[Deb Auchery]

So summer is nearly upon us, and for those who are going to have a beach holiday then we are probably hitting the gym pretty hard right now.

I've always been an ectomorph, but lately I am starting to pack on some decent amount of mass/muscle. I'm confident enough about my upper body for the beach, but my lower body is a disgrace, chicken legs and no ass.

Can anyone recommend a god way to beef up my legs in the next few weeks?.Currently I only do legs once a week, and I also sit on the comp for way too long.

[Guacamole]

Squats will make your legs huge. Starting strength is a great program for people that don't have a lot of experience with barbell lifts. You will have big gains the first couple months.

[Moma]

(06-07-2012 08:16 AM)Deb Auchery Wrote:  

So summer is nearly upon us, and for those who are going to have a beach holiday then we are probably hitting the gym pretty hard right now.

I've always been an ectomorph, but lately I am starting to pack on some decent amount of mass/muscle. I'm confident enough about my upper body for the beach, but my lower body is a disgrace, chicken legs and no ass.

Can anyone recommend a god way to beef up my legs in the next few weeks?.Currently I only do legs once a week, and I also sit on the comp for way too long.

What do you do for legs? You say once a week, what exercises EXACTLY is it that you do on that ONE particular day? Maybe you should squat twice a week, do some lunges, calf raises. Back squats hits the glutes (ass) and the hamstrings. Front squats hit the quads (thighs). You might want to do back squats one day and front squats the other day.

You are pretty tall (as am I) so you may want to try squatting in your socks or wear some very flat shoes (in America, they have these trainers known as Chuck Taylors). The reason for this is that you won't be able to go down as well as a person 5'8 in the squat mode with your back straight. Due to your height, you will inevitably lean forward which puts some strain on your back.
Try it with the bar only to work on technique to begin with. But, you have to squat (there is no way around it if you want big legs). Front squats work beautifully as you can feel it entirely on the quads but you will need to balance the bar on your front part.

I think you should work on the compound exercises for now to put on the raw power and bulk to the legs. Make sure your protein intake is high.

I am guessing you weigh about 14 stones at 6'6. Even if you don't, you should weigh about that minimum. Try and eat enough protein in grams so that you reach your weight in pounds equivalent.

Hence, eat about 200 grams of protein a day.

Split it up into about six meals. Go for about 30 grams each meal and if you eat every 2 -3 hours, you should hit that.

If you find it hard to consume 200 grams a day, make sure you hit that mark on your gym days at least and maybe the day after you've hit the gym (assuming you don't work out EVERY day).

Try that and certainly you should see something.

Velkrum, should be able to add to this.

[Giovonny]

Squats and dead-lifts, of course.

You might find that squats and dead-lifts work your upper body better then upper body exercises. They work every fucking thing at the same time.

Of course, if you want a 6pack, that is created in the kitchen, not the gym.

[Deb Auchery]

Thanks Moma

Yes I never leave the gym feeling like I have maxed out my legs. I usually do squats, leg press, lunges and calves all 10,8,6. I usually squat in just my socks

Yes I weigh about 14.5 stone(92kg). Been seeing some good gains with upper body lately. I eat a lot of meat, with every meal, when I come out of the gym I will eat half a rotisserie chicken.

Most of the exercises I do are compound, deadlift, squat, etc. I think doing legs twice a week is a good idea, but unsure how to incorporate that into my routine.

Guacamole: I looked at starting strength but got to the first page as saw there was another 70 pages on how to squat to perfection!, gave up. As long as I get rid of my chicken legs, then I'm not too bothered if i'm not squatting textbook

[Giovonny]

(06-07-2012 11:11 AM)Deb Auchery Wrote:  

Yes I never leave the gym feeling like I have maxed out my legs. I usually do squats, leg press, lunges and calves

So you are lifting your legs but your legs are not growing. Then the answer is simple, you need to lift your legs with greater intensity and/or greater weight.

(06-07-2012 11:11 AM)Deb Auchery Wrote:  

Most of the exercises I do are compound, deadlift, squat, etc. I think doing legs twice a week is a good idea, but unsure how to incorporate that into my routine.

