Join the best erotica focused adult social network now
Login

Do you work legs?

last reply
17 replies
1.8k views
0 watchers
0 likes
Guest
Lurker
0 likes


This is more of a question for the guys, because I assume that if you are female and you work out, legs are probably at the top of your list. When I was a personal trainer, my clientele was pretty much 99.9% female and I was amazed at how little importance they put on working their upper body.

For males, the inverse seems to be true.

I still work legs, but definitely not with the intensity that I once did. Mainly because squats are hard, and there really isn't much benefit aesthetics-wise. It also makes buying pants difficult.

I often hear women make comments about guys' 'skinny legs' but I've noticed that they generally are referring to the lower legs. Calf size is almost 100% genetically determined and wont really change much with training unless you use PEDs. Like the forearms, they consist primarily of slow twitch muscle fibers so muscle growth is pretty hard to come by.

Do you work your legs? If so how often? Do you devote a lot of time and energy to them? Or do you add them in as an afterthought?

And for the women out there... What kind of legs do you prefer on men?


MadMartigan
Raised on Blackroot
0 likes
The better question would be, "why the fuck aren't you working legs?"

I like the brutally taxing nature of a good leg day. Unlike upper body work, I dread every leg day. But they're the days I feel the strongest on so...

Before I bought a few programs to keep me more regimented in workouts and to even out areas that were lagging behind, I was doing legs thrice a week. Two were dedicated glute days because they are a tragically undertrained muscle group that, when built up, makes a lot of lower body issues disappear. Real men, or should I say, smart men, utilize the barbell hip thrust. I personally love it as I've NEVER really felt much activation when doing squats and not much better with deadlifts. On that same train of thought, donkey goods are something I enjoy as well as side leg lifts, as yes, the "female" go-to, side cable lifts. If James Harrison works these exercises into his routine, stop looking at them as "pansy ass" female movements.

Nowadays it's been more like one dedicated and brutal leg specific day per week.

I do squat, but I use a safety squat bar equivalent. The build of my shoulders has never made naked back bar squats all that comfortable even with squat pads. I am, unfortunately, rather thin boned. Always had more of the build of a marathon runner than anything though I have finally been able to put on a reasonable amount of size. Anyway, safety squats makes squatting far more comfortable and I find I can control the weight more easily. Also shifts a bit more of the load onto the quads.

Deadlifts are probably my favorite. Nothing more important than a strong posterior chain. And it's probably the most anatomically safe of the big lifts along with squats that transitions to everyday life applications.

I like lunges as an auxiliary movement and mainly the reverse variety as they're more forgiving of my knees and are very good for burnouts.

My gym donated our kick ass leg press to the Fire Department after buying new equipment. Equipment that's total shit I should say as the YMCA doesn't know what the fuck it's doing when buying new equipment. Puts undue stress on the patella tendons if you're over like 5'8 in height. So I'm kinda stuck with other leg press variants I just don't like.



Stay away from leg extensions. Yea. Enjoy your aesthetics. Just enjoy fucked up knees down the line if you keep going up in weight.
Guest
Lurker
0 likes
Quote by MadMartigan


I do squat, but I use a safety squat bar equivalent. The build of my shoulders has never made naked back bar squats all that comfortable even with squat pads. I am, unfortunately, rather thin boned


I'm the same way. I could lift a shit ton of weight with squats but the bar just killed my upper back. I bought a specialized pad, but when the weight got up over 300lbs it was just too much. I actually started bringing a pillow to the gym and folded it in half and used that in conjunction with the wrap around pad.


Quote by MadMartigan
Stay away from leg extensions. Yea. Enjoy your aesthetics. Just enjoy fucked up knees down the line if you keep going up in weight.


I still do leg extensions as a finishing exercise, even though I've done numerous electromyographical studies that show they really aren't the best exercise. There are kind of the equivalent of doing cable crossovers.

And as someone that makes a living doing exercise rehabilitation, I never get patients to do that exercise if they have any kind of patellofemoral issues.

