Men strong upper body weaker legs?

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  • j75j75
    j75j75 Posts: 854 Member
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    I agree with most of what has been said thus far. In addition, I would like to add that bone structure has a lot to do with it. Taking hormones and genetics out of the equation; men, with their broad shoulders have a natural advantage with upper body strength. Women, with their broad hips have a natural advantage with lower body strength.

    Most men who lift though just don't put as much effort into their lower body as they do with their upper body...
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    VyFQTO3.jpg

    eh?
  • thesifter
    thesifter Posts: 107 Member
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    I find these two exercises particularly useful for leg strength.

    Try 1 minute holds 3 times. daily .

    1: Sumo Stance (Shiku Dachi)
    2: Long fighting (forward) stance (Zenkutsu Dachi) - Do each side.

    Simple , effective.

    They come from karate and other martial arts , google is your friend.
  • Lifelink
    Lifelink Posts: 193 Member
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    VyFQTO3.jpg

    I bet you that they're desk-jockeys. lol
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
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    Sort of a stereotype. But still seems to be true more often than not.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    140408.jpg

    A0wn8OvCIAAoBCr.jpg:large

    I can;t seem to get this one to stick: http://www.tickld.com/images/content/140408.jpg
    Quads look disproportionate.

    Everything looks proportionate to me...

    I like how the power of her quads bends the closet and door frame behind her.
  • Seekerman
    Seekerman Posts: 58 Member
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    Cafeaulait

    Thank for the links. Those are harder then they look and prove my hips are an issue.

    Tonight at class we did abduction type resistance with partners and later for fun leg wrestling. Yup both men (myself being one) were defeated by the women. We did not win a single leg wrestle match. I did defeat the other man though but that only proved his legs are weaker then mine lol. People say the abduction machine is for women. Well it is doing them some good and maybe it is good for men too.

    It was nice to see a few of the women that could not do a single push up can now do two.
  • EDesq
    EDesq Posts: 1,527 Member
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    I think is is somewhat typical because Guys work on what gives that quickest results...Upper body. However, IT IS UGLYYYYY! You should go on YouTube; these "Body Building" Guys have freakish upper bodies and legs that look like a 10 yr. old. One guy calls them "lean legs" because he does not want to admit to himself that he looks like a joke!

    I have seen guys with great legs and lower bodies and it is wonderful; I can't take My eyes off of them when I see them in shorts. I would think that the goal would be to be balanced. All I can say is work on the WHOLE BODY and just like Life and Life Skills, work on those areas in which you are the weakest a little more. Trust Me, people NOTICE but won't say anything...to your face.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
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    Cafeaulait

    Thank for the links. Those are harder then they look and prove my hips are an issue.

    Tonight at class we did abduction type resistance with partners and later for fun leg wrestling. Yup both men (myself being one) were defeated by the women. We did not win a single leg wrestle match. I did defeat the other man though but that only proved his legs are weaker then mine lol. People say the abduction machine is for women. Well it is doing them some good and maybe it is good for men too.

    It was nice to see a few of the women that could not do a single push up can now do two.

    You are welcome :) They are much harder than they look because they are for the hip flexors specifically.

    I wonder if one reason women can be so strong in the lower body is because a lot of us take dance for years or were on cheerleading, etc?

    I'm working on getting my extensors incredibly strong so I can do certain dance moves. When I'm finally able to do them, that's when I'll be satisfied. I don't give a fig about how many lbs I lift. I like doing crazy-hard dance or yoga moves, lol. Maybe other girls are the same way.
  • Seekerman
    Seekerman Posts: 58 Member
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    Yup, a couple are dancers and one former figure skater. Also got hikers, runners etc. All seem to enjoy the gym which is good.
    Well, I can tell you I have a new understanding and respect for how much strength certain dance or skating moves require. Though I think the flexibility aspect is huge and makes it possible or easier. For example a figure skater doing a sit spin.They make it look so easy so one watching thinks it is. After all that skating and dong one of those on one leg is impressive. I could only beat the woman in the leg abduction battles when I added my arms into the mix lol.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
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    Lol As a female, I have this same problem. I've always trained everything, however, my upper body is as strong as lower body. I'm trying to balance this by holding back on chest/back while going heavier on legs. I can prob bench my weight right now, but instead just doing high reps. So hard to hold back on bench. I really love it.
  • vanguardfitness
    vanguardfitness Posts: 720 Member
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    Pretty common I think. Especially years ago. Things like crossfit are introducing more strength producing compound exercises to the general public. In the past you would hear guys say things like "i run for legs" leading to upside down triangle bodies. Men focus way too much on upper body exercises
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
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    Yup, a couple are dancers and one former figure skater. Also got hikers, runners etc. All seem to enjoy the gym which is good.
    Well, I can tell you I have a new understanding and respect for how much strength certain dance or skating moves require. Though I think the flexibility aspect is huge and makes it possible or easier. For example a figure skater doing a sit spin.They make it look so easy so one watching thinks it is. After all that skating and dong one of those on one leg is impressive. I could only beat the woman in the leg abduction battles when I added my arms into the mix lol.

