Walking and leg mass

[hawkmoon]

Hi all, when I started competing again last year I found my legs, which were once a leading bodypart, were now sup-par. I thought maybe age, but I have actually progressed elsewhere since stepping on the gas again and grown more tissue.

People often comment too much cardio can strip leg mass. I walk 1.5 hours round-trip every day for work. If this is the cause I accept it as it is good for my asthma to walks and stay off the trains during commute. That said, my curiosity still wants to know...

Any opinions?
Cheers

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[XstarchildX]

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking. Legs are typically the first to go as one ages.

 

[qbkilla]

during my cut I am doing stepmill, hIIT, legs 2x a week with weights, and walking to burn calories, and I noticed my legs were dead, just heavy, didn't want to get out of bed to piss In the middle of the night. amazingly it did not affect my strength in the gym. I did take a week off from all cardio and they do feel better, so it must have been fatigue from all the cardio.

do you also do cardio? are your lifts lighter because you feel like your legs are fatigued from all the walking? if so the walking may contribute. but if your legs feel fine and your strength is the same I would say its probably not part of the problem.

 

[hawkmoon]

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking. Legs are typically the first to go as one ages.

50 in November [emoji1]
I'm aware of that concept, but I have added new tissue in the last year so not thinking I'm in decline just yet.


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[hawkmoon]

during my cut I am doing stepmill, hIIT, legs 2x a week with weights, and walking to burn calories, and I noticed my legs were dead, just heavy, didn't want to get out of bed to piss In the middle of the night. amazingly it did not affect my strength in the gym. I did take a week off from all cardio and they do feel better, so it must have been fatigue from all the cardio.



do you also do cardio? are your lifts lighter because you feel like your legs are fatigued from all the walking? if so the walking may contribute. but if your legs feel fine and your strength is the same I would say its probably not part of the problem.

This is my only cardio I do, year round and in prep. When low carbing they feel hollow and dead on that morning walk....

I'd say strength is unaffected

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[need4tren]

Walking doesn’t shrink legs lol.

Probably you age is catching up to you. How’s training the legs?

 

[buck]

In my 40's I would walk 5-7 miles a day and could maintain my leg mass, which was one of my more dominant body parts. Now in my late 50's I walk less then half that and have less mass.

 

[thethinker48]

Walking just makes my arms smaller

 

[hawkmoon]

Walking doesn’t shrink legs lol.



Probably you age is catching up to you. How’s training the legs?

My leg training hasn't changed significantly. I used to have 29" without trying 5 years ago, now it's 27" ish.

I do keep the squats under 405 now though due to abdominal wall issues.

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[buzzbomb138]

walking is the only form of cardio i do and i havent found it affected my leg mass at all. in fact, i find it the best form of cardio to do as it doesnt affect my leg recovery. but then again i dont walk 90 min ed like op lol so that might change things. op r u walking up and down hills or is it pretty flat?

 

[jeroendebleser]

I find walking to be the least harmful form of cardio. Anything with more intensity causes me to lose mass everywhere.

 

[Dens228]

I'm 55 and have actually added some mass to my legs the last couple of years. But it was mainly by accident! LOL

Legs were my best bodypart strength wise but not size wise. These last couple of years I've tried to figure out ways to use LESS weight to save my joints. That coupled with a scare two years ago where I thought I was having a stroke but it turned out to be a severely compromised nerve in my neck caused by the trauma of playing football through college.

Now I always do hamstrings before quads, higher reps, usually a DC style RP.
Then I always do leg extensions, reps for a straight set usually in the 20's.
Then my quad workout. If the lowest rep part of a set is under 13 or so reps I went too heavy.

I also slowed the negative portion down, not crazy slow but very under control, and I mix up the way I do the work sets for quads from workout to workout.

A Fortitude training Muscle Round, but on the last set I try to fail above 4 reps which is really in the 20's for the entire set.

A set of 12-16 to failure followed by a set that fails at over 20 reps

A DC style RP set where the first set fails at 12-16 reps but each rep is paused for a 3 count in the stretch position.

 

[RoidBuddy]

What do you think about this machine for cardio?
Cardio or weight loss?

 

[USMuscle9403]

Walking is actually a good thing for leg recovery. I walk 10-20 miles a day and have noticed no ill effects. HIIT can definitely cut into leg recovery, though.

 

[RoyHobbs]

My leg training hasn't changed significantly. I used to have 29" without trying 5 years ago, now it's 27" ish.

I do keep the squats under 405 now though due to abdominal wall issues.

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So you aren't training legs as hard/heavy (unless you have substituted heavy squats for leg press/hack/etc) thus providing less stimulation to grow in a body part that is typically the first to decline in older age...

I'd say before worrying about walking try to train your legs as hard as you used to with adaptation to your injuries and see how that goes before worrying about if it is walking related (which is unlikely anyway).

 

[Black Beard]

Hi all, when I started competing again last year I found my legs, which were once a leading bodypart, were now sup-par. I thought maybe age, but I have actually progressed elsewhere since stepping on the gas again and grown more tissue.

People often comment too much cardio can strip leg mass. I walk 1.5 hours round-trip every day for work. If this is the cause I accept it as it is good for my asthma to walks and stay off the trains during commute. That said, my curiosity still wants to know...

Any opinions?
Cheers

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I find that jogging actually increases my leg mass, probably by increasing the muscle's ability to store glycogen.

Have you seen the legs on some of the pro-cycler's? They have better development than many dedicated bodybuilders.

 

[CarnitaShreds]

I think maintenance is something that fAils as we age. If you’re exercising the equipment (working out for aNy serious goal) and not maintaining the equipment more as it becomes older (range of motion, recovery, posture, soft tissue, etc) the minutia will suffer and eventually fail. You change the belts on a car right? Well you can’t on a joint, so take better care of it as you get older. As much time as you spend training in your advanced years should be spent on body maintenance of all types. That’s the price you should pay to earn your workouts after the age of 30. The older bodybuilders who look great it’s because they can still train. Do everything to make sure you can still train at that age too. Way more shredded old yogis than there are body builders and power lifters. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

 

[RoidBuddy]

I find that jogging actually increases my leg mass, probably by increasing the muscle's ability to store glycogen.

Have you seen the legs on some of the pro-cycler's? They have better development than many dedicated bodybuilders.

Yes, but you are talking about a sprint! This is track races in the photo. There is a load on the legs such that the athlete can break the pedals of the bike.
He does not run a sprint to do cardio ?!

Running will cut your quadriceps as this muscle doesn’t need for runner. Runner quadriceps working only when the sprinter explodes from the start at 100m sprint.

 

[Reno911]

I notice for me with incline treadmill walking or stair master my legs and ass definitely lose size much more versus stationary bike.

Maybe give biking a try (plus it would take 15-20 minutes vs. 90)

 

[Black Beard]

Yes, but you are talking about a sprint! This is track races in the photo. There is a load on the legs such that the athlete can break the pedals of the bike.
He does not run a sprint to do cardio ?!

Running will cut your quadriceps as this muscle doesn’t need for runner. Runner quadriceps working only when the sprinter explodes from the start at 100m sprint.

Yeah, but these guys still get volume work in.


Personally, i only do 20 minutes of light cardio most days and find that it increases my quad and ham size.