Personally, I have think stocky indestructible legs. I can do leg extensions, deep squats, super heavy leg presses...pretty much everything. So I do a lot of stuff that I wouldn't recommend for patients, clients the general public.
Buz
The Linebacker
0 likes
I've never overlooked working the legs. But now l no longer lift for mass but just to stay in shape. When l say stay in shape though, l have a very high standard.

I still do squats but with less weight than l used to. I do leg extensions and curls, and l work my calves hard. I've quit doing weighted lunges. I do a lot of bicycling and running. My running regimen includes sprints. Between bicycling and sprinting, my thighs grow. I really don't need bigger thighs now. I hope the distance part of my running helps keep thickening thighs in check.

I guess my glutes respond well as l've always got a lot of compliments from women on my butt.

There are always guys at the gym who've put much more emphasis on upper body development and their legs lag behind. For some reason working the legs does feel more like work but l suggest to those to push hard to develop lower body. Anyone who doesn't sport a balanced physique not only looks weird but your missing half your strength. Upper body strength needs that lower body support.
MadMartigan
Raised on Blackroot
0 likes
My body just doesn’t allow me to do what I’d really like anymore. 4 knee dislocations, 3 on my dominant knee shredded my cartilage. I don’t even do light weight leg extension burnouts. I may not feel pain doing it that way but I don’t trust the structural integrity of my knees that much.

All the exercises that pack muscle on the quads just kill my knees. I think that’s made it harder to put mass on them. That’s why I like Bulgarian split squats. Unilateral training is incredibly important and there’s the benefit at least for me, with greater quad activation with split squats. I need to incorporate them again.
SereneProdigy
Cryptic Vigilante
0 likes
I do work my legs just as frequently as the rest of my body, though not as intensely (or rather unintelligently) as I did back in my 20s. I typically perform a good old push/pull/legs 4 or 5 times a week, so I find myself working my legs once or twice per week.

I've always worked out at home, which to me is immensely more convenient and motivating than having to drive to a gym every goddamn time I need to exercise (especially here in Canada where hitting the gym during winter would often require to shovel my car for half an hour prior). I have a dedicated fitness room complete with various benches, weights and a bar to perform pull-ups, but the downside is that I still obviously lack some of the equipment that you can usually find in gyms. More precisely: I've never had access to a proper squat-rack and always had to be a bit creative to compensate.

What I routinely did in my 20s was using 2 absurdly loaded dumbbells while deep-squatting with my heels raised on a piece of 2x4 to further increase the demand on my quads (exactly like you can see Arnold performing below). My results by the age of 30: satisfactory amount of muscles in my legs but a Chondromalacia Patellae diagnosis which essentially makes the majority of further leg exercises painful/unadvised. I'd seriously recommend that you fully understand the risks before performing a similar exercise for so many years as I (foolishly) did myself.





Nowadays I perform hip thrusts for my glutes, straight-leg (or Romanian) deadlifts for my hamstrings, and isometric contractions for my quadriceps. All of which perfectly safe for my knees; or at the very least, I've been performing those for the past 5 years without any pain whatsoever (while just a single impetuous set of regular squatting can trigger a sharp pain that can last for a week).

I remember explaining isometric contractions in another thread: basically you simply keep a substantial resistance on your muscles without involving any movement whatsoever. A good indicator to know if a resistance is appropriate for hypertrophy is using one that you can't possibly maintain for more than 45-60 seconds; any resistance (of any type) that you can handle for longer than that is just going to work your muscular endurance while doing very little for strength/hypertrophy (hence why doing hundreds of sit-ups is completely absurd to acquire decent abs).

An isometric exercise that's challenging enough to make you quit after 45-60 seconds can be just as beneficial for hypertrophy than a regular exercise is. The huge disadvantage is that you'll mostly gain strength at the very specific angle that you'll be working. Not ideal for professional athletes who need a wide range of functional strength, but perfectly acceptable for maintaining a decent level of hypertrophy without completely ruining your knees if you're in a situation similar to mine.

