I really have not trained legs in 4-5 yrs seriously!
Tore half my hamstring off, not lifting related and still have some Major damage back there!
I used to Squat 600 for reps and Dead 500. Now some Extensions and hip machines those girls do is my complete workout.
My legs never really got big and have only lost a little size.
As Far as a Hormonal response I think that's only true with the Younger lifters. Plus I believe My body only likes carrying a certain amount of muscle.
I have seen where my legs have gotten bigger and the scale did not change. Stealing musculature from other parts of the Body. Same seems to-go with my Back development>
I would think I would need at least another 1000 cals just to feed new growth! With added cals come more anabolics were both in Extreme becomes even more Unhealthy as you gorge on 6000+ cals and 2 Grams + gear!!!
You make a good point here. While there are obviously many health benefits attached to leg training, the truth of the matter is that leg training (when done for the purpose of growth) will cause one's caloric requirmements to rise more quickly...by virtue of the fact that they will be carrying more overall muscle tissue.
This means more total calories will be needed just to maintain muscle tissue, let alone gain more, forcing the individual to consume a larger amount of caloroies to fuel the growth of other bodyparts.
For example, if I were to gain 25 pounds of additional leg mass, taking me from 250 bs to 275 lbs, my caloric requirments--from a mainetance standpoint alone--would increase by a good 1,000-1,500 per day. In other words, I would need to eat an extra 1,000-1,500 caloroies just to maintain the same amount of chest, arm, back and delt mass I had at 250 lbs...and if I wanted to gain additional upper-body mass, I would now be required to eat even more calories just to make that growth possible.
Now, for bodybuilders who want to maximize their development/compete, this is just part of the game. If they stop playing, they stop progressing, but what about those people who don't have competitive aspirations and/or are already content with their leg size? Should they be forced to build additional leg mass--thereby drastically increasing their caloric requirments--just so they can continue adding muscle to their upper-body? Of course not.
So, while the notion of leg training may seem like an automatic prerequisite for serious bodybuilders, we should also understand that not everyone has the same goals.
At a minimum, I think it would be wise to at least train legs for mainetance and general overall health purposes, but there is no rule that says those who want to continue building muscle/strength in other areas must continue growing their legs as well.
Often, as bodybuilders, we have been pre-programmed to think that those who don't train legs hard, or don't train them at all, do so simply because they are lazy, undisciplined, weak-willed or have a poor work ethic. In the case of a professing, aspiring competitive bodybuilder, this may very well be the case, but this is not so for everyone else. Some people may indeed just be lazy, but many people just don't have the desire to grow their legs anymore.
In the end, to each their own, but I would still recommend including at least some maintanance leg training for health purposes.