Trouble gaining mass on legs - upper body no problem

[Pirlo21]

Hey guys first post here.

I want your critique on my workouts cause I am having trouble gaining mass on my legs. My upper body is no problem and i have seen gains but I have not seen as much as I would like on my lower body (calfs, hams, quads and glutes).

I generally do a lower body workout on heavy weights once a week. I also play soccer once a week, run 5-10k a week and do 1 or 2 bootcamp classes, which are heavy plyometric bodyweight exercises on the legs.

My leg workout routines consist of the following exercises (not all in one workout, I rotate through them).

Squats
Lunges
Bulgarian Lunges
Barbell deadlifts
ATG Squats
Leg Press
One legged Squats
Leg Extensions
Seated Leg Curl
Step ups (with weights)

I currently weight 160lbs and am upping my caloric intake from 2700 calories a day to 3200.

I get the feeling I am doing to much cardio with the running, soccer and bootcamps to properly add mass.

Any tips?

 

[buddhabuilder]

My personal take, if you do 4-5 sets of 10-12 squats where you hip joint passes your knee at the bottom, failing in the higher reps/higher sets, you shouldn't have to do a whole lot more. Mind you, I'm not counting a couple sets of 5 as you warm up. Maybe some curls and presses every other time. When I did SL 5x5's, where you do 5 sets of squats for 5 reps, 3 times a week, my legs filled out noticebly in 12 weeks. Deep squats and your calorie goal should get you there. Drop the running and other cardio activities if your serious about size.

 

[stevesmi]

what are your stats here? that makes a difference in where you are now... if you are young then i would tell you to be patient and the gains will come if you work at it.. if you are 40 then my advice would be totally different.

you being a soccer player i'm surprised your legs are scrawny, most soccer players have thick upper legs especially from years of playing and they don't even lift and then they have scrawny upper bodies. so it sounds like you are the opposite which is why stats would help here

 

[Pirlo21]

what are your stats here? that makes a difference in where you are now... if you are young then i would tell you to be patient and the gains will come if you work at it.. if you are 40 then my advice would be totally different.

you being a soccer player i'm surprised your legs are scrawny, most soccer players have thick upper legs especially from years of playing and they don't even lift and then they have scrawny upper bodies. so it sounds like you are the opposite which is why stats would help here

Age: 26
Weight: 160-165
Body Fat %: 11-12%
Height: 6 ft

Not sure what other stats your looking for!

 

[stevesmi]

yeah i figured you were a 6 footer, the taller dudes usually have chicken legs and us shorter guys have the wheels, just the way it is. however i would say weighing what you weigh with your body fat you don't have much mass on your upper body either. thats incredibly skinny. need to look at your goals and re-think what you are doing and what you want.

not gonna put on mass with this regiment that you have now. i would say reduce your cardio significantly, change up your workouts to more of a strength training type and re-examine your diet .. i have 2 links in my signature below that covers all of the above. if you focus on building mass from top to bottom instead of doing boot camp, running and soccer then your results will start coming trust me.

if you love doing those things then its gonna be very difficult to reach your goals and don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with doing those activities.. i've actually done them myself in the past. i was actually an endurance athlete and would run 45 miles per week years ago. and i also played a lot of soccer back in the day.. and i did 2 years of boot camp classes.. it was a lot of fun HOWEVER none of those activities did anything to build up true muscle mass. it wasn't until i focused just on building mass with a lot of food and a lot of heavy weight training until i started putting on true muscle mass.. there is a difference between LEAN muscle and true muscle mass. lean muscle doesn't weigh much, but real muscle mass is heavier. you can be ripped and cut with lean muscle mass and still look good, however if you have a shirt on its not gonna look like you are muscular. hope that makes sense

 

[Pirlo21]

yeah i figured you were a 6 footer, the taller dudes usually have chicken legs and us shorter guys have the wheels, just the way it is. however i would say weighing what you weigh with your body fat you don't have much mass on your upper body either. thats incredibly skinny. need to look at your goals and re-think what you are doing and what you want.

not gonna put on mass with this regiment that you have now. i would say reduce your cardio significantly, change up your workouts to more of a strength training type and re-examine your diet .. i have 2 links in my signature below that covers all of the above. if you focus on building mass from top to bottom instead of doing boot camp, running and soccer then your results will start coming trust me.

if you love doing those things then its gonna be very difficult to reach your goals and don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with doing those activities.. i've actually done them myself in the past. i was actually an endurance athlete and would run 45 miles per week years ago. and i also played a lot of soccer back in the day.. and i did 2 years of boot camp classes.. it was a lot of fun HOWEVER none of those activities did anything to build up true muscle mass. it wasn't until i focused just on building mass with a lot of food and a lot of heavy weight training until i started putting on true muscle mass.. there is a difference between LEAN muscle and true muscle mass. lean muscle doesn't weigh much, but real muscle mass is heavier. you can be ripped and cut with lean muscle mass and still look good, however if you have a shirt on its not gonna look like you are muscular. hope that makes sense

How many calories a day do you recommend?

My diet is exceptionally good, I'm well versed in Nutrition and I only eat whole foods. I've cut out all preservatives and processed foods.

I'm not looking to become massive, I'm going for the professional soccer player look. My target weight goal is 180lbs. I've read a lot on it and this seems to be the weight threshold before soccer and running activities start punishing your knees much more.

See the pictures below:

This is the body type I'm looking for.

I currently do most of my calories and carbs early in the day (I workout at lunch). After 5-6PM I switch to lean proteins, good fats and greens to keep my stomach flat.

I'm going to cut back on the bootcamp and soccer to half of what it is now. Once a week for each. I will also start intaking about 3,200 calories a day. If I don't see any results after a few weeks, I'll probably up that even further.

Typical day of meals for me that I have recently just started on:

Breakfast - 400-500 calorie smoothie, filled with fruits, greens, super foods, banana and rolled oats added for carbs
PreWorkout - Rolled Oat and almond cereal or steel cut oats mixed with greek yogurt
During Workout - Protein Shake mixed with BCAA's
Immediately After workout - Protein Shaked mixed with BCAA's
After Workout meal - Quinoa or Organic Brown Rice mixed with a protein source (chicken, eggs, fish or lean ground beef)
Late Afternoon meal - Rolled oats or steel cut oats or nuts mixed with fruit and greek yogurt
Late Dinner - Lean protein source with greens or sweet potato
Last Meal - Casein Protein Shake

 

[Jigga14]

Your relying too much on protein powder. Your late afternoon meal should be lean meat and veggies (maybe some slow digesting carbs) and then your meal after that should be another source of meat for protein.

 

[buttbeater]

too much protein powder, get some meat and eggs in there
don't be afraid of calories of any type, eating clean isn't best for bulking (just make sure protein is high.
DEEP squats!!!!!!!! I'm 6' 1" and have big wheels from this