I essentially perform various isometric sets of 45-60 seconds where I stand on only one leg while holding dumbbells. I try to find different angles that are challenging enough to at least avoid working my strength at the same goddamn angle every single time. The great irony is that striving to hold the position for 60 seconds often requires more of my willpower than full regular squats did: the discomfort is much more constant/present and somehow it's simply more tempting to quit before your muscles are really exhausted. Fortunately I seem to punish my legs well enough because I still experience the coveted acute muscular soreness the next day and I haven't lost one tiny bit of muscle in my legs since switching to isometric contractions 5 years ago.





As an aside to guys who consistently neglect their legs: absolutely nothing triggers an hormonal response that's as potent as those heavy lower-body exercises provide. Even if you're only interested in upper-body development, you're missing out a lot by not including those into your workout and benefiting from that huge testosterone boost. I actually even include a few reminder exercises for biceps/tricpes on legs-day myself, simply to take full advantage of all that and really force my arms to grow to their full potential.
Guest
Lurker
0 likes
Quote by MadMartigan
My body just doesn’t allow me to do what I’d really like anymore. 4 knee dislocations, 3 on my dominant knee shredded my cartilage. I don’t even do light weight leg extension burnouts. I may not feel pain doing it that way but I don’t trust the structural integrity of my knees that much.

All the exercises that pack muscle on the quads just kill my knees. I think that’s made it harder to put mass on them. That’s why I like Bulgarian split squats. Unilateral training is incredibly important and there’s the benefit at least for me, with greater quad activation with split squats. I need to incorporate them again.


Patellofemoral dislocations? Or tibial-femoral?

I assume patellofemoral...? Yikes. Yeah, leg extensions would never be recommended. I assume the dislocations are lateral?

I'm not a fan of lunges but I do like unilateral leg presses. When it comes to closed chain leg exercises for patient with patellofemoral issues I keep the range between 45 and 60 degrees. I usually add in some electrical muscle stimulation to the vastus medialus to ensure complete activation. With closed chain exercises, the farther down you go the more stress you put on the patellofemoral joint surface. With open chain exercises, the opposite is true.

You can also do straight leg raises with ankle weights as long as the knee is kept perfectly straight. This exercise works the rectus femoris but again, if you add electrical stimulation, you can emphasize any of the four quad groups that you want. If your patella is subluxing laterally then the vastus medialus oblique is the place that you would want to stimulate as it creates an medial/superior force vector that opposes the lateral retinaculum which is why the patella tends to sublux to the outside.

Sorry for the influx of info... I'm currently working with spinal cord injuries which is a far cry removed from the specifics of dealing with the intricate biomechanics of sports injuries. These type scenarios are a return to my Halcyon days when I didn't have to worry about Human resource managers and useless office managers.....

Do you play sports? if so there are a few good PTFL braces out there.
MadMartigan
Raised on Blackroot
0 likes
All my dislocations were in high school and yes, lateral patellofrmoral. Haven’t had knee issues really in years since dedicating time to building the muscles around the knees in an effort to keep them where they should be kept.

My sports days ended in 7th grade after a goalie took my knee out on a fast break during club soccer. Massive muscle and cartilage bruising. Never got back into competitive sports and after the dislocations my orthopedic surgeon advised against ever doing contact sports again pretty much.

The groove my patella should sit in on the right side is almost a straight line. And my patellas kinda of float around. They’re very easy to manually manipulate when relaxed.
Guest
Lurker
0 likes
Quote by MadMartigan
All my dislocations were in high school and yes, lateral patellofrmoral. Haven’t had knee issues really in years since dedicating time to building the muscles around the knees in an effort to keep them where they should be kept.

My sports days ended in 7th grade after a goalie took my knee out on a fast break during club soccer. Massive muscle and cartilage bruising. Never got back into competitive sports and after the dislocations my orthopedic surgeon advised against ever doing contact sports again pretty much.

The groove my patella should sit in on the right side is almost a straight line. And my patellas kinda of float around. They’re very easy to manually manipulate when relaxed.



I don't know how active you are know, but there is also a surgery where they cut the lateral retinaculum and detach a piece of the Vastus medialus and attach it to the medial side. It's usually used in recurrent lateral subluxations. They usually do the surgery after two lateral dislocations. Not worth it now though unless you are still playing competitive sports.

