Leg excercises for a skinny guy?

[Santos]

Hey all

I've basically been doing squats, leg extensions, leg press, calve raises and hamstring curls since I started gym about 8 months ago. My ass is getting good defintion, and my calves are becoming well defined, but I feel my thighs are still too skinny and my hamstrings are too small. What are good excercises to make my thighs wider? I want to bulk up my legs. (My legs are skinny and I look like a chicken hehe.)

Will high-resitance cycling help build my legs? I enjoy those bicycles they have at gym, but I don't wanna lose a lot of weight doing it. Heavier resitance will make me lose a lot less weight than light resitance, no?

 

[Templeton]

Squats, leg press, deadlifts and stiff leg and/or Romanian deadlifts (do a search). Forget leg extensions and maybe only use leg curls for a light set or two as a warm up. If you are doing specific leg workouts try doing hamstrings and quads on separate days. Reps - 10 or less for hamstrings but experiment with quads - many guys swear by higher reps others by heavy weight and low reps, conventional wisdom doesnt always apply so try things out.

However, I get the impression you need overall bulk and a basic heavy routine performed 2 - 3 days per week with a few basic movements (e.g. squats, deadlifts, chins, bench, dips, shoulder press and calves 3 - 5 sets of each) is as good a way as any for a beginner - or anyone else wishing to do some good hard power training for 6 wks or so)

And of course, dont forget to eat. That means day in day out. High calories and protein and sufficient carbs depending on your metabolism - if you are naturally skinny you can certainly benefit from higher carbs. Theres plenty be written on diet - do some reading. Hope this helps.

 

[jakethasnake]

Dude, the ONLY way to build powerful quads and hams is thru heavy, HEAVY squats. Do about 125% of your max, but only half the reps.

i.e., if you can do 3 sets of 10 reps of 135, then jack it up to 185 or something like that and to it 5 times for 3 sets. Then keep building from there. I started with 135, now I'm upto 265. My goal for the end of summer is 315 (3 plates on each side).



I'm no bodybuilding expert, but that has done wonders for me. I have a disproportionately stronger lower body (I play basketball), and I squat pretty solid poundages.

 

[Soshyopathe]

Hey, dildo, you can't do 125% of your max, or else it wouldn't be your max.

But he's right. Heavy heavy squats, like 4-7 reps. And make SURE to do the full motion, ass lower that parallel, and back strait. I don't want you to be another douche bag that walks around talking about how many plates he squats, and it turns out he's only going halfway down. If you cut corners in the gym, you will regret it years later.

People respect lower weight with better form than some jackoff doing half reps on a loaded bar.

 

[livin large]

any good websites for proper squatting form?

 

[Mack Of All Trades]

strengthcoach.com

I stumbled on this site a couple months ago.

Click on Virtual weightroom

 

[jakethasnake]

Originally posted by Soshyopathe
Hey, dildo, you can't do 125% of your max, or else it wouldn't be your max.

Well, you know what I'm trying to say. So with all due respect, up yours.

 

[Templeton]

If your 1 rep max is 100kg for example it is more than likely that you will be able to squat 125kg (ie 125% of 1RM) for a half rep(s). Half reps certainly have their place as they allow you to get used to handling heavier weight which will help when you revert to full squats at a lighter weight. Also, the fast twitch muscle fibers thrive on being overloaded with very heavy resistance.

Quad recruitment is largely due to torso angle - the straighter the torso the great the recruitment. The torso tends to stay reasonably upright with half squats. When full deep reps are performed the hams and glutes are brought into the equation more. So both of these approaches to squatting certainly have their place although how much an individual benefits from differing types of squats is often down to factors such as relative length of legs and torso etc.

 

[Drug_L0rd]

Originally posted by Soshyopathe
Hey, dildo, you can't do 125% of your max, or else it wouldn't be your max.

But he's right. Heavy heavy squats, like 4-7 reps. And make SURE to do the full motion, ass lower that parallel, and back strait. I don't want you to be another douche bag that walks around talking about how many plates he squats, and it turns out he's only going halfway down. If you cut corners in the gym, you will regret it years later.

People respect lower weight with better form than some jackoff doing half reps on a loaded bar.

he almost got all of it right, (especially the first sentence )

but for mass i would keep it below 6 reps, i.e. max 5 reps and try to stick to min 3 reps. keep perfect form and work with whatever weight you can, you can't really put your finger on it, you have to try it out and see, no less than 80%. however, say 5x5 of squats at 80% of 1RM might be still a little easy for you so you might turn it up to 85%.

you have to experiment with these things.

and make sure you have good form on all the excersises especially the squat.

 

[Soshyopathe]

Originally posted by jakethasnake

Well, you know what I'm trying to say. So with all due respect, up yours.

IN POSITION AND READY TO RECIEVE, SIR!

 

[jakethasnake]

 

[DannyOcean]

I'm in the same boat as you and here's what I do (from Muscle Media Magazine):

10 sets of squats, increase poundage by 5 lbs. each session

It's simple and effective and has worked thus far for me. The magazine says to do this workout three times a week but I do it once or twice because I'm hitting calves really hard right now.

I agree with others that squats are by far the best thing you can do for your quads. Just make sure to use good form and eat well to support growth and you'll be big in no time.