Legs

I desparatelh need help. My legs just won't build. I have 2 legs days each week. One is using the hacksquat/bench press machine. I can leg press 600lb and drop set, I do 300 x leg presses, 200 x calf raises and 100 hack squats and still my quads just don't seem to bulk up.

On my other legs day, I do endless squats and lunges. Help please.

Well judging by your pics I would say that you have a lot more experience in the field of muscle building that I do (your pics are amazing!) so i'm just going to take a stab at this one. Have you tried a good solid bulk for an extended amount of time (6 months or so) followed by a cut? Obviously you have the cut down... youre in amazing shape!... Just wondering if you've done a solid bulk where you really focus on eating above maintenance to give you muscles a chance to really grow. I'm assuming you have as this is very typical for bodybuilders. Other than that, keep in mind that genetics and hormones (testosterone) play a large role in muscle size and growth. The human body can really only build so much muscle naturally... women are especially limited because we produce less testosterone than men (hence the reason that we typically don't get as strong or bulky as men).

Cassie, thanks for the response. Yes I have have tried to bulk and gain lean muscle mass. I don't stay that lean for that long just because of the health risks involved. Every other part of my body seems to respond except for those damn quads. I was thinking of maybe adding some biometrics or just reducing some reps. I'm just at a frustrating standstill and value every bit of information, objective criticism and help I can get.

How many reps and sets are you doing now? I wish i could give you some of my genetics. My leg muscles grow quite easily and I've always been told that i have "big legs". Not so good when you're a self consious teenage.. but great when you get into weight lifting. Are you doing any leg extensions? Those are great for really isolating the quads. Definitely lower reps and higher weight for building muscle.

Very impressive results. You are certainly a seriously dedicated athlete.

4 observations.

1. Reps are too high, weight too low.

2. Too much volume, in which case reduce set amounts

3. Potentially doing Cardio heaviliy involving the Legs after workouts, I.E. Treadmill, Elliptical and Stepper. You're potentially overtaxing the muscles in that instance, loadbearing Torso weight on tired muscles, really sapping more Glycogen, increasing muscle fatigue and causing prolonged recovery times.

If this is so, switch to something less demanding on the Legs, like recumbent or saddle based Exercise Bike, which channel Torso weight away from the Legs, allowing you to have an intense Cardio workout, with reduced post-weights impact.

4. If you're doing splits, you might be somehow having a lower caloric intake on Leg days, than other days for some reason.

By the way, congrats on the trophy. Regional or provincial one?

without knowing exactly what your doing it's hard to pin point...

my tips'

use a close stance for squats and leg presses

use a short stance for lunges

sprint

cut down the volume for all other muscles and depending on what you do now, up the vol and/or wt for your quad exercises

www.uponlinetraining.com

I would look at your rest times more closely. I suspect your diet is good and I know you are training hard. Sleep deprivation would not single out one body part. So that leave rest as the likely culprit.

Instead of training your legs hard each workout, try training something like this:

1st workout: Light
2nd workout: Light
3rd workout: heavy

Then repeat.

What you should feel:

On the first workout (which comes after your heavy workout) you should feel a bit of residual weariness to the legs.

On the second workout (which comes after a light workout) you should feel no residual weariness to the legs.

Entering to the heavy workout you should feel "gung ho" and looking forward to the hard work. You should feel well-rested and like a race horse at the paddock, rareing to go.

Note: You will find that on your "heavy" day you will feel stronger and will train harder than in the past. You will then need the light days more than ever.

From my experience most lifters who train diligently pay good enough attention to the hard work and the diet. Sleep is often dictated by your other responsibilities, but 8 to 10 hours per day would be ideal if you are training hard.

The only other variable is the rest/recovery times. Examine your workout and make sure that you are not pre-tiring your legs on your other workout days. And watch your rest/recovery times. For a serious lifter adding "rest" is harder than adding exercises. It takes some discipline because it is not proactive. But I'm pretty sure you need to pay attention to your rest/recovery cycles.

Also note that professional body builders "peak" at certain times of the year (for contests), and allow themselves a little extra rest in the "off-season".