    Hip extensors are very often inflexible (is that a word?). In any case, stretch them as often as you can. Lack of flexibility will definitely keep you from some strength moves in things like yoga or dance.

    The bodyweight hip extensor/quad exercise I do had me just trying to get in the 'landing' position for about a month. And mine were flexible already, I thought!
  • RECowgill
    RECowgill Posts: 881 Member
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    To the OP, I knew this could be a potential problem for me when I started lifting a year ago so I always took a balanced approach. I think I'm proportionately well-muscled, I have big strong legs and I want them to be bigger and stronger. I've managed to add a lot of definition to my calves and quads. =)

    As for how I got here, I started with dedicated leg days and never stopped doing them. 1-2 times a week depending. At first I stuck to isolation movements: leg press, leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises.

    After some months, I moved up to compounds: Squats and deadlifts.

    Once I got over my gender stereotyping, I moved on to Adduction/Abduction, Glute extensions.

    Over time I've moved away from the isolation work I initially did, I really see them as training wheels. With some exceptions, I still do calf raises, leg curls, adduction/abduction because I find its good for me to train all the various support muscles that improve my squats. At this point though, it is really all about squats and deadlifts. Nothing has been better for building leg and core strength.

    I work out really hard and I get leg DOMS horribly bad. Just crippling painful unmanageably bad. The solution in my case was lots of protein, especially around leg day. I have a high bodyweight, I dunno, I guess my body just gobbles it up. I go equally hard on upper body days, and I never get DOMS there, except when I first started working out. That might be helpful information to you, just relaying my experience.

    But I think the best , fastest and most direct way to build leg strength and size is squats. Start light and move up. You probably have a decent amount of upper body weight so you're really squatting that plus the bar. In my experience even squatting light is really good for building strength, I'm sure as you know its not always about the weight on the bar, its about the movement and form.
  • RECowgill
    RECowgill Posts: 881 Member
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    I could only beat the woman in the leg abduction battles when I added my arms into the mix lol.

    I'm curious, how much weight were they doing? I max out the abduction machine and throw on a 35lb plate making it 340lbs total for sets of 10 reps. And I don't have to use my arms either. :wink:

    It's taken me a while to get there. I think when I started using the abduction/adduction machines I was doing reps at 90lbs. Gotta stay with it, be dedicated. It's an important exercise, helps squats to make sure those muscles are well trained.
  • Seekerman
    Seekerman Posts: 58 Member
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    Abduction and similar type resistance exercises. After the warm up for hip alignment and stretching. Partner holds you in place and you press and hold then release without moving other areas of the body. Isolating one specific area. It does help align the pelvic area. This was all about targeting the hip and effects on areas like the IT band. Part of my problem and many of the women to is pelvic alignment goes out. Plus I am stiff and weaker here (again partly due to my poor flexibility) Also done with resistance bands and yes against your partner. The abduction battles were of course not part of the class (later was the word). The class is review technique and running though a circuit on the clock. Stuff like lunges and step ups with and/or with out weights, push ups off flat surfaces and rised, dips etc.

    There is the Abduction (and the opposite one but forgot the name lol) machines there but not part of the recommended group of exercises. Yes, we have tired it. It is a cable based machine so probably not relative. I used the number 13 on it. My guess is that means 130 pounds. The woman were around 15 to 20. My partner is my GF and she uses 18. If you are using the entire stack plus 35 you are darn strong at this one.

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