I'm assuming you're passed all that though from what you're saying.

If you do go to see an orthpedic surgeon always go to another one if you have the option. Some orthos drastically different views on injuries. And the older ones are usually the worst. I worked with one who always just wanted fused the joint. He was like 70 years old and hadn't looked at a piece of medical literature in almost fifty years.

Damn I feel like going to gym now and working my legs....
Guest
Lurker
0 likes
Quote by Dancewithme
I can not do this specific regimen anymore but when I played sports I had to. Yes, squats are harder to do than most. To tone my abdomen and lower back, I used to do 3 sets of 50 sit ups with a 50 pound weight on my chest. Usually (90%) of the time I had no one to hold my feet, and I didn't bend my legs, so that I got maximum strength in my abs and lower back. It was great for my diaphragm and gluts too. At that time we did not have any of the fancy machinery there is today, a lot of which
is far better than our primitive methods were for developing the body. For my legs I did lots of exercises. One was holding a barbell with about 100 pounds behind me and standing with it (a simple dead lift). In short, it took a combination of every form of exercise, if that is the right word, to do what you have all described today.
But it kept me off drugs, alcohol, and generally safe. I can not recommend healthy exercise and body development, when done properly, more.


WTF?

This is one of the reasons I'm reluctant to make threads in this forum.
MadMartigan
Raised on Blackroot
0 likes
Quote by DamonX


I don't know how active you are know, but there is also a surgery where they cut the lateral retinaculum and detach a piece of the Vastus medialus and attach it to the medial side. It's usually used in recurrent lateral subluxations. They usually do the surgery after two lateral dislocations. Not worth it now though unless you are still playing competitive sports.

I'm assuming you're passed all that though from what you're saying.

If you do go to see an orthpedic surgeon always go to another one if you have the option. Some orthos drastically different views on injuries. And the older ones are usually the worst. I worked with one who always just wanted fused the joint. He was like 70 years old and hadn't looked at a piece of medical literature in almost fifty years.

Damn I feel like going to gym now and working my legs....


What you’re describing sounds exactly what my old surgeon would have done.
He was more wary of surgeries I guess as it was one more pop and knife time. Or it was something involving a “chain” to kind of anchor the patella in place.
Can’t remember the exact description.

Anyway. Another leg exercise I like for hitting the quad since front squats have always been an anatomical impossibility for me are goblet squats for metabolic burnout sets.
Dancewithme
Active Ink Slinger
0 likes
Quote by DamonX


WTF?

This is one of the reasons I'm reluctant to make threads in this forum.



Sir. I respect the methods you use to develop your legs. It is fairly current.
But if I had to choose I would still have developed my legs the same way I did decades ago.
Why? Because I developed my legs for function, i. e., to play specific sports: boxing, swimming, mat wrestling, football, cross country, baseball, and to do it without any chemicals other than watching what ate.
From the looks of your photo above, the man's thighs etc. look great. That is just my drift: today's development is built for looks, and for making a man feel good about himself. He should. He looks good and has strength in specific ways. Those you wish to for your purposes.
BUT, the way I developed my legs allowed me to still have muscular legs. a tight butt, and a powerful cardio-vascular system to this day that women still admire without my even aiming to do that. I played all those sports, and had the flexibility and endurance to compete successfully in all of them! I have no reason to lie, or joke about it.
But apparently my post, and those I was going to follow it up with, make you not want to post. To please you, I have removed my post, and will not make any further comments here in my own defense but do so in real life. That is where it matters.
I will not return to this thread as it is not about any kind of training I subscribe to FOR MY PURPOSES.
Sorry if I have offended you.
Guest
Lurker
0 likes
Quote by Dancewithme


