Legs

[furious]

6 months ago, I was 6'1 165 lbs. I'm now 180lbs. I am having the damnest time building up mass on my hamstrings and calves...my quads are developing nicely. I need some new or different exercises, or some superset, that will pack on the mass to the hammies and calves. I just started doing calves 4 days a week (nice improvement in cuts, but not size). I want to add another 10 lbs over the summer, kinda hard since I sprint, play tennis and run on the beach.
One other thing, I had to split my hammy and quad work to two seperate days..I was just too wiped from quads to do hams on the same day. Comments on this, please?

Cheers

 

[einstein1]

I'm assuming you're doing squats. Squats does work the hamstrings, the only other exercise you can do for hamstrings is leg curls. As for the calves, I hear the arguement that the calves are a stubborn muscle. We walk on them on day, so we need to work them out harder than other muscle groups. This is an inncorrect assumtion. The calves are a skeletal muscle, therefore they require the same kind of stimulus for growth as any other muscle. If overtraining the calves (by means of walking on them and climbimg stairs) are the problem, how can overtraining be the answer? If you're working your calves with heavy weight 4x per week, when is your body supposed to recover and recompensate for growth? To get you calves growing again I recommend the following:
1. Take a week off from training calves
2. Still do your squats, leg curl/extensions
3. Do 2 sets of calf extensions with the heaviest weight possible that will allow you to reach + failure in 8-10 reps.
As for splitting the hams and quad workout, if you are seeing gains, then keep with it. I don't know of any stipulation that says you must work ham/quads on the same day.

 

[Drifter]

Stiff Legged Deadlifts work the hamstrings very nicely and should be included in your workout. Also, when you are doing squats place your feet a bit wider than shoulder width and you will find that it works the glutes and hamstrings more.

 

[goahead]

stiff legged deadlifts gives nice burn in the calves too!


i suggest you train the whole ham/lower back/calve area
in one workout

8 sets leg curl (12-8 reps)
4 sets sl deadlift (12-8)
4 sets lunges (12-8)

4 sets standing calve raises (12-8) reps
4 sets seated calve raises (12-8) reps
4 sets standing calve raises (25-20) reps
4 sets seated calve raises (25-20) reps

For DESERT (you will curse me hehe):
regular deadlifts 4 * 20 reps

 

[Steel>Shank]

I have had the same problem with ham's being stubborn, have you tired a superset for hams that consists of SLdL's and leg curls since they both seem to hit the hamstring slightly different.
-
Try this, Sldl heavy 6-8 reps
then go straight to leg curls and do more moderate weight for 8-12 reps....Go for failure on the CURLS!
As far as sets I would say 2-3 sets of this superset are sufficient to avoid overworking them. But as far as sets go try to go by feel and if your hams are totally exhausted skip the last set, or vice versa do extra. (This will probably not be the case)
-
You might wanna try doing this before quad work as long as you do them in the same workout.

 

[Cube]

First off, hamstrings are mostly fast twitch make up, therefore use no more than 8 reps on sets. To fully work the hams you need to include exercises that function in both knee flexion and hip extension. These include variations of the leg curl for knee flexion and SLDL/good mornings/step ups for hip extension.

Since you want to work in the 5-7 rep range, you will need more sets to produce a hypertrophy response. I would therefore recommend periodising your routine and modifying the training volume ie sets, in an undulatory fashion.

As far as calves, you need to include exercises for the gastrocnemius and soleus. The former is mostly fast twitch, (standing calf raises) so keep time under tension to no more than say 40 secs. The latter is almost entirely slow twitch, (seated calf raises) so keep time under tension higher. Basically I would vary lifting speed whilst sticking to the T.U.T including pauses in the bottom position. Also, perform exercises unilateraly.

Its interesting you mentioning that you sprint, since sprinters have by far the best hamstring development.

Hope this helps.

 

[GenetiKing]

stiff legged deadlifts gives nice burn in the calves too!


i suggest you train the whole ham/lower back/calve area
in one workout

8 sets leg curl (12-8 reps)
4 sets sl deadlift (12-8)
4 sets lunges (12-8)

4 sets standing calve raises (12-8) reps
4 sets seated calve raises (12-8) reps
4 sets standing calve raises (25-20) reps
4 sets seated calve raises (25-20) reps

For DESERT (you will curse me hehe):
regular deadlifts 4 * 20 reps

I'm not H.I.T.er or anything but I would say that (and this is definitely a first for me) that is too much volume. In fact, it's way too much. 6 - 8 sets for hams is plenty and 6 sets for calves is more than enough. Just make sure you obliterate them to the fullest if you're going lower volume.

 

[Robboe]

Follow goahead's routine if you want to stay the same weight.

Conversely, if you want to grow, reduce sets.

Simple as.

 

[furious]

Its interesting you mentioning that you sprint, since sprinters have by far the best hamstring development.

Hope this helps.

I think this is why I'm having difficulty maintaining speed throughout the run. The other sprinters have more muscle mass then I do, especially leg and calf. I feel like I can go faster, but my legs will not pull fast enough througout the entire drive. I feel like i need a lot more explosive power, especially at my height of 6'1.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Cube]

Producing hypertrophy in the hams will definately aid in the sprinting. Not only during the run, but particularly at the start where they are recruited maximally.

If you're interested in becoming better in both as a bodybuilder and sprinter, I would seriously advise periodising your training routine. It can be done by following a simple model such as one suggested by Fleck & Kraemer:

Phase1: Muscle hypertrophy
2: Stength
3: Power
4: Peak Strength

Correct sequencing of training will bring about the greatest benefits from resistance training.

In your case the phases would be modified to accomodate "speed training", for example technique drills, intervals (under/over distance running), power sessions (plyometrics) and running up/down hills.