LEGS - WHATS UP WITH THEM ???

[chris250]

Have you guys notice that legs seem to be not as big as they use to be in the 90's...I have noticed that as I get older it is harder to maintain my size in my legs...I have noticed it with the older pros to...Badell the past few years has lost size, Levorne toward the end of his career lost size, Vince Tayor lost some size in his older years (but it was about 50 years old)...Even with this past year national shows, leg size seems to be down...

what do you think it is ???

chris

 

[papapumpsd]

Have you guys notice that legs seem to be not as big as they use to be in the 90's...I have noticed that as I get older it is harder to maintain my size in my legs...I have noticed it with the older pros to...Badell the past few years has lost size, Levorne toward the end of his career lost size, Vince Tayor lost some size in his older years (but it was about 50 years old)...Even with this past year national shows, leg size seems to be down...

what do you think it is ???

chris

That's it!

 

[JETHRO TULL]

Chris, I think the reason is the body can only take so much abuse.

I am afraid to train my legs like I used to. I have to be careful so I don't injure myself and I suspect I am not alone. Wear and tear on the joints, etc.

It starts accumulating and the next thing you know....lol.

 

[chris250]

Yeah my lower back and knee's are smoked...I cant squat as heavy as I use to, but I can leg press and hack squat pretty heavy...I can do higher reps to and that seems to help...I plan on getting my legs back to where they use to be this year..I had focused so much on my upper body to match my legs and now the past few years my upper is bigger than my lower...

chris

 

[ironwill]

I think guys are trying to come in to shredded now, and doing to much cardio....more keto diets as well lately...??Im curious as well

 

[Thor]

THIS IS IT..

I am afraid to train my legs like I used to. I have to be careful so I don't injure myself and I suspect I am not alone. Wear and tear on the joints, etc.

It starts accumulating and the next thing you know....lol.

squatted heavy for years, lower back mostly for me just can't do it like I used to.

 

[b-boy]

I think guys are trying to come in to shredded now, and doing to much cardio....more keto diets as well lately...??Im curious as well

my thoughts exactly, the emphasis on "shredded glutes" along with the new no carb diet craze contributes to you seeing smaller legs these days, people cardio their legs size off along with NO carb diets. just my 2 cents and is only my opinion.

 

[mr. boom]

Agreed. Maybe alot of people get too heavy in the offseasson and haveing to do more cardio to get all that fat off, or simply not training them as hard as they use to.

 

[Massive G]

Damn Chris you ain't that old are you?
I can tell you from experience as you say that the wear and tear on the neck spine upper and lower and delts hips and knees is extreme...myself I ruptured my patella in 2005 on a stair and it will never be the sme but the back is the limiting factor-a local chiro in my town all the lifters went too tried to steer me from squatting when I was younger-telling me the 100's of x-rays he'd seen over the years from powerlifters and bodybuilders neck and spine and it wasn't pretty-but I never listened routinely squatting in the 6's and always 5's now 405 is a rarity.

to me squats are king but I have relearned to train my legs without superheavy free squats relying on muscle memory deep range of motion and slow temp and shorter rest between sets sometimes even pre-xing them and still can tax the hell outta them and make them grow...


weights seem to go down every year a bit but my plan anyway as I get into my 40's is to get under 250 and train lighter stricter and more frequently.

Excessive cardio is the worst culprit and add in lo carbs and you got some serious catabolism going on today-we covered it in this thread- http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37394 look how full the light heavy and heavy weights upper bodies are and how "flat" their legs appear in comparison-don't get me wrong them there are still some high quality national level thigs up there but the difference in fullness is apparent....

My pet peeve right now is the gurus and their cookie cutter programs for everyone-everyone seems to follow the low carb EFA higher protein diet and do a lot of cardio as well and then they carbon copy the drug use as well....

My favorite work out right now is simply one giant set after 2-3 rotations of these 4 exercises I do one all out heavier set-
Leg extensions 300 x 8
Leg press 1200 x 10
Squat 405 x 8
Lunges-225 x 10
all done

 

[Pekkerwood]

I'm will be the first to admit I no longer belong in a true weight room however, here goes.....I rarely squat anymore. After all the name calling is done, I would like to add my reasons are 1) Degenerative left hip, partial socket deterioration 2) Fear of injury.

Even prior to my age related fears, I backed off leg size somewhat to presumably be better at another sport that required a lot of quickness and stamina. This was probably not wise in retrospect

How about this. When I played a ton of golf, I probably went 7 years, never working out arms specifically. (I no longer play and arms have grown nicely).

Sometimes I think I'm just a whiner.

 

[7_Deadly_Sins]

I got the opposite problem, my legs greatly over power my upper body.
Pretty sad when your calves are bigger than your arms.(about 1 inch)

 

[Big Dave Smith]

I think lack of intensity and general apathy lead towards this. Just like calf training. People spend all this time on their chest, but 6 sets of calf raises here and there... NOT GONNA CUT IT!

I'm young, but from day 1 I've trained legs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-gNWQm5BUE

I did that when I was a senior in high school. I could have gone heavier, but actually stopped for a few years to get my upper body in check.

I've puked more times doing legs than I can possibly remember. Most people say that about drinking. LOL.

 

[paulwigan]

i would say few people can continue the heavy leg sessions past the early thirties.

My knees back and hip dont allow it for me and I am only 34.

 

[MightyJohn]

Yes pinched nerves in My Back hinder Me

 

[mikeheavypecs]

Yes pinched nerves in My Back hinder Me

The older I get and lift the worse my discs get (especially L4-L5). i have found that leg press and and leg extension I can still do very heavy with good form, but can hardly do regular squats any more......

 

[marshallmadman]

In my opinion, legs on some guys got too big there for a while. They simply weren't symmetrical. Tom Platz got the ball rollin' and guys just took it from there. He could never catch his upper body up to those legs. Once judges got used to seeing legs that big, everyone needed them to compete. I just think the taste is changing back to more symmetrical legs these days. Most will say Arnolds legs were too small for his physique, but I would say at some times they were pretty close to being exactly what they needed to be.

The first thing to go is legs as you get older. Don't know why exactly. I think muscle fiber type along with hormonal reductions play into the equation.

 

[abolish the weak]

fuck squats. All these guys talk about how you need to do them to be big, no you dont. There is only so much your going to do with squats before your knees and back tell you its too much. Anybody I've ever known who has squatted over the years has knee problems. Even the powerlifters who claim if you do it right you'll be fine. Bullshit, the knees bend and weight is on them, no matter how you put it. you cannot get your knees in front of your body as much as on a leg press. On a press your seated and you dont have to worry about falling over trying to balance the weight. Maybe good leg press machines has contributed to bigger quads since the Arnold era.

 

[pesty4077]

The first thing to go is legs as you get older. Don't know why exactly. I think muscle fiber type along with hormonal reductions play into the equation.

I tend to disagree, the first thing to go is your belly.

 

[thebrick]

Yep

Its just the way the human body ages. The legs are the first to go. There's no way could I build the quad size I had 15 years ago.

 

[Phidias]

Definitely too much cardio and not enough carbs.