Lagging Lower Half

[Sassy69]

VDL -

Has your training in the past not been equally productive on both upper & lower body (i.e. "slackin"??) or your lower half isnt' responding to building? If you are training at the same capacity for all parts of your body, being a woman, you will most likely have more body fat in those estrogen-related places, and not necessarily just unbuilt legs. Equivalently, you will probably have less body fat on top, look more ripped and thus more muscular.

If you can honestly tell yourself that your lower body training could've been more intense in the past, then definitely focus on jacking up the intensity, etc so it can "catch up". Your body fat may or may not drop more in those areas.

If you are simply just needing to drop some more bodyfat in those areas to expose the already very nice muscle underneath, then take the cutting approach. This takes a little more patience to see the results.

CC - I posted a sample superset -- I did variations of this 3 days /week. Each session started with 30 min bike warm up and continued right into the first cardio machine for 5 min, then the rest of the exercises, repeat 3x for a total of 45 min cardio + lifting. Monday was step mill, Wed was stair master, Fri was treadmill. This is what I followed & what was available in the gym. You could substitute any cardio machine as far as I'm concerned.
With your intensity girl I can only imagine that you need to cut a little more. Your upper body may get even more ripped but you'll start to see more muscle come out on your legs if u keep up the cutting.

 

[Gladiola]

making sure I'm doing the right types of excercises in the right order on the right days

Not tryin' to get you more frustrated - but there is no such thing. Honestly, there is no one right formula that is the proper thing. & even a formula that IS a great & effective formula becomes a relatively poor one over time once the body adapts.

I still really think you just need to shake up your leg workout. Pick some totally NEW stuff that is appealing to you & start adding it in. I vote for plyometrics - a pretty big change from all your typical heavy lifting & something you'd probably enjoy. You may end up recalling that you enjoyed JUMPING a lot in your former cardio-queen days (OOPS! Did I just "out" you? )

 

[Realgains]

Sista don't do so many isolation movements as they will only contribute to over training , will not give definition(thats genetic and diet related) and they will build NO MASS.

You need to work legs heavy, strict, infrequent, lowish volume and with a full range of movement.

Try this....

Three warm up sets of squats in the 5-8 range....don't go hog wild on the reps and DO NOT tire yourself. Then do 2 sets of full squats shooting for 12-5 reps and never lower than 10. Upper legs grow best on highish reps. Squat until the top of the thigh is parallel to the floor or very slightly lower....this is way lower than most people go. If you go ALL the way down you could injure your lower back. Use a belt on your 2 work sets.

So after your progressive warm up sets jump right to your TOP weight and grind out 12-15....this is very hard work and requires much deep breathing between reps as the going gets really tough( above 6 reps) Squats can be pushed a long time like this...just don't give up.Rest about 4 minutes and then repeat but this time with a little less weight. If you use the same weight for the second set and manage to get 12 then you certainly didn't go all out on the first set. You could do 15 for the first set and then keep the weight the same for the second set and shoot for 10-12

Next do 2 work sets of deep leg presses...try to touch your kness to your shoulders. Hammer and Nautilus make the best machines but some regular sleds are okay too. Reduce the weight on the second set. There is no need for warm ups. So many people do this exercise wrong...they pile on the plates and then do half reps and think they are cool.....WRONG WRONG WRONG! Do full range reps and you will grow a nice pair of legs and butt.

Next sit against the wall for 5 minutes!!

The next exercise is BY FAR the best ham/lower back builder and works the butt well too. Stiff leg deadlifts!!
Use a regualar grip and with wrist straps. Keep your knees very slightly bent. DO NOT GO ALL THE WAY DOWN as you will screw up your back in time and I don't care how flexible yoy are. Go down to mid shin. Keep the back flat...the movenment starts with the hips and butt going straight back with a pivit at the hip.

Do a modertae warm up of 8 reps slowly then do two working sets of 10-12 reps...do them slowly and very strictly. Go hard but not to absolute failure for safety reasons...again most people do these wrong as they go too low, don't use enough weight and have terrible form, and also do not work them hard. Take several deep gulps of air between reps as the going gets tough.

. You shold be able to SLDL for reps almost as much as you squat for reps.
Next do 1 set of leg curls ALL OUT at 10-12 reps.
DONE UPPER LEGS!

Calves...do 3-5 sets of heavy donkeys for 10-15 reps...work very hard and also include partials. After going to failure put the weight down for 10 seconds and then do more reps...repeat again....THE PAIN! You could also do heavy deep standing calf raises or toe presses in the leg press machine.
These exercises work the ENTIRE calf, including the soleus...no need foer seated calf raises.


Remember for all leg work you need to take a very deep breath BEFORE going down...so take a very deep breath AND HOLD IT as you go down...then after the sticking point your exhale focefully.

