Lighter Weight Higher Reps For Legs?

[broncos62577]

My right knee has been really bad lately. I always go heavy on legs. Sets of 6-12. My knee hurts pretty bad for thecwhole week until next leg day. It gets better as week goes by but then bam hit legs again and it hurts. It hurts to sit from being bent. I already wear double braces on knees. Does anyone here do higher rep/short rest for legs in lieu of going heavy? Seems Imay have to go that route . How were results? Any other suggestions appreciated. I haven't taken a week off from legs in two years. Maybe a week off? Thanks for input.

 

[zee-man]

What do you do on the part of stretching and foam rolling? Sometimes - I believe almost all of the time - these aches and pains originate from either muscular imbalance or tight muscles /tendons that pull unnecessarily and improperly on the joint.


The IT band is a big culprit of such things. Identify where the knee pain is at its source location and Google will help show you some stretches to help out. Otherwise, taking it light for a few weeks might be appreciated by your tendons. Listen to your body, this is a marathon not a sprint.

 

[Chode Logan]

My legs respond very well to 15-20 reps, they are a weak point for me for sure and only really started growing when I switched to 12-20 reps....never really go below that anymore unless Im doing slower negatives so time under tension is still high.

 

[Bigd50]

I vote rest. Lighter weights won't help injuries.

 

[Mopar360]

What do you do on the part of stretching and foam rolling? Sometimes - I believe almost all of the time - these aches and pains originate from either muscular imbalance or tight muscles /tendons that pull unnecessarily and improperly on the joint.


The IT band is a big culprit of such things. Identify where the knee pain is at its source location and Google will help show you some stretches to help out. Otherwise, taking it light for a few weeks might be appreciated by your tendons. Listen to your body, this is a marathon not a sprint.

^^^^ This X2

 

[1fst400]

My legs respond very well to 15-20 reps, they are a weak point for me for sure and only really started growing when I switched to 12-20 reps....never really go below that anymore unless Im doing slower negatives so time under tension is still high.

:yeahthat::headbang:

 

[wordomr]

I vote rest. Lighter weights won't help injuries.

I second this! I know it sucks to hear but time might be your best friend as far as healing. R.I.C.E. (Rest, ice, compression, elevation) is always a good conservative approach. Training through an injury can only lead to a more serious condition down the road.

 

[cryptasm]

Im 52 and my knees are starting to be a problem when I squat heavy. Hell they are a problem going up steps some days.

In any case I had great results from 20 rep sets. 1 set to failure rest pause style with moderate weight..225-250lbs.

 

[broncos62577]

I second this! I know it sucks to hear but time might be your best friend as far as healing. R.I.C.E. (Rest, ice, compression, elevation) is always a good conservative approach. Training through an injury can only lead to a more serious condition down the road.

I think rationally I know I should rest but I feel guilty when I think about it. Especially missing legs day. I guess I was hoping for some amazing never heard tip. Thanks for input.

 

[Ashop]

My right knee has been really bad lately. I always go heavy on legs. Sets of 6-12. My knee hurts pretty bad for thecwhole week until next leg day. It gets better as week goes by but then bam hit legs again and it hurts. It hurts to sit from being bent. I already wear double braces on knees. Does anyone here do higher rep/short rest for legs in lieu of going heavy? Seems Imay have to go that route . How were results? Any other suggestions appreciated. I haven't taken a week off from legs in two years. Maybe a week off? Thanks for input.

I often do 20-25 rep ranges these days with leg exercises due to my knees.

 

[BEASTZ6]

After warming up I do my first set with a weight that allows me to get 30 reps. I keep the same weight for all the rest of my sets (resting only 1 minute between sets), and by the last set I get about 18 reps. My legs have grown considerably since I have adopted this protocol.

 

[spartan995]

rest may be a tentative solution, but it won't directly fix the problem. Like others have said, typically where the pain is, something else is causing it in another location. I do high volume, lighter weight, and implement variations of time over tension. I partially tore my quad tendon about 9 months back. It gets pretty sore from time to time, but I get my quad, hamstring, glutes loosened up and it feels much better.

 

[brutus69]

i had bad knee pain also, tendonitis, sitting for awhile made them ache and standing up was killer. it hurt to walk on anything with a decline. i ended up taking a week off and then doing really light leg presses only. 20-25 reps, 10x10, 30 seconds rest, like that. my knees quit hurting in 3 weeks, i was hiking and slipped, had to run downhill and my knees felt so good, it actually made me happy. and thats rare. they also gained 3//4 inch.
so, light weights,high reps,short rest worked wonders for me and no knee pain. which is great. i realized being strong in the gym, going heavy, was an ego thing and not worth the other 23 hours a day,7 days a week of pain.

 

[nothuman]

My right knee has been really bad lately. I always go heavy on legs. Sets of 6-12. My knee hurts pretty bad for thecwhole week until next leg day. It gets better as week goes by but then bam hit legs again and it hurts. It hurts to sit from being bent. I already wear double braces on knees. Does anyone here do higher rep/short rest for legs in lieu of going heavy? Seems Imay have to go that route . How were results? Any other suggestions appreciated. I haven't taken a week off from legs in two years. Maybe a week off? Thanks for input.

YES higher reps, more sets, and less weight is AWESOME for legs. Of course it is still an individual thing, but I would think this is the case for most people. Don't be that guy that squats too much but only can do 6 reps.

Also, I used to have knee problems until I started doing this. Now, my knees have zero pain at all. It's amazing

 

[johnjuanb1]

My knees are toast. I can't even squat down period. 20 rep sets with more volume works great for leg development.

 

[superman21]

Love high rep sets for legs! Used to be all about heavy weight, low reps (6-8) but now I've seen good growth from switching it up. My knees feel a lot better as well.

 

[Jblack]

I found a sweet little thing that has been working on me for legs as of late.

Its Dennis James MTUT inspired I do the following for my pressing movements only...

Come down normal do a rep where it takes 10 seconds going up (concentric) then do 10 normal reps - nothing to fast just a good moderate normal pace. Then 10 seconds going up again, 10 reps, and then finally one more 10 seconds up and 10 reps...that is one set I do 3 sets of this.

Next one I do is a squat machine I do 5 seconds down, 5 seconds up, 5 reps and repeat this loop 3-5 times depending on the weight.

It has taken the pain out of my joints, enabled me to get some sick pumps, but most importantly this way of training has translated to some solid leg gains offseason and through my prep.

Just a different idea to try.

 

[broncos62577]

Awesome feedback guys. Thanks so much!

 

[john161]

Use knee wraps, learn to tape the patellar tendon (on you tube), and
pour on the Soothanol 2x (with DMSO) immediatly prior.
Also if hurts medially, get lateral heel wedges

 

[broncos62577]

Really glad I started this thread. Ill let you know how it goes after legs on sunday.