I would say a lot of people who try to bring up lagging body parts end up overtraining them. Or, often in the case of arms, they are already overtraining them and that is why they are behind. Sometimes people who barely have to work good body parts have those good body parts because they barely work them.
Volume without enough intensity doesn't seem to work for most. Intensity with too much volume also doesn't seem to work. Intensity with low volume takes a level of skill and focus that is difficult to develop. The catch-22 here is skill focus and is difficult to master without enough volume.
All good points K. Thank you. Especially the overtraining part. It is my
opinion, and I have personally noticed this as of late because my
workout schedule has been hit or miss, it that if I miss a week which
has been the case with me, and I return to weight training stronger,
than in fact I am or have been overtraining.
It is a simple enough 'experiment' to conduct on ones self. Take a week
off (or more to a point) and when you return are you stronger or weaker?
If you come back stronger than you have been overtraining. If come
back weaker than maybe you need more volume or intensity. I don't
know or have all the answers but I do know, as you alluded to, it is
a delicate balance.
Like I said, I have experienced this lately as my training has been on
again, off again. Given a week off when I return, I usually return at the
same level of strength. But if I take a month or two off I will definitely
return weaker. A week off in some exercises I will come back stronger
so I will and have made adjustments to keep things in balance. But
just about always it comes down to doing less, not more.
This balancing act can be difficult as body parts respond differently to
the stimulus. Some with ease and some take drastic measures to
correct if correctable at all.
And PEDs play a huge role in all of this, another huge variable as people
introduce or drop certain compounds it may be difficult or perhaps
even impossible to know what is responsible for what. And the only way,
in this instance, to come up with a meaningful answer is to introduce
'things' serially as opposed to starting out with, for instance, three
different compounds. Again, what is responsible for what?
What this has to do with legs I don't know as I seem to be rambling,
trying to make sense of why some things work well and some things
don't. But as with the case of leg development or any lagging body
part, some are correctable. I have weak legs in proportion to my
torso for example and have tried / done what I suggest and some
improvement is noticeable but they will never be what I want them to
be. And while I don't compete it is of no real consequence and something
that I have come to terms with which may in fact be the most difficult
part. Just do the best you can with what you have.
Back to training. Again, when in doubt do less. Not less intensity, but less
volume, less frequency, fewer exercises and really really concentrate on
a few, one or two exercises and let the other body parts just come along
for the ride, or maybe not even train them if the disparity is so great and
bothersome. Experiment, keep accurate records so you understand the
the cause and effect of what you are doing otherwise you are just shooting
in the dark. My opinion.
Rambling (again) I know so will close for now.
.gif "IP Gear")
