Hi everyone,

I have seen in some other forums that some people up the number of reps per set of leg exercise in the Max-ot routine. I was just curious to see what other people do.

I am keen to get rid off my own set of chop sticks and get them atleast in the chicken leg catergory in 3 months. then i am going for a nice set of pipes :flex:

I stuck with 4-6 reps and did well.

I run a sort of abbreviated style of routine when it comes to upper legs. Lately my full routine consists of 3 sets of squats, 2 sets of leg presses, and 2 sets of sl deads. But I go very heavy and intense, and I am honestly hardly able to stand up after the routine.

I think squats hit more than the quads anyway. :)

Mainly I started off like this because I had recently started incorporating squats back into my routine (after 2 years with no squats, just leg press and extension and 2 types of leg curls, with almost zero gains). Upon moving towards a routine starting with squats I had intended to also add some lying leg curls in there, but honestly after this routine the way it is I saw great results after only a few workouts. So I decided not to add any more volume - if it ain't broke don't fix it.

When it comes to calves I don't train them on quad/ham day. I hate doing calves with my legs shaking and unable to hold the stack up. I get no overload this way and end up concentrating almost completely on the stack of weight not falling on me (I do calf raises on leg press machine). I do that movement plus a donkey raise machine, extremely heavy, just a couple of sets each (sometimes actually only 3 sets total).

On all exercises I stick to about 5-7 reps approximately.

I am also doing a quad/ham split. i have been doing leg curls and i have not had many gains with this exercise. would i get more benefit from nixing the curls in favour of deadlift or stiff leg deadlift

I must admit i have never done deadlifts of anykind

the only thing i am concerned about is that deadlift will tax my back muscle to much when they should be resting, or is this a good thing?

here is my split anyway

1 chest
2 legs
3 shoulder
4 back
rest day
5 arms
rest day
this is my routine at the moment

3 sets squats
2 sets press
2 sets hack squats
3 sets of lying leg curls

or

3 sets of squats
3 sets of press
3 x 20 metre walking lunges
3 sets leg curls

I would say try it! You should definitely get a better quality overload and overall workout from stiff-leg deadlifts. I REALLY like this exercise.

I'd also nix the hack squats. You're squatting, leave it at that. Do a good job with those (and maybe some presses, maybe) and throw in some s.l. deads really intense and heavy and i promise you'll notice a difference.

Don't worry about taxing your back. For one thing (and I do this) try to separate the two by many days. For example I do legs on Monday and wait until like Friday to do back (and abs). I hate trying to do Bent over rows while my legs are (possibly) sore, so I separate the two workouts by a lot. This may also help with your "don't want to tax the back" issue, but s.l. deads are primarily for the legs.

Do regular deads on back day if you want to do them too.

:gl:

I am also doing a quad/ham split. i have been doing leg curls and i have not had many gains with this exercise. would i get more benefit from nixing the curls in favour of deadlift or stiff leg deadlift

I must admit i have never done deadlifts of anykind

the only thing i am concerned about is that deadlift will tax my back muscle to much when they should be resting, or is this a good thing?

here is my split anyway

1 chest
2 legs
3 shoulder
4 back
rest day
5 arms
rest day
this is my routine at the moment

3 sets squats
2 sets press
2 sets hack squats
3 sets of lying leg curls

or

3 sets of squats
3 sets of press
3 x 20 metre walking lunges
3 sets leg curls

thanks for the great info, I will try it next workout.

just one more question, I though that deadlifts was more of a leg exercise than a back exercise? I never do them as I am not sure on the form, but i guess i should start to do them as they are supposed to be one of the core exercises for building mass.

what are you thoughts on this?

thanks for the great info, I will try it next workout.

just one more question, I though that deadlifts was more of a leg exercise than a back exercise? I never do them as I am not sure on the form, but i guess i should start to do them as they are supposed to be one of the core exercises for building mass.

what are you thoughts on this?

Its all about the pivot point. I started doing deadlifts about a year ago and now it's one of my favorite exercises. At first I thought the same as you - "how the heck is this gonna work my hamstrings?"

Start really light and get the movement down. Its hard to explain, but your back doesn't really move at all. You really need mind-muscle focus on this. Really think about your glutes, and bending at the hips, not the lower back. On the way up, think about your hamstrings pulling you back into an upright position.

Like I said, start low until you are really familar with the movement. This exercise can get really heavy - it's right behind squats in terms of weight. I personally am having a hard time holding on to the bar. I need to get some straps to help out.

Study this

http://www.ast-ss.com/training/exercises/execution.asp?bp=Leg&pn=10

Good luck!

Remember there's 2 types of deadlifts: stiff legged and regular (there are other terms for both though).

Stiff legged deadlifts I use as more of a leg (hamstring mostly) movement, and regular deadlifts I use as more of a back movement, though both exercises do hit lots of other muscles besides what I listed. I assume that regular deadlifts do actually work the legs somewhat, if not a lot.