Legs

grumpygit1962

I am one of many weight trainers who have over the years has committed the cardinal sin of never working those legs nearly enough. I have also not been training for a good few months now for one reason or another, so also need to shed a few pounds.
I am going to do plenty of rowing(concept 2, which I love) and cycling, packing the running in for a while, and for good core exercise I intend to do plenty of dead lifts and squats this year, not going to worry about the top half of me for a good while and focus on the legs.

Does anyone have any thoughts, and any good leg exercises?

Happy New year All :-)

TiberiusClaudis

Squats and DL are kings for the legs. If you do those you are 90% there. Lots of gyms have other leg machines that can help. So after you knock out those two, I'd see what other equipment is available. Also remember to do calf workouts as well! Happy New Years

grumpygit1962

Thanks Tiberrius, I am pretty good up top, but legs are so skinny lol, not weak though.

jenglish712

Squat and DL are king. Don't ignore the farmers carry though! Most gyms lack the square bars used for farmers carry. Heavy dumbells or a hexbar also work.

skinnyinnotime

If you just focus on legs you'll end up with the same issue you have now, just the other way round. Seems odd not to work your whole body.

grumpygit1962

My upper body is fine, and with rowing 5 times a week along with the dead lifts(all over) my upper body will get plenty to keep it toned.

georgina1970

Walking lunges are great too. They have the advantage of using your body through natural movement, and multiple muscle groups with each step. Also improves stability of joints.

Cherimoose

grumpygit1962 wrote: »

not going to worry about the top half of me for a good while and focus on the legs.

You haven't given a good reason not to work your upper body, and until you post one, i'm going to recommend following a standard, full-body program. That's the best plan fat-loss, and for general conditioning. No pro-designed program just does squats & DLs.

A good program for your age group is New Rules of Lifting for Life. You can reduce the pulling sets by 1 or 2 since you row, but i'd still recommend a couple heavy pulling sets, since rowing is not a substitute for that.

grumpygit1962

Hi Cherimoose... it is not that I am not going to work my upper body, I am for the first part of this year going to work it a lot less and just maintain. My legs on the other hand have been neglected for far too long.
And like I have already said, nothing beats deadlifts for ALL body.

stephxo1

Check out Pauline Nordin and Fighter Diet! She may be a girl but she has some amazing leg workouts you could incorporate. Or Dana Lynn Bailey if you have a high pain threshold

Lofteren

What does your programming look like?

Lofteren

If you really want to test yourself and build some serious wheels you could try Smolov. If you do it right you can eat like a horse and still lose weight while adding a lot of mass to your legs in a short period of time. You'll need to keep your upper body movements to low volume and moderate intensity bench presses and barbell rows 1 day a week:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4699803

Lofteren

Lofteren wrote: »

If you really want to test yourself and build some serious wheels you could try Smolov. If you do it right you can eat like a horse and still lose weight while adding a lot of mass to your legs in a short period of time. You'll need to keep your upper body movements to low volume and moderate intensity bench presses and barbell rows 1 day a week:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4699803

Edit: I'm not recommending this, I'm just throwing it out there. Most people don't finish this program.

ndj1979

grumpygit1962 wrote: »

Hi Cherimoose... it is not that I am not going to work my upper body, I am for the first part of this year going to work it a lot less and just maintain. My legs on the other hand have been neglected for far too long.
And like I have already said, nothing beats deadlifts for ALL body.

find a program, stick to it, and work everything..legs, arms, upper/lower, etc...

oaker

Look up Stronglifts 5x5. Good starter program for legs. You could always do 3x5 on the other upper body lifts to save some time until you are happy with your lower body.