Guys, if you are going to work out, don't be a retard

[marmel75]

I just thought I'd bring this up because I keep seeing the same thing over and over again when I go to the gym. Guys that focus on their upper bodies and have developed them while completely ignoring their lower bodies. Why?? Why?? Why??

This makes you look like a retard. I completely GET why it's done...because lower body work in general is far more taxing and much harder than upper body work...because you feel like you are about to meet Jesus when you are down in the bucket with a bunch of weight on your back and you have to figure out a way to get up...because you can't bear the thought of hobbling around for the 3 days after leg day like an old man with a cane...because you just aren't wired to deal with the amount of pain and physical exhaustion that it takes to work out your lower body properly.

But I'm here to tell you. You look retarded. Your friends and family may not say anything, and neither will the people you walk by on the street...but they are all thinking the same thing. "WTF is wrong with this guy walking around with chicken legs??"

Not only do you look bad, you create muscle imbalances in your body which lead to problems as you get older. Most guys I see at the gym should be lifting legs 3 times for every 1 time they are lifting upper body...don't run from all of the pain, physical exhaustion and inability to walk properly for 3 days after....embrace it...embrace it and supercharge your upper body workouts with the release of multiple times the amount of testosterone and growth hormone you get from working out your upper body. In fact, your upper body will grow FASTER simply by working out your lower body properly. The goal should to be to look like an X with your upper and lower body in proportion to each other.

If you know someone who fits this category ...remember...don't ignore the problem any longer...it won't go away...have an intervention...

"Friends don't let friends skip leg day"

 

[resilient]

Yep... there's a reason why Arnold's Blueprint to Mass program had you hit legs twice a week.

 

[Building_and_Loan]

Does running/heavy cardio hinder leg muscle gains at all?

I do legs twice a week but I feel my gains could be better, and have thought maybe the calorie loss from cardio plays a big part.

 

[bigneil]

Does running/heavy cardio hinder leg muscle gains at all?

I do legs twice a week but I feel my gains could be better, and have thought maybe the calorie loss from cardio plays a big part.

Running from the law, you mean?

You can get a great index finger workout by liking 50 straight Desdinova posts.

This is my middle finger workout.

Talk about anti-seducer. You deserve an anti-seducer medal. Actually, Auntie Seducer might be more appropriate in your case, thunder thighs.

 

[marmel75]

Does running/heavy cardio hinder leg muscle gains at all?

I do legs twice a week but I feel my gains could be better, and have thought maybe the calorie loss from cardio plays a big part.

Well...it depends what you mean by heavy cardio...in general terms, heavy cardio will hinder muscle gains period because they are completely different systems...cardio is catabolic(breaks down) while lifting is anabolic(building up). The hormones are diametrically opposed to each other in what they do...

BUT...this isn't ALWAYS true...there is more in play that that...for instance, professional cyclists have some of the biggest, most developed legs of anyone you'll ever see, but that is because they are physically taxing their legs muscles constantly even though what they are doing is technically cardio, it also causes their leg muscles to work extremely hard because of all the hills and inclines, etc...

 

[Building_and_Loan]

Running from the law, you mean?

You can get a great index finger workout by liking 50 straight Desdinova posts.

This is my middle finger workout.

Talk about anti-seducer. You deserve an anti-seducer medal. Actually, Auntie Seducer might be more appropriate in your case, thunder thighs.

Lmao. This legit made me laugh. I won't give you a like, but well done.

So what's your leg workout? Let's keep this on topic.

 

[Building_and_Loan]

Well...it depends what you mean by heavy cardio...in general terms, heavy cardio will hinder muscle gains period because they are completely different systems...cardio is catabolic(breaks down) while lifting is anabolic(building up). The hormones are diametrically opposed to each other in what they do...

Gotcha. So my typical weekend is I'll swim about 1000M, bike 15-20 miles, then run about 10-13 miles Saturday.

Then I'll do a 5 mile or so run Sunday, with another smaller run during the week.

 

[bigneil]

Lmao. This legit made me laugh. I won't give you a like, but well done.

So what's your leg workout? Let's keep this on topic.

Each week I workout M, W and F. One day is arms, one day is shoulders/chest and one day is legs/back. For legs, there are two machines with two settings (closing legs, opening legs, pulling down, pushing up), then there is the leg press, and squats, etc. One exercise that is hard for me is stepping up onto a box with one leg and squatting with the other leg.

I always had great legs (I could two-hand jam without taking a step, and I'm white). My upper body tended to be skinnier than my legs. I would always bound up stairs two or three at a time. Knee pain can ruin your life, but I only briefly had it, 3 years ago.