I you are already doing compound lifts like deadlifts and squats then you are already working your legs, you shouldn't need to incorporate 2 more days a week of leg work. The whole point and magic of compound exercises is that they work everything at the same time.

How did your upper body get big but your lower body not grow? That doesn't make sense if you are doing squats and deadlifts???

You must be lifting your upper body alot more then your legs?

[Smitty]

If you're an ectomorph then EAT!! That's the best thing you can do. My friend is completely ripped up top (benches 300lb) but has the worst chicken legs. For him, it's all about taking in as much protein as he can in a day (he's 6'1 and weighs 160lb and takes in 250-300 grams every day). He also avoids doing any cardio when he's trying to put on weight. It's an endless struggle for him. Looks like you're already working out your legs enough. The downside to trying to gain weight on the bottom half is that you'll inevitably put on weight up top and start to cover those abs (if they're showing).

[Stitch]

"Squats and milk" (s/milk/other_caloric_gainer/g). Did this a few years ago and showed strong gains on my posterior chain. Yes, got a little extra padding, but it came off fairly quick.

[_DC_]

I've got a question about beach bodies: So I'm pretty proud of myself and have gotten down to ~173 pounds. I was 193 back in winter at my worst.
My waist went from ~36" to sub 32.5" and I'm 6'.

My question is for people who have achieved low body fat 10% or below... did you notice the biggest differences in your last 5-10lbs of weight loss? It seems to me like that last bit of weight will make the biggest aesthetic impact. The way I figure I only have maybe 10lbs more to lose before I'm about as lean as I can get and comfortably maintain.

E.g a hypothetical person weights 200lbs. Every month he loses 10lbs. So he is 190lb, then 180lb, then 170lb (a weight at which he is sub-10%). Am I right that the weight lost from 180-170lb is the most noticeable? Also because love handles and little pouch on the lower abdomen are one of the last spots to lose, I also feel like inches lost will be highest at this lean range.

Maybe I'm getting a bit too detailed; I'm going to go ahead and see for myself anyway, but I could just use a little extra motivation.

Thanks

[Hades]

One-legged calf raise with a dumb bell


The humble pistol squat


Supposing you want to avoid the gym of course.
Generally what I find is that in the lower body, it requires more effort for it to respond to training effects (compared to upper body).
So for the pistol squat, 2 sets of 8-20 would be adequate.
One-legged calf raise (dumb bell optional) you can go up to 2 sets of 40 and be safe.

Make sure to do slow reps, especially on the calves.

Don't push through the pain though. Start with two-legged slow bodyweight squats and two-legged calf raises. No sense in injuring yourself for aesthetics. My legs looked great on a diet of nothing but two-legged squats and two-legged calf raises.

[HiFlo]

Squat variations:
front squat
parallel squat
ATM squat
split squat (rear leg raised on bench)

superset with leg extensions.

for beach muscles, no one sees your quads much, so calves are prolly more important for aesthetics alone (unless u wear speedos).

In all honesty though, it's a little late in the game to prepare your body for summer. Hell, most guys I know start their cut in March/April to get ready for summer, and that's just their cut. You're talking about adding mass, which develops slow au naturel.

Probably the most important thing for beach is your abs if you want to narrow it down to one important body part.

[Catch 22]

Sex is good for the glutes and thighs

[billbudsocket]

Deb, try doing 1 set of 20 rep squats 2-3x/week for a couple weeks. I can hardly walk when I get done doing those!

[Deb Auchery]

Sorry been travelling, thanks for replies, realise it's a bit late in the day to get the pins beach worthy, but any improvement is welcome, if I can make my upper body significantly bigger in the space of a few weeks then i'm sure I can do it with my legs if I am dedicated.

@Giovanny: I need to be working my legs at twice a week I think. No matter how hard I train my legs one day a week, before the next leg workout is due they are back to nothing.

@ Smittty: Yes I eat a shed load already, but my legs don't grow as fast as my upper body for some reason.

@ Hiflo: I will have to familiarise myself with those kind of squats, I only know one type of squat right now(and maybe i'm doing that wrong)

@ Hades: Looks like some exercises I can do at home!

@ catch 22: I don't think sex is good for muscle building, only toning. I need bulk right now.

@ billbud: Thanks, that sounds like a good idea