Lunges are popular but are a waste of time and energy IMO. Squats and leg presses do far more for the entire upper leg. hips and butt. Leg extensions are good for rehab only or if doing pre-exhaust super sets.

Do this leg routine no more frequently than once every 5-6 days and even every 7 may be needed for recovery reasons...6 is a good bench mark.

Rely upon diet for definition. Unfortunately thigh/hip/butt fat is the last to go in most females.

 

[magdelana]

Well VDL here is the advice from Mount Assmore, if it means anything.

For your longterm goal of lean and more muscular looking legs i think you should not think about the extra fat there just now. You know that significant more muscle in the legs makes everything down there look leaner then it actually is. I was not too so terrbily lean in my ass foto but everyone seems to think i look lean. Big muscles = lean illusion

Oke go and lean up a little bit, then do another bulking phase and really concentration on your leg training. I say lean up a bit because you probably would really be unhappy there with the amount of fat once you done the next bulking cycle. Set a realistic goal of a certain number of pounds or inches to add to your thighs and calfes.

Think about what you want for the long time. More musclar and ripped legs. Make the steps towards that bit by bit that need to be taken.

For you leg workout, please can you say more about it in detail? Sets, reps, amount of rest bet sets? Every set to failure or not? etc. Also how long have you done the same leg workout without training it? How much leg gains would you say you made on your last bulking phase?

 

[SteelWeaver]

LOL! My mom used to say exactly the same thing! "SHE" is the cat's mother, then we'd all meow. Ha ha.

Hey, VDL - I'd say go in there and just do full heavy squats til you can't squat anymore - various rep ranges, then burn things out with the other stuff - split squats, front squats, leg press, leg ext, etc, followed by light hams. Then next time do heavy hams first - pull throughs, good mornings, SLDL's, curls, followed by light quads. The heavy/light alternate thing really gave me my first real gains ever.

I read in the Poliquin book I'm reading right now that women's lower bodies respond less rapidly to training stimulus than their upper bodies, or compared to men. Another female curse.

Good luck, girl, kick that curse in the ass! I'm right with you on this one - my next goal is pants-splitting quads, to balance out my pants-splitting waistline, bwaa haaa ha ha hah.

 

[Arioch]

In addition to squats, do you also perform, not necessarily all at once:

Front squats
Split squats
Good mornings
Ham-glute raise (or approximation)
Reverse Hypers (or approximation)
Sumo deadlifts
Pull throughs
Stiff legged deadlifts or RDL's ccan be executed with a sumo stance as well.

 

[VooDoo Lady]

You know that significant more muscle in the legs makes everything down there look leaner then it actually is. I was not too so terrbily lean in my ass foto but everyone seems to think i look lean. Big muscles = lean illusion

Yep, yep, yep! That's what I thought anyway

For you leg workout, please can you say more about it in detail? Sets, reps, amount of rest bet sets? Every set to failure or not? etc. Also how long have you done the same leg workout without training it? How much leg gains would you say you made on your last bulking phase?

My leg workout is LAME...I'm embarrassed to reveal it....BUT here goes..

7 sets of Squats (2 light warm-up) 10 reps I increase weight each set and the last 2 sets are usually 8-10 range - to failure.

5 Sets ham curl machine starting with 12 reps usually ending with 8 - to failure

5 sets leg extensions - again, starting with 12 reps, ending with 8-10 - to failure

4 sets of standing calves - 10 reps

I've been doing this same routine FOREVER - thus me asking for *help*

That's it folks....which is why I am asking for help in redesigning my program. Regardless of my food intake (bulking/cutting) I lift the same way...and this workout is NOT working...

Thanks so much to everyone who is helping me out on this...you're time (and, *patience*) is appreciated and rest assured your advice will NOT go to waste

 

[VooDoo Lady]

LOL! My mom used to say exactly the same thing! "SHE" is the cat's mother, then we'd all meow. Ha ha.

BTW - big thanks for the advice so far

 

[Gladiola]

VDL-
IMO that volume for the leg workout is kinda high - but I'd be anxious to hear Arioch's take.

Lemme know if you want to attempt cleans while you're here this weekend. I certainly don't feel qualified to teach them, but I can show you the bit of basics I know. & the good thing about the OL lifts is that if you mess up - YOU KNOW without being told!

 

[magdelana]

VDL, i agree with the others that comment that your volume is rather high. I have said this before in other posts, your bb workout should always be a sprint not
a marathon. Absoulute maximum intensity for a very brief period of time. Try one warm up set and 2-3 work sets to aboulute failure, maybe even rest/pause a few reps after each set.

Start with this and see what happens.

BTW, where are all those nekkid fotos you said you were going to send me??