Sir. I respect the methods you use to develop your legs. It is fairly current.
But if I had to choose I would still have developed my legs the same way I did decades ago.
Why? Because I developed my legs for function, i. e., to play specific sports: boxing, swimming, mat wrestling, football, cross country, baseball, and to do it without any chemicals other than watching what ate.
From the looks of your photo above, the man's thighs etc. look great. That is just my drift: today's development is built for looks, and for making a man feel good about himself. He should. He looks good and has strength in specific ways. Those you wish to for your purposes.
BUT, the way I developed my legs allowed me to still have muscular legs. a tight butt, and a powerful cardio-vascular system to this day that women still admire without my even aiming to do that. I played all those sports, and had the flexibility and endurance to compete successfully in all of them! I have no reason to lie, or joke about it.
But apparently my post, and those I was going to follow it up with, make you not want to post. To please you, I have removed my post, and will not make any further comments here in my own defense but do so in real life. That is where it matters.
I will not return to this thread as it is not about any kind of training I subscribe to FOR MY PURPOSES.
Sorry if I have offended you.


Ok... I'm still not sure if this is a joke or not.

I was going to let your ridiculous post slide and write it off as the asinine ramblings of sexagenarian who has the fitness knowledge of a 12 year old from the 1950s... but you chose to come back try to back up your previously stated ridiculous postings.

Since you made this choice, and you obviously feel that you and I are on equal intellectual ground when it comes to this subject, now I feel like I should address your original post.

Quote by Dancewithme

I can not do this specific regimen anymore but when I played sports I had to. Yes, squats are harder to do than most. To tone my abdomen and lower back, I used to do 3 sets of 50 sit ups with a 50 pound weight on my chest. Usually (90%) of the time I had no one to hold my feet, and I didn't bend my legs, so that I got maximum strength in my abs and lower back. It was great for my diaphragm and gluts too.


Besides the fact that this has nothing to do with training legs, what you are describing is downright dangerous and pretty fucking stupid. You might want to do a quick "google" search and find out what the "Glutes" and "diaphragm" actually do.

Why don't you do 50 straight legged sit ups with 50lbs on your chest and then come back and let me know how that works out for you?

Quote by Dancewithme

For my legs I did lots of exercises. One was holding a barbell with about 100 pounds behind me and standing with it (a simple dead lift). In short, it took a combination of every form of exercise, if that is the right word, to do what you have all described today.


At this point I'm wondering if you actually have some kind of learning disability. And if that's the case, then I apologize. I realize that fitness knowledge has progressed quite a bit since you were doing straight legged sit ups in middle school gym class, but you really should at least put in the minimal level of investigation before you post in a thread like this.

This isn't an opinion issue. It's a knowledge issue. And your knowledge in this subject is terrible.

PS: For anyone else out there on the fence about straight legged sit ups with 50 lb weights on your chest...... let the record show that it's generally disapproved of.
Dancewithme
Active Ink Slinger
0 likes
Quote by DamonX


At this point I'm wondering if you actually have some kind of learning disability. And if that's the case, then I apologize. I realize that fitness knowledge has progressed quite a bit since you were doing straight legged sit ups in middle school gym class, but you really should at least put in the minimal level of investigation before you post in a thread like this.

This isn't an opinion issue. It's a knowledge issue. And your knowledge in this subject is terrible.

PS: For anyone else out there on the fence about straight legged sit ups with 50 lb weights on your chest...... let the record show that it's generally disapproved of.


Sir, I am not telling you what was approved or disapproved then or now.
I had a coach with me at all times when I did the sit ups. For one summer I worked out with him present
at least three hours a day. All the exercises I described and a lot more I did in his presence. We used barbells, weights, isometric bars, and simple calisthenics to develop. I REALLY DID do 3 sets of 50 sit up each and gradually got to holding a fifty pound weight on my chest.
The coach used to marvel at how I could do it but I did.
I ran countless miles every day. Why countless? Because I ran from age 9 to past college every day I had off with my brother. We had an open paved lot with a theater wall to use as a backstop. We would play baseball together all day. We had NO fielders. Anytime the batter hit the ball the pitcher would have to run to get the ball to keep the game going. How does one add up the the running there?
BTW, I doubt if I have a learning disability worth noting as I got a PhD, and two Masters, to teach University and Graduate School classes all my career. I taught, for example, a course in how to research and write a Master's Thesis, or Doctoral Dissertation. I also have 4 books published.
I grew up poor, with no equipment except what high school gyms, and sports venues afforded us.
I was driven, disciplined, and determined not to get bullied in a neighborhood where it was rampant, and
to be the best in every sport I played.
What reasons do I have to lie about this? Why am I even answering your insulting responses? I did what I say and more, whether it breaks any rules, of modern training, eating or whatever. The idea of a personal trainer was unheard of---at least where I lived. I did what I did for two reasons: (1) to protect myself and my brother. (2) to play sports on a high level.
You can not deny I did it because I know, I DID!
So I am not telling you to believe me. I don't need anyone to believe. me, who was not there, and knew me.
You asked a question, I answered it truthfully. I did not tell anyone to do it the way I did. I did not show you anything but respect. Why can't you allow people of another age to have done things the best way they knew how?
Guest
Lurker
0 likes
Quote by Dancewithme

