Workout advice needed.

[SenselessChiefsFan]

Okay.... so, hitting the gym solid for three months. Workout legs lightly once a week. I was trying to ease into it because after the first workout of doing squats, lunges, etc... I could barely walk. Considering I am in real estate.... um, walking is important.

I also do the eliptical, the treadmill, the crossclimber, the stairstepper and the stationary bike. I do at least 30 minutes of cardio per day, and on days when I have extra time, I crank out an hour or more of cardio.

So, Weds, I go in and do squats and lunges and needless to say, I feel like a weeble wobble.

I was scheduled to do legs again tomorrow. Do, I just buck up and do the workout? Should I let my legs rest longer? Should I try to go lighter at first? I am not going all that heavy, just starting at a plate on each side and then working up on squats.

Anyways, I don't have chickenlegs, but I also don't want to ignore them while I work on everything else.

Any advice would be golden.

[Pioli Zombie]

Ace and Gary love this thread.
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[SenselessChiefsFan]

Originally Posted by Silock

My 2 cents:

There's no reason to overdo it on legs. I'm not saying you shouldn't work them at all, but leg development for most people isn't a problem.

Personally, I would limit it to squats (if you even DO them... I don't think they're necessary) and some bodyweight stuff. IMO, it's far more effective for overall leg strength and balance, but it won't make your legs blow up like balloons, either.

Here's one of my favorite leg day routines:

Warm-up for at least 10 minutes on the elliptical, treadmill or bike. Get a light sweat going to make sure the blood is flowing well before attempting the squat.

Squats:

All of these are ass to ground. I don't do parallel squats. IMO, full squats are better, because they keep your ROM high, and allow you to fully develop your hips. Hips are key in maintaining good balance. Also, I just put in some arbitrary numbers. I don't know how much you squat, but keep in mind that going all the way down is (at first, it's significantly more so) more difficult than doing a parallel/half-squat.

Here's a pretty good discussion on full-squats vs. parallel.
http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/leg-training-myths.html

Warm-up, bar only, 15 reps
Bar + 45s, 12 reps
Bar + 25s/45s, 8 reps
Bar + 35s/45s, 6 reps
Bar + 45s/45s, 5 reps

Make sure you put your butt on your heels for these. Can't stress that enough. Doing that will work your entire leg, hamstrings included. And whatever you do, don't use a Smith machine. Use a squat rack. Smith machines limit your movement too much and force you to move in an unnatural way.

After that, just do a leg-finisher.

Leg Matrix:

This should be performed with no rest in between the movements, all bodyweight stuff

24 single-leg squats (12 per side, again, butt to heels if you can... if not, use a 25 lbs plate held out straight in front of you for extra balance as you go down)
24 Bulgarian Split-squats (12 per side, non-alternating)
24 Alternating lunges (12 per side, alternating)
24 Jump lunges (12 per side, alternating)
24 Squat Thrusts / bodyweight squat jumps

Rest 2-3 minutes, do 2-3 sets

(If you can't do the first two movements, which are difficult, you can just do 24 bodyweight squats instead)

Shouldn't take you more than half an hour to do all of this, which leaves 25 minutes for HIIT. I wouldn't even do this more than once a week. IMO, it's not necessary.

Just as an aside, I don't even do conventional squats any longer, except where I incorporate them with my circuit training (and even then, I'm only doing ATG reps of 135). I just do the leg matrix.

And just to throw even more confusion into the squat thing, check out this vid.

http://www.functionalstrengthcoach3.com/squats.html

I'd like to say that I disagree with the guy, but I can't. I mean, the guy knows his shit. He's coached athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, Olympics, NCAA, and more.

Hope this helps.

I appreciate the advice. I will give this a shot.

[bevischief]

sweatin to the oldies

[RedThat]

Originally Posted by SensibleChiefsfan

Okay.... so, hitting the gym solid for three months. Workout legs lightly once a week. I was trying to ease into it because after the first workout of doing squats, lunges, etc... I could barely walk. Considering I am in real estate.... um, walking is important.

I also do the eliptical, the treadmill, the crossclimber, the stairstepper and the stationary bike. I do at least 30 minutes of cardio per day, and on days when I have extra time, I crank out an hour or more of cardio.

So, Weds, I go in and do squats and lunges and needless to say, I feel like a weeble wobble.

I was scheduled to do legs again tomorrow. Do, I just buck up and do the workout? Should I let my legs rest longer? Should I try to go lighter at first? I am not going all that heavy, just starting at a plate on each side and then working up on squats.

Anyways, I don't have chickenlegs, but I also don't want to ignore them while I work on everything else.

Any advice would be golden.

First off, you have the right idea by not ignoring your legs. There are a lot of people who never train them. And believe it or not that is where a majority of your power comes from and also where a majority of testosterone is released. however, you wanna be very careful with those legs as well. You could be overtraining your legs from both weights and by doing excessive amounts of cardio.

My best advice to you would be, if you still feel that your legs are sore don't train them. It would be a very wise thing to do to rest them longer. Even it means taking a break from both cardio and the weights, do it. Its always a good thing to do just to be on the safe side. Its probably the best thing and imo it'll prevent yourself at risk of injury. At the very least, go very light so you don't put a lot stress on those muscles. Its one thing to train hard, but its another to be smart. And this is no implication that you're stupid. you're learning because you haven't done this in a while.

