure.

I'm normally totally knackered after doing it and quite often struggle to get up the stairs. I'll be honest though, I'm not totally fatigued after every session, so exertion could possibly be improved.


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## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

Sounds like a decent workout... are you progressing though... adding reps or weight each week? If not get logging and making small increases each week.


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## The Beast (Mar 10, 2005)

I am progressing, but it's been slow and painful. I just find my other body parts seem to be coming on much faster, which is frustrating. I think I'll throw in another session on a Sunday and mix it up a little bit to see if I can get a bit more growth that way.

I just can't bare the thought of having chicken legs for the rest of my days!


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## Crank (Sep 4, 2014)

I have a similar problem, especially my calves too.

Is having 2/3 leg days a week, varying intensity too much?

Was thinking one heavy day big weights low reps

One day on the machines focusing on reps

Admittedly I am still able to walk a bit after legs training do I just need to go harder?


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## xpower (Jul 28, 2009)

Squats never really improved my legs TBH

Since switching to

Hack squat

45 Leg press

leg ext

seated leg press

they have finally stared to look better (long way to go though )


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## Jamieson (Jul 11, 2014)

Robbie789 said:


> You could change to an upper/lower split so you'd be training them twice a week instead


Totally agree with what Robbie says, twice a week for each body part is a great way for any natty lifter to grow rapidly in size and strength, assuming of course diet is sound, intensity is high and vol fairly low.


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