Sir, I am not telling you what was approved or disapproved then or now.
I had a coach with me at all times when I did the sit ups. For one summer I worked out with him present
at least three hours a day. All the exercises I described and a lot more I did in his presence. We used barbells, weights, isometric bars, and simple calisthenics to develop. I REALLY DID do 3 sets of 50 sit up each and gradually got to holding a fifty pound weight on my chest.
The coach used to marvel at how I could do it but I did.
I ran countless miles every day. Why countless? Because I ran from age 9 to past college every day I had off with my brother. We had an open paved lot with a theater wall to use as a backstop. We would play baseball together all day. We had NO fielders. Anytime the batter hit the ball the pitcher would have to run to get the ball to keep the game going. How does one add up the the running there?
BTW, I doubt if I have a learning disability worth noting as I got a PhD, and two Masters, to teach University and Graduate School classes all my career. I taught, for example, a course in how to research and write a Master's Thesis, or Doctoral Dissertation. I also have 4 books published.
I grew up poor, with no equipment except what high school gyms, and sports venues afforded us.
I was driven, disciplined, and determined not to get bullied in a neighborhood where it was rampant, and
to be the best in every sport I played.
What reasons do I have to lie about this? Why am I even answering your insulting responses? I did what I say and more, whether it breaks any rules, of modern training, eating or whatever. The idea of a personal trainer was unheard of---at least where I lived. I did what I did for two reasons: (1) to protect myself and my brother. (2) to play sports on a high level.
You can not deny I did it because I know, I DID!
So I am not telling you to believe me. I don't need anyone to believe. me, who was not there, and knew me.
You asked a question, I answered it truthfully. I did not tell anyone to do it the way I did. I did not show you anything but respect. Why can't you allow people of another age to have done things the best way they knew how?


I thought you weren't going to post on here again?

At least you are tenacious in your blatant ignorance.

Did your workouts occur in an old-timey gym full of medicine balls and Indian clubs....?


Don't worry, and don't get upset. I enjoy this little walk down brain damaged memory lane. I feel as If I was a medical professional being transported back in time to see people lancing sores and using leaches to cure every ailment....

But please realize that, just like you wouldn't want a surgeon from the middle ages, you wouldn't listen to a "work out expert" from the 1950s.

One of the reasons I took exception to your post (besides the fact that you capitalized letters in an attempt the "yell" at me") is that you suggested a very dangerous exercise.

As someone, that studies the diagnoses, treatment, and causes of spinal injuries, your post was intellectually offensive to me. I don't know what your area of expertise is, but I can be sure that it isn't fitness, back health, or anything science related. I'm pretty sure that most people wouldn't take exercise advice from a middle aged "civilian" but as a professional I have to make sure. But, now, if you are going to make a big deal about this, which you kind of already have, please let me know what your degrees are in so I can individualize my future comments.

Or if you just want to actually take advice from someone who knows more than you, then please let me know and I can give you some pointers.
LYFBUZ
Troublemaker
0 likes
in the winter I do leg curls, leg extensions and a few squat variations, all with relatively low weight. I try to ride my bicycle indoors 3 times per week. The rest of the year I cycle outdoors mixing road and mountain bike with various levels of intensity.