Your body is giving you a message by saying that your leg muscles are sore and it needs rest since you've basically ripped the tissue itself and its going through a recuperation process. Sometimes, the amount of rest you need varies. And the thing I find is, sometimes, the harder you train, the longer it takes for your body to fully heal and recover. Really, I wouldn't train them, wait till they fully recover. Listen to what your body is telling you and go from there.

I must say though that is A LOT of cardio you're doing. Try not to do to much cardio or else you're at risk of burning muscle and overtraining. I recall in one of your previous posts you said your bodytype is ectomorphic. So really you don't have to do that much cardio. You are going to have no troubles getting lean because of your bodytype. However, If you want to put on muscle, or build mass, you should be doing a lot less cardio. Keep your cardio to a minimum. You will get ripped easily even from not doing that much cardio, but putting on muscle will be a challenge for you, and it will be that much harder if you're doing that much cardio.

*Please don't get offended from me saying this, I think you need to make adjustments into your program.

[SenselessChiefsFan]

Originally Posted by RedThat

First off, you have the right idea by not ignoring your legs. There are a lot of people who never train them. And believe it or not that is where a majority of your power comes from and also where a majority of testosterone is released. however, you wanna be very careful with those legs as well. You could be overtraining your legs from both weights and by doing excessive amounts of cardio.

My best advice to you would be, if you still feel that your legs are sore don't train them. It would be a very wise thing to do to rest them longer. Even it means taking a break from both cardio and the weights, do it. Its always a good thing to do just to be on the safe side. Its probably the best thing and imo it'll prevent yourself at risk of injury. At the very least, go very light so you don't put a lot stress on those muscles. Its one thing to train hard, but its another to be smart. And this is no implication that you're stupid. you're learning because you haven't done this in a while.

Your body is giving you a message by saying that your leg muscles are sore and it needs rest since you've basically ripped the tissue itself and its going through a recuperation process. Sometimes, the amount of rest you need varies. And the thing I find is, sometimes, the harder you train, the longer it takes for your body to fully heal and recover. Really, I wouldn't train them, wait till they fully recover. Listen to what your body is telling you and go from there.

I must say though that is A LOT of cardio you're doing. Try not to do to much cardio or else you're at risk of burning muscle and overtraining. I recall in one of your previous posts you said your bodytype is ectomorphic. So really you don't have to do that much cardio. You are going to have no troubles getting lean because of your bodytype. However, If you want to put on muscle, or build mass, you should be doing a lot less cardio. Keep your cardio to a minimum. You will get ripped easily even from not doing that much cardio, but putting on muscle will be a challenge for you, and it will be that much harder if you're doing that much cardio.

*Please don't get offended from me saying this, I think you need to make adjustments into your program.

Unless you tell me Mark Sanchez is going to be a HOF QB... I won't get offended.

I appreciate the feedback. I am also trying to train with my daughter, who, unless she is playing basketball... likes to sit and read and do nothing.

[RedThat]

Originally Posted by SensibleChiefsfan

Unless you tell me Mark Sanchez is going to be a HOF QB... I won't get offended.

I appreciate the feedback. I am also trying to train with my daughter, who, unless she is playing basketball... likes to sit and read and do nothing.

Lol...he sure is j/k..no problem bro

[stormtrooper]

there is a thing called overtraining

[SenselessChiefsFan]

For those saying that leg work isn't that important..... I dissagree. #1) Chicken legs are not attractive.

#2) As you work your muscles, your body chemistry changes. These additional hormones, including testosterone help your body build muscle. Given the size of the leg muscles, working these boost the bodies hormone levels as much, if not more than any other body part.

I know it all comes down to goals... but my goals are to be stronger first.... get ripped later. So, I feel like not working my legs will take away possible gains.

Am I off base on this?

[Halfcan]

bike riding is your best option

[Silock]

Originally Posted by SensibleChiefsfan

For those saying that leg work isn't that important..... I dissagree. #1) Chicken legs are not attractive.

#2) As you work your muscles, your body chemistry changes. These additional hormones, including testosterone help your body build muscle. Given the size of the leg muscles, working these boost the bodies hormone levels as much, if not more than any other body part.

I know it all comes down to goals... but my goals are to be stronger first.... get ripped later. So, I feel like not working my legs will take away possible gains.

Am I off base on this?

If you're not working legs at ALL doing ANYTHING, then yes, it's important to do direct leg work. However, if you're constantly challenging your legs with sprinting or bike riding, then it's not as essential to get leg work in. It could lead to overtraining, which will ultimately hurt all progress.

[morphius]

I think some other people have hinted at as well, skip doing the leg cardio stuff the day you life your legs. Especially if your goal is to get stronger as some leg exercises will work out more of your legs than say and elliptical machine. With your legs being some of the biggest muscles in your body, it is also a great way to burn off some fat.

[bevischief]

I think you are doing too much at once. Start out doing cardio like a bike or treadmill and go from there, start adding to that every 2 weeks or so depending on how your body adjusts. I lost over 35 just riding a stationary bike and watching my diet this year.