I do a lot of jogging / running and elipical, should I still be working on my legs (weights) or should I just concentrate on my upper and middle body?

 

If you plan on staying slim then no, if you want to be muscular then yes because your upper body will be big and your lower body will be small. Seeing that you only want to be toned you probably don't have to worry. I never do leg work out except lunges and I am in proportion.

 

My legs have always been big to begin with (from carrying myself around).

 

I guess there was some benefit to being that big

 

Yep, my calves at the size of bricks....

 

I couldn't disagree more. Legs are pretty much half of your body. Working out legs releases testosterone and growth hormones which helps when you work out all the other body parts.

Not even running could give me as much of a workout as working out legs. I would deffinitely do it at least once a week. Even if you're trying to lose weight, all the mass that you move will definitely burn off a lot of calories.

Here's a quote from AskMen.com

"Have you ever felt drained, dizzy or even nauseous after an intense weight training session? Well guess what? You should experience one of these symptoms each and every time you properly work out your legs.

When training your legs, you're basically working half your body in one session. Training your leg muscles doesn't only work your lower half; it actually works your entire body, increases your heartbeat and gets your blood flowing to help burn fat and work your cardiovascular system."

 

Your legs have the biggest muscles in your body, and working out these muscles really gets your heart rate up, and burns a shitload of calories. Even if you just hit the gym to stay trim, working legs is a good way to do it.

 

Thanks.

 

True but I have a bad back and huge legs so I rarely go around leg workouts. Like Whiskers I have been a big guy so from carrying myself around I tend to already have muscular legs plus the fact I swim and run I always felt my lower body got enough excercise. But I guess I will start trying to get them worked out more often.

 

I think JJ was pointing out that working legs isn't a necessity to achieve Whisker's goals.

I spent a number of years just doing squats every so often and playing basaketball. And that, plus the running, was enough for my legs and where I wanted to be physically. I had near zero fat on my legs, judging from the pinch tests. Certainly it helps to work your legs with weights, and it builds mass in some of the biggest muscles on the body. But it's not a necessary facet to add to your workouts in order to get/stay slim.

 

Running/jogging is no replacement for a good leg workout.

 

I hate working out legs

 

I started doing leg work this year. I always thought my legs were in good shape because I ran and carry around 205#.

I have to say that I now realize how crappy they used to look. I stick with high reps (15-20) and relatively low weight. I'm getting definition and not much bulking up. I've read in several places that squats are the best all around exercise you can do.

Finally, now that I've got some definition going in my calves (calf raises are a regular part of my routine), I've been getting more attention from the chicks. Now I just have to wait for shorts weather to return to NJ.

 

its still short weather in Texas!

Too bad I dont have the legs for it.

 

I started doing lunges because I don't want to lose my butt. While I have big quads and calves, as I lose weight I am starting to lose my ass which I don't want. I want to have nice big legs and a track runners ass because when your big up top with no ass to me it looks strange like a chick with big tits and small ass.

 

Doing legs once a week.
-Monday - Arms and chest
-Tuesday - Abs
-Wednesday - Legs
-Thursday - Arms
-Friday - Spin

 

I want to build the fast twitch muscles in my legs... any good workout plans?

 

Me2. I get that dizzness and nausea after doing legs. The worst feeling next to the leg cramps at night and soreness the next day. Squats OWN me big time.

 

Sprints are always fun.

Or run @ a track, sprint the straights, jog the curves.

 

Overload strength training has completely different results on muscles when compared to cardio training, or light-weight-high-rep training.

So yes, you should add at least free weighted barbell squats into your overall training if you'd like to see your legs get bigger and stronger. Also, because legs contain some of the biggest muscles available, the level of testosterone in your body will increase which will help you realize gains with other muscles (as long as those muscles are also trained with overload strength training processes).

 

They are a bitch. And the reason is because, the larger the muscle group trained, the more intense the workout gets. The more painful.

A secondary advantage (which many forget) to applying high intensity overload exercises on larger muscles is the effects it has to cardio. Especially dynamic lifting. Like cleans and snatches. Secondarily squats as well.

 

I am going to have to ask you to clarify the above because there are at least two ways one can improve performance on the fast twich fibers (and not muscles) with any muscle group (and even those fast twitch fibers are also divided into two major groups, but that's a different discussion).

1. Strength
2. Power

Both of the above is mostly achieved through the use of fast twitch fibers within one's muscles. Which one do you want to go for? And do you understand the difference between strengh and power?

 

Plyos

 

Strong, thick, muscular legs are VERY sexy. Im not into upper bodies

 

I did my legs today......

 

Is doing squats on the smith machine not as effective?



What abuot calf raises?

 

what did you do? be specific

 

free standing squats are a lot more effective than smith machine. Your balance is pushed so much further on free standing and ur foced to use your abs a lot more in order to maintain proper balance.

p.s.- squats will give u a nice round ass too!

 

I shaved them........

 

Thats gross, I like hairy legs on guys. Shows your a man

And I know you didnt.

Tell me your leg workout- so I can critique

 

Did some weighted squats and a bunch of the leg machines......

 

Sweet. I wish my gym had enough space to do free standing squats

 

What do u think is better for calf raises: standing with a barbell, or seated on a machine? Thx

 

elaborate...

 

With girls, or boys?

Or both?

 

That would be good if increase in power were the goal. WHat I am trying to get to, even with my above post where I ask him to clarify, is that it's easy to be mystified by the above question, because he asks about fast twitch fibers (although he mistakenly mentioned muscles but we know what he meant to write). In other words, fast twitch fibers are not only responsible for power, but also for (overload) strength.

 

Correct. It is not as effective. Mostly because the Smith Press promotes isolation. So from an effectiveness perspective (unless you define effectiveness in a very peculiar way), free weighted squats is way better.

Actually, you will lift more weight in the case of free squats. Proof of the fact that a lot more muscles get invovled and in a much more natural way (as far as your body's biomechanics nature is concerned).



Excellent question. When I do calves, I use the press machine. Why? Because I now need isolation to help me in the case of calves. One of the rare, if not the only, case/s. I also use the STEP so I put half my feet on the STEP and half hanging so I increase the ROM. Another reason I do it is because I can go very high as far as total weight. So high that my spine cannot handle it (I can go 5+ plates on each side maybe more). So after warming up and acclimating, I do one-foot/leg calf raises. Again, in the case of this particular exercise, you need stability and balance will is not your friend necessarily.

 

 

Standing and seated does not "hit" the same muscles as far as your calves are concerned. Your calf is not one muscle (the Gastrocnemius is comprised of two heads for example, the Medial and Lateral heads - the Soleus is another major musle).

Seated calf raises targets the Soleus muscle (outer calf). So it is not as effective as standing raises. Of course, both is better, as long as standing is done first and you made sure you overloaded correctly.

 

She means plyometrics.

Briefly:

Plyometrics is a type of exercise that use explosive movements to develop muscular power (and not strength ).