 

[marmel75]

Gotcha. So my typical weekend is I'll swim about 1000M, bike 15-20 miles, then run about 10-13 miles Saturday.

Then I'll do a 5 mile or so run Sunday, with another smaller run during the week.

Look at the cyclists legs in the pictures above...long distance running DEFINITELY is a way to burn through muscle fast...long distance runners in the Olympics look like they could have just gotten out of concentration camps...compare what they look like to sprinters...short bursts of maximum force with rest periods will help build muscle by releasing growth hormone(lots of it---especially AFTER you lift)...long distance running tends to burn through muscle quickly.

If you want to test something out, try switching the long run for 20 50 yard sprints with a 30 second rest after each sprint...every week increase by 10 yards and keep the rest period at 30 seconds til you get to 100 yards and then start decreasing the rest period by 5 seconds each week. You should be OK with the shorter runs mixed in there.

As an aside your metabolism is probably really humming and you need to eat a LOT just to maintain weight/muscle---I'd also start increasing your calorie count by about 1000 a day and see what happens...try drinking a 8 oz of half and half mixed with 8 oz of pineapple juice...it tastes awesome and will give you about 1000 calories or so...that should help with the muscle building activities. To build muscle effectively you need to have excess calories floating around for your body to be able to use to do it...

 

[marmel75]

Each week I workout M, W and F. One day is arms, one day is shoulders/chest and one day is legs/back. For legs, there are two machines with two settings (closing legs, opening legs, pulling down, pushing up), then there is the leg press, and squats, etc. One exercise that is hard for me is stepping up onto a box with one leg and squatting with the other leg.

I always had great legs (I could two-hand jam without taking a step, and I'm white). My upper body tended to be skinnier than my legs. I would always bound up stairs two or three at a time. Knee pain can ruin your life, but I only briefly had it, 3 years ago.

Yeah knee pain is no joke...I've had my knee buckle twice while squatting....the first time I probably should have had surgery, my knee was unstable for several weeks after and would randomly buckle while walking...to this day any sudden movement or stress on it causes pain right down the center of the knee so I'm pretty sure I probably damaged my patellar tendon...came back after about 6 months, worked my way back up to about 70% of what I was squatting when it buckled the first time and after 5 clean reps, went down for the 6th rep and it buckled again. Will never barbell squat again. Not worth it, my legs are big enough and I can do other things that work just as well...Also any type of Olympic movement is out...tried going back to do Clean and Jerks and Power Cleans and that sudden knee movement to stabilize once you get to a certain weight just kills my knee...

 

[switch7]

Some inspiration for anyone who struggles to get a few sets of squats in every week.

 

[marmel75]

Some inspiration for anyone who struggles to get a few sets of squats in every week.

Never tried 100 reps...was doing 50 reps for a few months 2 times a week...got up to 400 lbs on the free weight squat machine by the time I stopepd doing them and my legs felt like absolute jello when I was done but they were literally busting out of my pant legs from the swelling and blood flow....

 

[bigneil]

Yeah knee pain is no joke...I've had my knee buckle twice while squatting....the first time I probably should have had surgery, my knee was unstable for several weeks after and would randomly buckle while walking...to this day any sudden movement or stress on it causes pain right down the center of the knee so I'm pretty sure I probably damaged my patellar tendon...came back after about 6 months, worked my way back up to about 70% of what I was squatting when it buckled the first time and after 5 clean reps, went down for the 6th rep and it buckled again. Will never barbell squat again. Not worth it, my legs are big enough and I can do other things that work just as well...Also any type of Olympic movement is out...tried going back to do Clean and Jerks and Power Cleans and that sudden knee movement to stabilize once you get to a certain weight just kills my knee...

Yes, especially be careful carrying heavy objects up staircases that have half-flights. The combination of spinning around 180 degrees and carrying weight can cause a buckle.

 

[Building_and_Loan]

Look at the cyclists legs in the pictures above...long distance running DEFINITELY is a way to burn through muscle fast...long distance runners in the Olympics look like they could have just gotten out of concentration camps...compare what they look like to sprinters...short bursts of maximum force with rest periods will help build muscle by releasing growth hormone(lots of it---especially AFTER you lift)...long distance running tends to burn through muscle quickly.

If you want to test something out, try switching the long run for 20 50 yard sprints with a 30 second rest after each sprint...every week increase by 10 yards and keep the rest period at 30 seconds til you get to 100 yards and then start decreasing the rest period by 5 seconds each week. You should be OK with the shorter runs mixed in there.

