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Ricky's Answer
Dear Paul,
It definitely sounds like you're performing enough sets in your leg workout. Your problem may be caused by a few things: lack of intensity, exercises performed in your workout, or your rep range.
Intensity is something that a lot of people lack when it comes to their leg workouts. Leg workouts are very demanding, and definitely separate the men from the boys! You have to apply the proper amount of intensity to your workouts if you really want to get the most out of them. One of the best ways to add more intensity to your workouts is to pre-exhaust the muscle first. What this means, is to begin your workout with an isolation movement (leg curls, leg extensions, etc.) and then follow it up with a compound movement (stiff leg deadlifts, squats, leg press, etc.). Start out with some leg extensions for your quads. After the muscle is pre-exhausted, the real workout begins! Next, move on to a compound, mass building movement. You may take your choice between squats or leg press. Finish them of with some hack squats or lunges. Now that we have half of your lag trained, lets move on to those ham hogs! Start off with some leg curls or standing one legged leg curls and get those babies fired up! Finally, finish off those hams with some stiff leg deadlifts.
Ok, now you've got the routine down, let me give you some insight on your rep ranges. For your first set, shoot for a rep range of 15-20 reps of moderately light weight. For your second set, choose an amount of weight that will allow you to hit failure at about the fifteenth rep. If you are able to get more than fifteen reps on the second set, then the weight you selected was too light. Ok, by now you should be pretty well warmed up and ready to kick but! On to your third set, this will be a moderately heavy set. Choose an amount of weight that will allow you to hit absolute failure at about the tenth rep. Ok, time to get busy, for your forth and final set, choose an amount of weight that will allow you to hit absolute failure at about the eighth rep. This is the one that really counts. Make sure your that you hit failure at about the eighth rep and that the eighth is your final rep. There's a big difference between stopping at the eighth rep and hitting absolute failure at the eighth rep. What I mean by absolute failure is that the muscle is worked to it's maximum on that set and it will no longer fire to move the weight. If you feel that you have not worked the muscle to it's maximum on an exercise, then add another set of eight reps. Keep your total sets for quads at 12 or less and keep your total sets for hamstrings between 6-8. Any more than that and you may risk over training. Intensity is more important than total sets. Also, remember, for safety, always use a spotter on your heavy sets. The last thing you need is an injury to your knees or back. Don't forget about your calves either! The two best exercises are standing and seated calf raises. I'd suggest 3-4 sets of each.
Here is a sample workout for your legs, follow the rep ranges that I've suggested above:
Quads:
4 sets of Leg extensions
" " " Squats
" " " Leg presses
Hamstrings:
3-4 sets of Leg curls
" " " Stiff leg deadlifts.
There you have it! You're on your way to tree trunk thighs! Train hard and train smart! Good luck, Paul!
Ricky Gonzalez
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