As an aside your metabolism is probably really humming and you need to eat a LOT just to maintain weight/muscle---I'd also start increasing your calorie count by about 1000 a day and see what happens...try drinking a 8 oz of half and half mixed with 8 oz of pineapple juice...it tastes awesome and will give you about 1000 calories or so...that should help with the muscle building activities. To build muscle effectively you need to have excess calories floating around for your body to be able to use to do it...

Damn thanks dude, I'm excited to try this as I've been looking to change up my cardio workouts. This looks like it'll have me gasping for air by the end of it.

 

[switch7]

Never tried 100 reps...was doing 50 reps for a few months 2 times a week...got up to 400 lbs on the free weight squat machine by the time I stopepd doing them and my legs felt like absolute jello when I was done but they were literally busting out of my pant legs from the swelling and blood flow....

I'm ready to puke or pass out after 30.. my body will not sustain anymore reps than that yet. That's a point I wanted to ask actually..

What can I do to improve my conditioning so that I can reach failure when squatting rather than just feeling faint or like I'm going to pass out? Often my ears start ringing, I go dizzy and I have to take a long break between sets, sometimes like 5 minutes or even more..

 

[soulforge]

I just thought I'd bring this up because I keep seeing the same thing over and over again when I go to the gym. Guys that focus on their upper bodies and have developed them while completely ignoring their lower bodies. Why?? Why?? Why??

This makes you look like a retard. I completely GET why it's done...because lower body work in general is far more taxing and much harder than upper body work...because you feel like you are about to meet Jesus when you are down in the bucket with a bunch of weight on your back and you have to figure out a way to get up...because you can't bear the thought of hobbling around for the 3 days after leg day like an old man with a cane...because you just aren't wired to deal with the amount of pain and physical exhaustion that it takes to work out your lower body properly.

But I'm here to tell you. You look retarded. Your friends and family may not say anything, and neither will the people you walk by on the street...but they are all thinking the same thing. "WTF is wrong with this guy walking around with chicken legs??"

Not only do you look bad, you create muscle imbalances in your body which lead to problems as you get older. Most guys I see at the gym should be lifting legs 3 times for every 1 time they are lifting upper body...don't run from all of the pain, physical exhaustion and inability to walk properly for 3 days after....embrace it...embrace it and supercharge your upper body workouts with the release of multiple times the amount of testosterone and growth hormone you get from working out your upper body. In fact, your upper body will grow FASTER simply by working out your lower body properly. The goal should to be to look like an X with your upper and lower body in proportion to each other.

If you know someone who fits this category ...remember...don't ignore the problem any longer...it won't go away...have an intervention...

"Friends don't let friends skip leg day"

Thanks for the reality check Marmel.


Up until around 6 months ago, I was in fact training legs twice A week.

Unfortunately I sprained my ankle pretty bad, while out running some months ago, since then my

ankle has not been the same.


It feels weaker, and I have a pain on it when applying pressure.. This has made it difficult for me to

squat, or leg press.


My plan is to strap some support around my ankle, and hopefully this will ease off the pressure a little, when lifting weights.


My upper body is developing great, but I am already feeling like my legs, need to catch up.


Skinny legs, with a big upper body, is just not a good look man, and certainly does not looking appealing to females either!

 

[RangerMIke]

I don't do weight training anymore, except for the occasional dumbbell work-out maybe once a week instead of calisthenics. Yoga 4 x week, calisthenics (typical Army PT stuff) 3 x week, biking 16-20 miles a day.

As I get older weight training was putting too much strain on my joints, running did the same. Since I starting this regimen a year ago I haven't had any problems with injuries.

 

[QuadDeuces]

Squatting has been proven in research to boost your testosterone levels to extremely high levels.
So it should also help your upper body increase more strength.

 

[TheMonkeyKing]

lower body work in general is far more taxing

Agree totally with OP. But it is what it is. Those dudes with huge deltoids with their muscle vests and twiglet cankles. Oh boy

I wouldn't even call it taxing. It hurts for sure, but only for like 30 seconds towards the end sets. Most guys have a pretty low threshold. You can get the whole lot done with a few basic moves. Typically I simply do squats, dumbbell lunges, calf raises, along with a few core exercises a couple of times a week - probably not more than a couple of hours per week total. Doing proper repetitions with enough weight is more than adequate.

The only other thing more annoying is people lifting far beneath their maximum potential, either upper or lower body. Like, 4x10 perfect reps of shoulder presses with 12kilo dumbbells, not a drop of sweat on them

 

[Fruitbat]

I can DL 120LB and bench 80lb. When you guys are training hard come back and speak to me. 5 years straight.